Can You Deck Out From Cascade in Magic: The Gathering?
The question of whether you can deck yourself out with the Cascade mechanic in Magic: The Gathering is a common one, and the answer is both simple and a little nuanced. The short answer is: no, you will not deck out directly from the Cascade ability itself. While it’s possible to run out of cards in your library due to a long game or some other effect, the rules surrounding Cascade prevent it from directly causing you to lose the game by drawing from an empty library. Let’s delve into why this is the case and explore the intricacies of how Cascade interacts with your library.
Why Cascade Doesn’t Deck You
Cascade is a triggered ability that activates when you cast a spell with it. It forces you to exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card with a lesser mana value than the spell with Cascade. You then have the option to cast that exiled card without paying its mana cost, if the mana value is indeed less than the card that triggered Cascade.
The critical part that prevents you from decking yourself out is that all the cards exiled with Cascade, regardless of whether you cast one, are placed on the bottom of your library in a random order. This means you are not discarding cards or putting them into your graveyard, nor are you forced to draw any cards. Since these cards remain in your library, even if they are all exiled during a Cascade trigger, they are never actually “gone.” They are just moved to a different spot in the deck.
The Loophole: Empty Library
While the cascade trigger itself won’t cause you to lose to drawing from an empty library, there is a hypothetical scenario that can indirectly lead you to defeat via an empty library. This can happen in a situation where you cascade with a large deck, and during that trigger, you exile most or all of your library. You then put that exiled library back on the bottom, effectively rearranging your deck with most of your cards now at the bottom. Now you have fewer cards at the top of your library.
If an opponent casts a card like “Sudden Impact” or an ability that says “Draw a card” and you have no cards left, the rule book states: “If a player is ever asked to draw a card from a library with no cards left, then that player loses the game” This is how you could lose to “decking yourself out” after a cascade trigger.
Frequently Asked Questions About Cascade
To further clarify how Cascade works and to address common points of confusion, here are some frequently asked questions:
1. What happens to the exiled cards after the Cascade trigger?
The exiled cards, whether or not you cast a card from among them, are put on the bottom of your library in a random order. They are not discarded, and they do not go to the graveyard.
2. Can you cast an Adventure card off Cascade?
Yes, you can cast the Adventure side of a card if it is the first nonland card with a lower mana value exiled during the Cascade trigger, provided that the value is less than that of the card with the Cascade ability. However, it’s important to note that if you are casting a copy of an adventure with cascade, the copy is exiled as it resolves.
3. Can you cascade into another Cascade?
Yes, you absolutely can. If you exile a card with Cascade during the first Cascade trigger, that newly cast card with Cascade will also trigger its ability, leading to another round of exiling cards. This cascading effect can chain multiple times depending on how many cards you encounter with Cascade.
4. What happens if you cascade and have no viable target?
If you exile your entire library during a Cascade trigger without finding a card to cast (due to all cards having a mana value equal or greater than the cascade trigger card) or no cards at all with lower mana value in your library, you will exile all the cards of your library. Those cards are then randomly rearranged and put back on the bottom of your library in a randomized order.
5. Can you counter a Cascade trigger?
Yes, you can counter the Cascade trigger itself. Cascade is a triggered ability and therefore, can be countered using cards like Stifle or Trickbind. However, countering the initial spell with cascade won’t stop the cascade trigger because the trigger happens as soon as the initial spell with cascade is cast, meaning, the spell’s cast is already on the stack before anyone can respond to it.
6. What happens if you cascade into a counterspell?
If you cascade into a counterspell, you can cast it, even if you don’t have any targets to counter. It’s a perfectly legal move, and it doesn’t affect the rest of your cascade’s chain of actions. The counterspell will simply be placed on the bottom of your library with other cards that were exiled during that particular cascade trigger.
7. What is the precise text of the Cascade Rule?
The full text as it appears in the Magic rulebook is: “Cascade” means “When you cast this spell, exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card whose converted mana cost is less than this spell’s converted mana cost. You may cast that spell without paying its mana cost. Then put all cards exiled this way that weren’t cast this way on the bottom of your library in a random order.”
8. Can you “Fail to Find” with Cascade?
No, there is no “finding” involved in Cascade. You exile cards from the top of your library until you hit a valid card with a lower mana value. The target of the ability is the top card on the library, not a card within it, and it’s public. You can, however, choose not to cast the exiled card, if you so choose.
9. Can you Overload a spell from Cascade?
No, you cannot. Overload is an alternate cost for casting a spell, and Cascade states you cast the card without paying its mana cost. Because casting the spell for free is an alternate cost of the card, you cannot pick a different alternate casting cost. You cannot choose to Overload the spell.
10. How many times can a spell Cascade?
A spell can have multiple instances of Cascade, either natively, like on Apex Devastator, or through additional effects. Each instance will trigger separately when you cast the spell, resulting in multiple layers of Cascade.
11. Does Cascade have to be on a permanent?
No, Cascade is not restricted to permanent spells. It can appear on instants and sorceries. The key trigger is when you cast the spell, regardless of whether it’s a permanent.
12. What happens if a spell with Cascade is copied?
If a spell with Cascade is copied the copy will also have the cascade ability. Each copy will trigger cascade independently of any of the others and will do so for as long as there is a nonland card with a lesser mana value than the copied spell.
13. Can you kick a spell from Cascade?
Yes, you can pay the Kicker cost when casting a spell from Cascade, even though you are casting it without paying its mana cost. Kicker is an additional cost, not an alternate cost, so it is possible to use. The same is true for Entwine.
14. Can Cascade cast suspend cards?
Yes, you can cast cards with Suspend via the Cascade mechanic. Cards with Suspend have a mana value of 0, which is less than most spells with Cascade, and can therefore be cast for free using Cascade.
15. Does countering a spell stop the cast from happening?
Countering a spell will stop the spell from resolving, however, the spell was still cast, meaning that the cascade trigger will still resolve. Even though the counterspell is on the stack, the spell with cascade was still cast and the cascade ability still goes on the stack and resolves normally.
Conclusion
In conclusion, while a poorly managed Cascade chain might lead to a situation where your library is severely thinned, Cascade itself will not deck you out. The exiled cards are always returned to the bottom of your library in a random order, preventing the game loss by drawing from an empty library. Understanding these nuances of the Cascade mechanic is crucial to fully leveraging its power and avoiding any common pitfalls. Knowing these rules, can help players build effective decks and more accurately plan their strategies.