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DL status requires two things: MQD spending AND miles or segments (your choice between these two). One by itself, without the other, is of no value in this regard. Waiving one (MQD spend) does nothing for the miles/segments requirement. Some things you can do in order to waive the MQD requirement may also get you some Medallion-qualifying miles (MQM) but those are still two separate, unrelated calculations.

Separately, I'm going to suggest that a moderator move this thread to FT's Delta SkyMiles forum. That's where most of the Delta experts hang out. You can get answers to all your SkyMiles questions there, including some you didn't know you had.