I see people talk about Cascadea lot. I've seen a few decks playing with the mechanic. However the players probably suck because it never seems to have "bite". Seems like a crippled tutor to me.
Generally speaking, I seem to play through whatever they find or it's a spell they were going to eventually find and kill me with anyways (as in, I'm already top decking, down to 3, and the card they find is on top and it's a bolt).
So everybody sees something cascade I don't. I think because I haven't seen it effectively played yet.
So obviously the best way to cascade is to build a deck around it. Duh...
Then to properly play cascade spells is to stack the deck in some manner? Then cascade and boom!
Here's a typical Modern Jund decklist, which might make a resurgence in some form in the near future now that Bloodbraid Elf is back.
The idea with the low-cost cascade cards is - at least often - to cheat out a Hypergenesis or Living End for the win. Obviously this is easier the lower the CMC of the cascade, because you're looking to hit the very specific target range of zero. Maelstrom Wanderer/Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder make a partially "cascade tribal" deck possible where your cascade duders cascade into other ones and you can make a finite loop of card advantage.
Aside from combo shenanigans like Hypergenesis, Cascade is card and mana advantage. Cascade is cojmparable to "when you cast this, draw a card and add X to your mana pool". And it also filters past land, which is itself generally an advantage.
Cascade isn't inherently broken, and lots of Cascade cards weren't played. It's just a good way to generate value when it's efficient. Bloodbraid Elf is good because it's a 3/2 haste plus another (usually) 3-mana spell. If it were a 1/1 it wouldn't be played.
Restore Balance in a deck built around artifact mana and Planeswalkers/non-permanents with low CMC cascade as enablers was a niche combo I saw for a while. Aside from that, it's just free spells.
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Here's a typical Modern Jund decklist, which might make a resurgence in some form in the near future now that Bloodbraid Elf is back.
The idea with the low-cost cascade cards is - at least often - to cheat out a Hypergenesis or Living End for the win. Obviously this is easier the lower the CMC of the cascade, because you're looking to hit the very specific target range of zero. Maelstrom Wanderer/Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder make a partially "cascade tribal" deck possible where your cascade duders cascade into other ones and you can make a finite loop of card advantage.
Holy Cheez-It's! I didn't realize Cascade could cheat in Hypergenesis or its cousins. I must've been stupid lucky not to see this type of combo in play yet. Put into that light, Cascade makes a lot more sense.
Restore Balance in a deck built around artifact mana and Planeswalkers/non-permanents with low CMC cascade as enablers was a niche combo I saw for a while. Aside from that, it's just free spells.
Hitting a Restore Balance is a lot different than a random free spell. I had very few matchups against cascade decks (I can count them on one hand) so I think it was just dumb luck my opponent haven't hit spells like Balance. I have noticed when my opponents hit a random spell (not suspend spells), I just play through without any problems.
When I play tested the netdecks on Cockatrice, I didn't realize those cards could be cast with Cascade. That completely changes the dynamics as I understood it.
The most relevant cascade decks are in modern with Living End.
Cycle away a lot of creatures and this just brings them all back with your 3 mana cascade cards.
Anyway, cascade is a somewhat "random" mechanic, but it will pretty much always provide you an extra card and value no matter what.
Cascade also puts some deck-building restrictions on you to make it really useful. Counterspells and other spells that might not have a legal target all the time suffer greatly from cascade.
Modern Jund is more or less a prime example of a deck that can pretty much only hit value.
Generally speaking, I seem to play through whatever they find or it's a spell they were going to eventually find and kill me with anyways (as in, I'm already top decking, down to 3, and the card they find is on top and it's a bolt).
So everybody sees something cascade I don't. I think because I haven't seen it effectively played yet.
So obviously the best way to cascade is to build a deck around it. Duh...
Then to properly play cascade spells is to stack the deck in some manner? Then cascade and boom!
Can someone tease me with a few examples?
Here's a typical Modern Jund decklist, which might make a resurgence in some form in the near future now that Bloodbraid Elf is back.
The idea with the low-cost cascade cards is - at least often - to cheat out a Hypergenesis or Living End for the win. Obviously this is easier the lower the CMC of the cascade, because you're looking to hit the very specific target range of zero. Maelstrom Wanderer/Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder make a partially "cascade tribal" deck possible where your cascade duders cascade into other ones and you can make a finite loop of card advantage.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Cascade isn't inherently broken, and lots of Cascade cards weren't played. It's just a good way to generate value when it's efficient. Bloodbraid Elf is good because it's a 3/2 haste plus another (usually) 3-mana spell. If it were a 1/1 it wouldn't be played.
Art is life itself.
Holy Cheez-It's! I didn't realize Cascade could cheat in Hypergenesis or its cousins. I must've been stupid lucky not to see this type of combo in play yet. Put into that light, Cascade makes a lot more sense.
Hitting a Restore Balance is a lot different than a random free spell. I had very few matchups against cascade decks (I can count them on one hand) so I think it was just dumb luck my opponent haven't hit spells like Balance. I have noticed when my opponents hit a random spell (not suspend spells), I just play through without any problems.
When I play tested the netdecks on Cockatrice, I didn't realize those cards could be cast with Cascade. That completely changes the dynamics as I understood it.
Cycle away a lot of creatures and this just brings them all back with your 3 mana cascade cards.
Anyway, cascade is a somewhat "random" mechanic, but it will pretty much always provide you an extra card and value no matter what.
Cascade also puts some deck-building restrictions on you to make it really useful. Counterspells and other spells that might not have a legal target all the time suffer greatly from cascade.
Modern Jund is more or less a prime example of a deck that can pretty much only hit value.
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When you give it +1/+0 and Haste and trade its Wolf for a Tarmogoyf, the result, surprisingly enough, is even more Modern playable.