diff --git a/docs/posts/ci-analysis/index.qmd b/docs/posts/ci-analysis/index.qmd
index 5babc2c6d0c61..65159d5bbe9c7 100644
--- a/docs/posts/ci-analysis/index.qmd
+++ b/docs/posts/ci-analysis/index.qmd
@@ -203,14 +203,12 @@ Let's also give them some names that'll look nice on our plots.
 stats = stats.mutate(
     raw_improvements=_.has_poetry.cast("int") + _.has_team.cast("int")
 ).mutate(
-    improvements=(
-        _.raw_improvements.case()
-        .when(0, "None")
-        .when(1, "Poetry")
-        .when(2, "Poetry + Team Plan")
-        .else_("NA")
-        .end()
-    ),
+    improvements=_.raw_improvements.cases(
+        (0, "None"),
+        (1, "Poetry"),
+        (2, "Poetry + Team Plan"),
+        else_="NA",
+    )
     team_plan=ibis.where(_.raw_improvements > 1, "Poetry + Team Plan", "None"),
 )
 stats
diff --git a/docs/tutorials/ibis-for-sql-users.qmd b/docs/tutorials/ibis-for-sql-users.qmd
index 577f7b015111e..537742b876957 100644
--- a/docs/tutorials/ibis-for-sql-users.qmd
+++ b/docs/tutorials/ibis-for-sql-users.qmd
@@ -473,11 +473,11 @@ semantics:
 case = (
     t.one.cast("timestamp")
     .year()
-    .case()
-    .when(2015, "This year")
-    .when(2014, "Last year")
-    .else_("Earlier")
-    .end()
+    .cases(
+        (2015, "This year"),
+        (2014, "Last year"),
+        else_="Earlier",
+    )
 )
 
 expr = t.mutate(year_group=case)
@@ -496,18 +496,16 @@ CASE
 END
 ```
 
-To do this, use `ibis.case`:
+To do this, use `ibis.cases`:
 
 ```{python}
-case = (
-    ibis.case()
-    .when(t.two < 0, t.three * 2)
-    .when(t.two > 1, t.three)
-    .else_(t.two)
-    .end()
+cases = ibis.cases(
+    (t.two < 0, t.three * 2),
+    (t.two > 1, t.three),
+    else_=t.two,
 )
 
-expr = t.mutate(cond_value=case)
+expr = t.mutate(cond_value=cases)
 ibis.to_sql(expr)
 ```
 
diff --git a/ibis/backends/clickhouse/tests/test_operators.py b/ibis/backends/clickhouse/tests/test_operators.py
index 4ca53a3d2b9f3..3ff07ce916a45 100644
--- a/ibis/backends/clickhouse/tests/test_operators.py
+++ b/ibis/backends/clickhouse/tests/test_operators.py
@@ -201,9 +201,7 @@ def test_ifelse(alltypes, df, op, pandas_op):
 
 def test_simple_case(con, alltypes, assert_sql):
     t = alltypes
-    expr = (
-        t.string_col.case().when("foo", "bar").when("baz", "qux").else_("default").end()
-    )
+    expr = t.string_col.cases(("foo", "bar"), ("baz", "qux"), else_="default")
 
     assert_sql(expr)
     assert len(con.execute(expr))
@@ -211,12 +209,10 @@ def test_simple_case(con, alltypes, assert_sql):
 
 def test_search_case(con, alltypes, assert_sql):
     t = alltypes
-    expr = (
-        ibis.case()
-        .when(t.float_col > 0, t.int_col * 2)
-        .when(t.float_col < 0, t.int_col)
-        .else_(0)
-        .end()
+    expr = ibis.cases(
+        (t.float_col > 0, t.int_col * 2),
+        (t.float_col < 0, t.int_col),
+        else_=0,
     )
 
     assert_sql(expr)
diff --git a/ibis/backends/dask/tests/test_operations.py b/ibis/backends/dask/tests/test_operations.py
index e43e5af454933..d591cb629f9c6 100644
--- a/ibis/backends/dask/tests/test_operations.py
+++ b/ibis/backends/dask/tests/test_operations.py
@@ -774,7 +774,7 @@ def q_fun(x, quantile):
 
 
