Cascade Guide: Cascading Your Way To VICTORY

Nothing feels better than casting a spell for free. After all, who doesn’t love a 2 for 1 special? That’s exactly what cascade is. There aren’t a ton of cards with cascade, only about 40 (plus a handful that grant the cascade ability). The ability is quite broken, and there is a reason you seldom see cascade in modern sets. Here, we’ll go over what the cascade mechanic is, how to best make use of it, and show off some decks built around cascade.

There was a Precon in the Warhammer 40K set that utilizes cascade plenty. Check out our overview of the Chaos precon this way.

What is Cascade?

Cascade is a mechanic that triggers when you cast a spell with cascade. When you cast it, cascade triggers, which then has you exile cards from the top of your library until you cast a nonland card with a lower mana value. Then, you may cast it without paying for its mana cost. Afterward, all the cards you exiled are put into the bottom of your library in a random order. If a card has multiple instances of cascade (such as Apex Devastator or Maelstrom Wanderer), then you will cascade into that many spells before the original spell that started cascading resolves.

Spells can be granted cascade. The same cascade rules apply when you do this. If you give a spell that already has cascade the ability again, this means it will trigger twice. Some examples of ways to give a spell cascade are Bigger on the Inside, Maelstrom Nexus, and Imoti, Celebrant of Bounty. A benefit of cascade is that even if the spell that started it is countered, you still get to cascade.

The best cards with cascade are ones that can do more once they hit the battlefield. For example, Imoti, Celebrant of Bounty can give your expensive spells cascade, and Maelstrom Wanderer provides haste to all your creatures. They’re a bit more specific in payoff, but Quandrix, the Proof, The First Sliver, and Wildsear, Scouring Maw are all fantastic as well. Many of these make for great Cascade commanders as well.

What Colors Is Cascade In?

Cascade is not an ability that is available in all colors. It is primarily a Red ability, with a good majority of cascade cards having red in their color identity. Just behind that are Blue and Green, which actually share the same ratio. It is also common on many multi-colored cards, but generally involving at least one of those three colors. There are no Mono-Black or Mono-White cards with cascade, but it does appear on various cards that have Red, Green, or Blue in their color identity.

Cards With No Mana Costs

Something important to know with cascade are cards that do not have a mana cost. Not cards that cost 0 or X, but cards like Glimpse of Tomorrow and Ancestral Vision. Normally, you have to suspend these and wait a good amount of turns to actually cast them. However, you can actually cast these spells through cascade.

For the purposes of cascade, cards without a mana cost are considered to be 0. So, you couldn’t cascade into them with a card like Mox Amber, but you could with a card like Sol Ring. The lowest mana cost of a spell that has cascade is 3, so you can still hit all spells that have a mana cost of 1 or 2.

However, you can still guarantee you cascade into a 0 cost by giving a spell cascade. You can use a card like TARDIS, Abaddon the Despoiler, or Bigger on the Inside to give a spell cascade. If you then cast a spell that costs 1 mana (such as Llanowar Elves, then you can cascade into a spell with no mana cost like Sol Talisman. Cascade decks will often run some of these, as they are usually very powerful effects that you won’t often have to suspend to actually use.

Free and Discount Spell Synergy

With cascade, you don’t actually need to spend mana for cascade to trigger. So, cards that let you cast spells for free are very strong. Cascade decks often have a high mana curve, and by casting a cascade spell for free, you can cast a ton of spells in one turn. Omniscience lets you cast spells from your hand for free, and One with the Multiverse lets you cast a spell from the top of your library or hand for free once per turn. It only works for Colorless spells, but Darksteel Monolith can discount a spell to 0.

If you’re in WUBRG, Fist of Suns can make it a lot easier to pay for cascading spells. Likewise, Leyline of Mutation does the same, while possibly being able to put itself on the battlefield for free. Or, if you’re primarily playing one creature type, both Urza's Incubator and Herald's Horn can make them easier to cast.

Exile Support

When it comes to cascade, you are casting the spell from exile. Even though you aren’t paying the mana costs for these spells, you’re still casting them, so you can take advantage of cards that benefit from casting from exile. Wild-Magic Sorcerer gives that spell cascade straight up, so you can cascade twice essentially with one spell with it on the battlefield. Prosper, Tome-Bound nets you a Treasure token every cascade, and Nalfeshnee creates a temporary copy of a permanent or just another copy of any other spell.

There are plenty of cards that deal burn damage when you cast a spell from anywhere but your hand. Keeper of Secrets can burn for its mana value, while Spider-Man 2099 burns for his power to any target you want. For some more mass burn, Shadow of the Goblin and Nico Minoru, Runaway both deal damage to all your opponents when you cast spells from exile.

Sample Cascade Commander Decks

For the last bit of this guide, we’ll take a look at three different Commander decks that are built around cascade. One will be a traditional deck, one will be a budget Cascade deck, and the last one will be a Pauper Commander deck to encompass the three major variations that a Cascade deck can be. These will go over some card highlights, as well as a decklist that you can copy if you want to dip your toes into cascade.

Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder

Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder is one of the very few options when it comes to a four-color commander, this one in particular missing out on White. Luckily, cascade isn’t something that White can do, so you’re not missing out on not having that color. It gives all your spells cascade whenever it deals any amount of combat damage. This is very strong when you can stack it with other cards that grant cascade like Abaddon the Despoiler and Bigger on the Inside to get some extra triggers.

Yidris’ ability triggers when it deals combat damage, and there are multiple ways to make it trigger twice. Since it triggers off of combat damage, Felix Five-Boots will get you two triggers, meaning you’ll give all your spells cascade twice. Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder is a Wizard, meaning it can double off of Wizard's Staff. For even more cascading, you can give it double strike with Fireshrieker. All of these stack on one another, so you can potentially give a spell more than four cascade triggers with just one connection of combat damage.

You do need Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder to actually hit for damage in order to give your spells cascade. So, you want ways to make it unblockable to guarantee you can start the cascading chains. For one mana, you have Aqueous Form, which also lets you scry 1, which is helpful in avoiding a weak card that you would otherwise cascade into. Brotherhood Regalia provides a bit of protection with ward while making it unblockable, with Whispersilk Cloak serving a similar purpose. It’s not guaranteed, but Trailblazer's Boots gives nonbasic landwalk, and since most decks run nonbasic lands (even Mono-Colored decks), it’s often unblockable.

A sample decklist can be viewed below. It consists of various powerful creatures, spells, and ways to cascade into a ton of spells in just one turn.

Budget Cascade: Maelstrom Wanderer

This Temur commander offers a very strong creature-based game plan. Maelstrom Wanderer cascades twice when you cast it, and then provides all your creatures with haste. The goal of the deck is to cascade into powerful creatures with your commander, including Surrak Dragonclaw and Moraug, Fury of Akoum, to name a few. These creatures have either high stats or useful abilities to push your board advantage forward.

The deck is one that actively wants to recast its commander over and over again. So, you want ways to be able to do that without having to pay the commander tax. This is where Crystal Shard and Erratic Portal come in. Both of these return a creature to the hand, you just simply don’t pay the mana that cancels it out. In very niche situations, you can force a creature back to an opponent’s hand if they tap out.

To help make the cascade plan smoother, there are some extra turn spells in the deck such as Time Warp, Temporal Manipulation, and Capture of Jingzhou. These are all great spells to cascade into, and let you untap to cascade into more creatures. It pairs well with the artifacts that bounce Maelstrom Wanderer to the hand, as it lets you go through another cycle of cascading while you whittle down life totals.

A sample decklist can be viewed here. This Cascade deck is much more creature-heavy, built heavily around taking advantage of your commander.

Pauper Commander Cascade: Imoti, Celebrant of Bounty

Cascading isn’t only just for regular Commander, but Pauper Commander as well. One of the most popular Pauper Commanders in general is Imoti, Celebrant of Bounty, and makes for a great cascade commander. Even though you don’t have too many spells that actually cascade, Imoti, Celebrant of Bounty turns cards like Colossal Dreadmaw and Thundering Tanadon into big cascading threats that can bring out more creatures.

A nifty bit of rulings is that cards with evoke still have their printed mana cost. This means even though Aethersnipe can be evoked for three mana, for the purposes of Imoti, Celebrant of Bounty, it’s considered a spell with a mana value of six or higher, so it’ll cascade. This also applies to Walker of the Grove, and will triggers cards like Etherium Spinner.

As with all Cascade decks, ramping is very important on the path to victory. So, you need to accelerate your mana with cards like Elvish Mystic, Farseek, and Elvish Aberration. Without these kinds of cards, you might get stuck casting only one spell a turn, if not no spells at all. The big downside is that you might cascade into these spells, but there isn’t much you can do about that.

A sample decklist can be viewed below. Pauper Commander is much more creature-heavy, and the decklist reflects that with the majority of the cards being creatures.

What Are The Weaknesses of Cascade?

Cascade is considered one of the best mechanics that have been printed, and for good reason. By nature, cascade gives you a two for one which instantly nets you card advantage. However, it’s not a completely flawless mechanic.

The biggest struggle cascade has is that you (usually) can’t guarantee what you’ll cascade into. There is a reason it’s often referred to as the “slot machine.” You might cascade into something very useful like an Etali, Primal Conqueror, or you might cascade into something useless like a Delighted Halfling. Since spells with cascade usually have high mana values, you might hit anything.

Another downside is that you don’t have a choice in casting the spell you exile with cascade. If you don’t cast the spell, it just goes to the bottom of the library with the rest of the exiled cards. There is a chance you whiff and cascade into a removal spell with nothing to remove.

In Conclusion

Cascade is a very powerful mechanic that is almost too good, and doesn’t get printed in new sets very much. The effect is so good, even weaker cascade cards are usually still worth running because it is just that good to cast two spells with just one. Despite the downsides of cascade, it’s still one of the best.

Looking for another mechanic deep dive? Check out our guide on Annihilator here.