Hey everyone! Welcome back to another edition of Midweek Magic, where Wizards gives us an excuse to play some ridiculous Magic for a couple of days and I somehow manage to turn that into an entire article.
This week, we’re getting another round of Cascade Brawl!
I know we’ve covered this event before, but it’s one of those formats that I don’t particularly mind seeing return. There’s something satisfying about getting to cast additional spells for free, especially when those spells are things your opponent really doesn’t want to see.
And considering how much Magic players love getting things for free, I suspect this event will be pretty popular.
Of course, there’s also the minor issue of everyone getting free spells, including your opponent. I’m considerably less enthusiastic about that part.
If you’ve never played Cascade Brawl before, the premise is pretty straightforward. You build a normal 100-card Brawl deck, but the first spell you cast each turn gets Cascade.
That means you exile cards from the top of your deck until you hit a nonland card with a lower mana value. You can then cast that card without paying its mana cost.
Essentially, you’re getting two spells for the price of one.
Considering some of the nonsense you can do with that, I think it’s safe to say that we’re going to see some pretty absurd games this week.
Let’s talk about how to take advantage of it.
The biggest thing to keep in mind is that you want to make sure you have something to hit at zero mana. Missing out on that free value on turn one is a pretty terrible way to start a format that’s specifically designed to give you free spells.
By far the best thing you can do is build your deck with Crashing Footfalls as your only zero-mana card. That guarantees your first one-mana spell will cascade into a pair of 4/4 Rhinos, assuming Footfalls is still in your library.
Getting eight power on the battlefield on turn one, on top of whatever you were already planning to do, is going to be incredibly difficult for most opponents to come back from. I’m sure they’ll appreciate the opportunity to play such an interactive game of Magic.
The other important consideration is that reactive spells can be pretty terrible in this format. Counterspells are particularly awful because they accomplish approximately nothing when you hit them off Cascade unless you are responding to a spell.
Outside of that, I expect aggressive decks to be considerably more prevalent than slower strategies. When everyone’s getting free spells, trying to control the board seems like a questionable decision.
Besides, this is Midweek Magic. If you were expecting everyone to show up with carefully constructed control decks and play thoughtful games of Magic, you’ve been playing much different events than I have.
I will add that we are going off of the regular Brawl ban list and not the competitive one. We’ll find out if they pull the ol switcharoo on us.
I guess we can get to the deck lists right after this event info.
The first time you cast a spell each turn, you’ll get to cast another, less expensive card from your library without paying its mana cost. What a bargain! All you’ll need to play is a 100-card Brawl deck. (excluding those on the Brawl banned list)!
Find out more details about this and upcoming Midweek Magic events HERE.
Duration: October 27th, 2026 @ 2:00 PM PST to October 29th, 2026 @ 2:00 PM PST
Format: Cascade Brawl
Entry Fee: Free
Ends After: You can play as much as you like for the duration of the event.
You might notice a trend of green commanders showing up in this article. That’s largely because of Crashing Footfalls and Once Upon a Time, which are both absolutely ridiculous with this emblem.
We’ve already talked about the Rhinos, but Once Upon a Time deserves some attention too. If it’s the first spell you’ve cast in the game, you can cast it for free on your opponent’s turn and get a Cascade trigger without spending a single mana. Getting a free spell off another free spell before you’ve even taken your first turn is a pretty sick way to start a game.
As for Mythweaver Poq himself, he’s already an excellent commander for generating absurd amounts of mana. Every time you play a land, you’re potentially getting another one for free. That means you’ll have plenty of opportunities to start casting expensive spells ahead of schedule, which naturally leads to even more ridiculous Cascade triggers.
The nice thing about this deck is that you don’t really have to do anything particularly clever to take advantage of the emblem. You’re already playing mana creatures, ramp spells, and big green monsters. Now you’re getting additional spells for doing exactly what your deck wanted to do anyway.
Everyone’s favorite monkey sure does have a knack for making opponents hit the concession button. Apparently, some people just don’t appreciate having their cards stolen by a one-mana creature.
You know what makes a low-to-the-ground aggro deck even better? Getting to cast an additional spell for free every turn. Ragavan is already excellent at generating value through Treasures and stolen cards, so giving the deck Cascade just adds another layer of nonsense to an already obnoxious strategy.
One important adjustment I made was switching almost all of the burn spells to ones that can go face. The last thing you want is to Cascade into a removal spell when your opponent doesn’t have any creatures on the battlefield. Having your free spell accomplish absolutely nothing isn’t exactly the kind of value we’re looking for.
Besides, we’re playing an aggressive red deck. If we can’t point our burn spells at creatures, we might as well point them at our opponent’s face. It’s not exactly a complicated philosophy, but it’s worked pretty well for the last thirty years.
Tifa can get completely out of hand in a hurry, especially when Cascade is giving you additional spells that put even more lands onto the battlefield.
For those unfamiliar with Tifa Lockhart, every landfall trigger doubles her power for the turn. That can get ridiculous pretty quickly when you’re playing multiple lands a turn, especially if you’ve already pumped her power with something else.
Now throw Cascade into the mix, and suddenly your ramp spells are potentially finding even more ramp spells. You can go from having a relatively harmless creature on the battlefield to threatening lethal damage in a single turn. Having trample certainly doesn’t hurt either.
Plus, we’ve got the whole Crashing Footfalls interaction going on here. Getting a pair of 4/4 Rhinos on turn one is already absurd, and having them apply pressure while you’re setting up Tifa makes the situation even worse for your opponent.
This is another one of those decks where the emblem takes something that was already capable of doing some pretty stupid things and makes it even more ridiculous.
Is this the best deck for the format? No, it certainly is not. Does it have a great mana base? Still a no. Does it have the potential to do absolutely stupid things while playing legend after legend? Now that one is a gigantic yes.
This deck is more for those of you who want to have some fun with the event rather than just trying to collect your three wins as quickly as possible. Sometimes it’s nice to do something ridiculous instead of just beating people over the head with the most efficient cards available.
It’s not a full-on budget deck since it does have Crashing Footfalls and Bristly Bill as the commander. If you don’t have those, feel free to switch them out for another Slime Against Humanity and any random cheap green commander you already own.
That’s going to do it for this week’s Midweek Magic!
Cascade Brawl is one of those events where you can do some truly ridiculous things, and getting free spells is generally a pretty good way to spend an evening. Whether you’re trying to run people over with Ragavan, make an absurdly large Tifa, or cast half your deck with Jodah, there’s plenty of nonsense to go around.
Outside of Midweek Magic, we’ve got plenty going on with Star Trek preview season. I’ll be working on my usual Limited set reviews, going through every card and giving you my thoughts on how they’ll perform in Draft. I’ll also have my breakdown of the ten draft archetypes, complete with deck skeletons, before the set launches.
And, of course, Limited Weekend Update isn’t going anywhere. I’ll be back this weekend to continue looking at the upcoming set and whatever else is happening in Limited. Between the previews, set reviews, draft guides, and Midweek Magic, I’m starting to think I’ve accidentally created a second full-time job for myself.
At least this one involves considerably more Magic and fewer meetings.
Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next week for another Midweek Magic!
Until then, stay classy, people.
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Josh is a member of the elite limited team The Draft Lab as well as the host of The Draft Lab Podcast. He was qualifying for Pro Tours, Nationals, and Worlds literally before some of you were born. After a Magic hiatus to play poker and go to medical school, he has been dominating Arena with over an 80% win percentage in Bo3 as well as making #1 rank in Mythic.