 def test_searched_case_scalar(client):
-    expr = ibis.case().when(True, 1).when(False, 2).end()
+    expr = ibis.cases((True, 1), (False, 2))
     result = client.execute(expr)
     expected = np.int8(1)
     assert result == expected
@@ -783,12 +783,8 @@ def test_searched_case_scalar(client):
 def test_searched_case_column(batting, batting_pandas_df):
     t = batting
     df = batting_pandas_df
-    expr = (
-        ibis.case()
-        .when(t.RBI < 5, "really bad team")
-        .when(t.teamID == "PH1", "ph1 team")
-        .else_(t.teamID)
-        .end()
+    expr = ibis.cases(
+        (t.RBI < 5, "really bad team"), (t.teamID == "PH1", "ph1 team"), else_=t.teamID
     )
     result = expr.execute()
     expected = pd.Series(
@@ -803,7 +799,7 @@ def test_searched_case_column(batting, batting_pandas_df):
 
 def test_simple_case_scalar(client):
     x = ibis.literal(2)
-    expr = x.case().when(2, x - 1).when(3, x + 1).when(4, x + 2).end()
+    expr = x.cases((2, x - 1), (3, x + 1), (4, x + 2))
     result = client.execute(expr)
     expected = np.int8(1)
     assert result == expected
@@ -812,14 +808,7 @@ def test_simple_case_scalar(client):
 def test_simple_case_column(batting, batting_pandas_df):
     t = batting
     df = batting_pandas_df
-    expr = (
-        t.RBI.case()
-        .when(5, "five")
-        .when(4, "four")
-        .when(3, "three")
-        .else_("could be good?")
-        .end()
-    )
+    expr = t.RBI.cases((5, "five"), (4, "four"), (3, "three"), else_="could be good?")
     result = expr.execute()
     expected = pd.Series(
         np.select(
diff --git a/ibis/backends/impala/tests/test_case_exprs.py b/ibis/backends/impala/tests/test_case_exprs.py
index e23a9436c6fb1..e1a97df344b83 100644
--- a/ibis/backends/impala/tests/test_case_exprs.py
+++ b/ibis/backends/impala/tests/test_case_exprs.py
@@ -14,13 +14,13 @@ def table(mockcon):
 
 @pytest.fixture
 def simple_case(table):
-    return table.g.case().when("foo", "bar").when("baz", "qux").else_("default").end()
+    return table.g.cases(("foo", "bar"), ("baz", "qux"), else_="default")
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
 def search_case(table):
     t = table
-    return ibis.case().when(t.f > 0, t.d * 2).when(t.c < 0, t.a * 2).end()
+    return ibis.cases((t.f > 0, t.d * 2), (t.c < 0, t.a * 2))
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
diff --git a/ibis/backends/pandas/executor.py b/ibis/backends/pandas/executor.py
index b895d892dbac9..28a6ef154f864 100644
--- a/ibis/backends/pandas/executor.py
+++ b/ibis/backends/pandas/executor.py
@@ -163,6 +163,8 @@ def visit(cls, op: ops.IsNan, arg):
     def visit(
         cls, op: ops.SearchedCase | ops.SimpleCase, cases, results, default, base=None
     ):
+        if not cases:
+            return default
         if base is not None:
             cases = tuple(base == case for case in cases)
         cases, _ = cls.asframe(cases, concat=False)
diff --git a/ibis/backends/pandas/tests/test_operations.py b/ibis/backends/pandas/tests/test_operations.py
index 3d6e78d9d2c69..5e515f8e4554c 100644
--- a/ibis/backends/pandas/tests/test_operations.py
+++ b/ibis/backends/pandas/tests/test_operations.py
