Can You Cascade Into Suspend? A Deep Dive into MTG’s Tricky Interactions

Yes, you can cascade into a card with suspend. The cascade mechanic lets you cast a card without paying its mana cost if the card you reveal has a lower mana value than the card with cascade. Suspend doesn’t change this fundamental interaction. So, if you reveal a suspend card with a lower mana value while cascading, you can cast it!

Let’s unravel the complexities surrounding cascade and suspend in Magic: The Gathering. These mechanics, while powerful on their own, create fascinating and sometimes confusing scenarios when combined. We’ll explore the rules, interactions, and common pitfalls to ensure you’re well-equipped to navigate these card interactions on the battlefield.

Understanding the Mechanics

Before we dive into the specifics, let’s define what cascade and suspend do individually:

• Cascade: When you cast a spell with cascade, you exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card whose mana value is less than the original spell’s mana value. You can then cast that exiled card without paying its mana cost. If you don’t want to cast it, or can’t, all exiled cards are put into your graveyard in a random order.

• Suspend: This ability allows you to exile a card from your hand and put time counters on it. At the beginning of your upkeep, you remove a time counter. When the last time counter is removed, you can cast the card without paying its mana cost. Crucially, exiling a card with suspend is NOT casting it.

The Core Interaction

The critical point is that cascade lets you cast a card. Suspend dictates how you can cast a card (from exile, after time counters are removed), but it doesn’t prevent you from casting it through other means, like cascade. When cascade finds a card with suspend, the game checks its mana value (CMC). If the CMC is less than the cascade spell’s CMC, you can cast the suspend card. The suspend ability on the card is effectively ignored during the cascade process. This is because cascade allows you to cast the card directly, bypassing the suspend conditions.

Cards with No Mana Value

Things get especially interesting with suspend cards that have no mana value (like the card Sol Talisman). As long as the cascade condition is met, a card with no mana value can be cast with cascade.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Here are some frequently asked questions that delve further into the interplay between cascade and suspend:

1. Can you cascade off of a cascaded card?

Absolutely. Cascade triggers when you cast a spell. If you cascade into a card that also has cascade, that second cascade ability triggers and resolves before the first cascade spell resolves. Each cascade ability resolves separately. You can potentially create a chain of cascading spells if you get lucky (or if you’ve carefully curated your deck!).

2. What are the precise rules for cascade in Magic?

The comprehensive rules define cascade as follows: “When you cast this spell, exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card whose mana value is less than this spell’s mana value. You may cast that card without paying its mana cost. Put all cards exiled this way that aren’t cast on the bottom of your library in a random order.” This ability triggers when the spell with cascade is cast, and the exiling process continues until a suitable card is found.

3. Can you cascade into Sol Talisman?

Yes. Sol Talisman, with no mana cost, can be cast via cascade. The cascade ability only cares that the revealed card is a non-land card.

4. What happens when you cascade into a suspend spell?

As stated before, you get to cast the card with suspend without paying its mana cost if its CMC is lower than the CMC of the cascade spell.

5. Can you cascade into overload?

No, you can’t use overload in conjunction with cascade. Cascade gives an alternative way of casting the spell by using cascade, so you cannot use overload.

6. Can you double cascade MTG?

Yes! If a spell has multiple instances of cascade (like Apex Devastator), each instance triggers and resolves separately. This means you exile cards, potentially cast one, and then repeat the process for each cascade ability. This can lead to chaotic and powerful sequences of spells.

7. Can I cascade into an adventure MTG?

Yes, you can cascade into the Adventure side of an Adventure card. The mana value of an Adventure card is determined by its mana cost on the creature side. If the Adventure’s mana value is less than the cascade spell’s mana value, you can cast the Adventure spell. However, it’s important to remember that the Adventure is exiled after resolving, and you can’t cast the creature later from exile this way (only through its Adventure ability when it’s in your hand).

8. Does the first sliver cascade twice?

No. The First Sliver has one instance of cascade. If The First Sliver’s own cascade ability lets you cast another Sliver card, that Sliver won’t have cascade (unless it naturally has cascade on the card). It will simply enter the battlefield.

9. Can you counter a card with suspend?

You can’t directly counter the suspend ability itself as exiling a card from your hand is a special action. However, you can counter the spell when it’s finally cast as the last time counter is removed using cards like Counterspell.

10. Does suspend count as casting a spell?

No. Exiling a card with its suspend ability is not casting that card. This is a crucial distinction. The card is cast when the last time counter is removed (and the triggered ability resolves) or when an effect like cascade allows you to cast it.

11. Are suspend cards revealed?

Yes. Suspend is a face-up mechanic. The suspend card is revealed when put into exile, so everyone knows what’s coming (eventually!).

12. Do cascade triggers stack?

Yes, cascade triggers go on the stack like any other triggered ability. If a spell has multiple instances of cascade, each trigger goes on the stack separately and resolves one at a time. This allows for sequential cascading effects.

13. Can cards have cascade twice?

Yes, some cards can have multiple instances of cascade. Apex Devastator is a prime example. These cards are incredibly powerful as they can trigger a chain of spells from your library.

14. Is Cascade an ETB trigger?

No, cascade is a “when you cast this spell” triggered ability, not an “enters the battlefield” (ETB) ability. It triggers when the card is cast, putting its ability on the stack above the original spell.

15. Can you proliferate suspend counters?

Unfortunately, no. The proliferate ability only lets you choose permanents or players. A suspended card in exile is not a permanent.

Strategic Considerations

Understanding the interaction between cascade and suspend opens up strategic deck-building possibilities. You can design decks that reliably cascade into powerful suspend spells, allowing you to cheat mana costs and accelerate your game plan. Cards with no mana cost like Sol Talisman that have Suspend provide excellent cascade targets.

Conclusion

Mastering the intricacies of Magic: The Gathering requires a thorough understanding of its mechanics and their interactions. Cascade and suspend, when combined, offer unique and rewarding gameplay experiences. By grasping the rules and nuances discussed here, you’ll be better equipped to leverage these mechanics to your advantage. Remember, knowledge is power, and in Magic, power translates to victory!

The complex nature of these interactions underscores the importance of understanding game mechanics, a principle championed by the Games Learning Society. Visit GamesLearningSociety.org to learn more about the intersection of games and education.