@@ -684,7 +684,7 @@ def test_summary_non_numeric(batting, batting_df):
 
 
 def test_searched_case_scalar(client):
-    expr = ibis.case().when(True, 1).when(False, 2).end()
+    expr = ibis.cases((True, 1), (False, 2))
     result = client.execute(expr)
     expected = np.int8(1)
     assert result == expected
@@ -693,12 +693,10 @@ def test_searched_case_scalar(client):
 def test_searched_case_column(batting, batting_df):
     t = batting
     df = batting_df
-    expr = (
-        ibis.case()
-        .when(t.RBI < 5, "really bad team")
-        .when(t.teamID == "PH1", "ph1 team")
-        .else_(t.teamID)
-        .end()
+    expr = ibis.cases(
+        (t.RBI < 5, "really bad team"),
+        (t.teamID == "PH1", "ph1 team"),
+        else_=t.teamID,
     )
     result = expr.execute()
     expected = pd.Series(
@@ -713,7 +711,7 @@ def test_searched_case_column(batting, batting_df):
 
 def test_simple_case_scalar(client):
     x = ibis.literal(2)
-    expr = x.case().when(2, x - 1).when(3, x + 1).when(4, x + 2).end()
+    expr = x.cases((2, x - 1), (3, x + 1), (4, x + 2))
     result = client.execute(expr)
     expected = np.int8(1)
     assert result == expected
@@ -722,14 +720,7 @@ def test_simple_case_scalar(client):
 def test_simple_case_column(batting, batting_df):
     t = batting
     df = batting_df
-    expr = (
-        t.RBI.case()
-        .when(5, "five")
-        .when(4, "four")
-        .when(3, "three")
-        .else_("could be good?")
-        .end()
-    )
+    expr = t.RBI.cases((5, "five"), (4, "four"), (3, "three"), else_="could be good?")
     result = expr.execute()
     expected = pd.Series(
         np.select(
diff --git a/ibis/backends/snowflake/tests/test_udf.py b/ibis/backends/snowflake/tests/test_udf.py
index 87696fc957888..d42c459aa6ff3 100644
--- a/ibis/backends/snowflake/tests/test_udf.py
+++ b/ibis/backends/snowflake/tests/test_udf.py
@@ -118,10 +118,8 @@ def predict_price(
 
     def cases(value, mapping):
         """This should really be a top-level function or method."""
-        expr = ibis.case()
-        for k, v in mapping.items():
-            expr = expr.when(value == k, v)
-        return expr.end()
+        pairs = [(value == k, v) for k, v in mapping.items()]
+        return ibis.cases(*pairs)
 
     diamonds = con.tables.DIAMONDS
     expr = diamonds.mutate(
diff --git a/ibis/backends/sql/compiler.py b/ibis/backends/sql/compiler.py
index 71d57b7481aad..209df6050ed6f 100644
--- a/ibis/backends/sql/compiler.py
+++ b/ibis/backends/sql/compiler.py
@@ -929,6 +929,8 @@ def visit_VarianceStandardDevCovariance(self, op, *, how, where, **kw):
     )
 
     def visit_SimpleCase(self, op, *, base=None, cases, results, default):
+        if not cases:
+            return default
         return sge.Case(
             this=base, ifs=list(map(self.if_, cases, results)), default=default
         )
diff --git a/ibis/backends/tests/sql/conftest.py b/ibis/backends/tests/sql/conftest.py
index 04667e60e033b..06de1c83c8c08 100644
--- a/ibis/backends/tests/sql/conftest.py
+++ b/ibis/backends/tests/sql/conftest.py
@@ -164,13 +164,13 @@ def difference(con):
 @pytest.fixture(scope="module")
 def simple_case(con):
     t = con.table("alltypes")
-    return t.g.case().when("foo", "bar").when("baz", "qux").else_("default").end()
+    return t.g.cases(("foo", "bar"), ("baz", "qux"), else_="default")
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(scope="module")
 def search_case(con):
     t = con.table("alltypes")
-    return ibis.case().when(t.f > 0, t.d * 2).when(t.c < 0, t.a * 2).end()
+    return ibis.cases((t.f > 0, t.d * 2), (t.c < 0, t.a * 2))
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(scope="module")
diff --git a/ibis/backends/tests/sql/snapshots/test_select_sql/test_case_in_projection/decompiled.py b/ibis/backends/tests/sql/snapshots/test_select_sql/test_case_in_projection/decompiled.py
index 6058efaa962e6..1b1dcf62dca62 100644
--- a/ibis/backends/tests/sql/snapshots/test_select_sql/test_case_in_projection/decompiled.py
+++ b/ibis/backends/tests/sql/snapshots/test_select_sql/test_case_in_projection/decompiled.py
@@ -22,18 +22,14 @@
 lit2 = ibis.literal("bar")
 
 result = alltypes.select(
-    alltypes.g.case()
-    .when(lit, lit2)
-    .when(lit1, ibis.literal("qux"))
-    .else_(ibis.literal("default"))
-    .end()
-    .name("col1"),
-    ibis.case()
-    .when(alltypes.g == lit, lit2)
-    .when(alltypes.g == lit1, alltypes.g)
-    .else_(ibis.literal(None).cast("string"))
-    .end()
-    .name("col2"),
+    alltypes.g.cases(
+        (lit, lit2), (lit1, ibis.literal("qux")), else_=ibis.literal("default")
+    ).name("col1"),
+    ibis.cases(
+        (alltypes.g == lit, lit2),
+        (alltypes.g == lit1, alltypes.g),
+        else_=ibis.literal(None).cast("string"),
+    ).name("col2"),
     alltypes.a,
     alltypes.b,
     alltypes.c,
diff --git a/ibis/backends/tests/sql/test_select_sql.py b/ibis/backends/tests/sql/test_select_sql.py
index 94a52017f763f..24893739fb6eb 100644
--- a/ibis/backends/tests/sql/test_select_sql.py
+++ b/ibis/backends/tests/sql/test_select_sql.py
@@ -397,8 +397,8 @@ def test_bool_bool(snapshot):
 
 def test_case_in_projection(alltypes, snapshot):
     t = alltypes
-    expr = t.g.case().when("foo", "bar").when("baz", "qux").else_("default").end()
-    expr2 = ibis.case().when(t.g == "foo", "bar").when(t.g == "baz", t.g).end()
+    expr = t.g.cases(("foo", "bar"), ("baz", "qux"), else_=("default"))
+    expr2 = ibis.cases((t.g == "foo", "bar"), (t.g == "baz", t.g))
     expr = t[expr.name("col1"), expr2.name("col2"), t]
 
     snapshot.assert_match(to_sql(expr), "out.sql")
diff --git a/ibis/backends/tests/test_aggregation.py b/ibis/backends/tests/test_aggregation.py
index c78508d9d0e61..bef4107c0f1ea 100644
--- a/ibis/backends/tests/test_aggregation.py
+++ b/ibis/backends/tests/test_aggregation.py
@@ -680,7 +680,7 @@ def test_arbitrary(backend, alltypes, df, filtered):
     # _something_ we create a column that is a mix of nulls and a single value
     # (or a single value after filtering is applied).
     if filtered:
-        new = alltypes.int_col.cases([(3, 30), (4, 40)])
+        new = alltypes.int_col.cases((3, 30), (4, 40))
         where = _.int_col == 3
     else:
         new = (alltypes.int_col == 3).ifelse(30, None)
@@ -1428,9 +1428,7 @@ def collect_udf(v):
 
 def test_binds_are_cast(alltypes):
     expr = alltypes.aggregate(
-        high_line_count=(
-            alltypes.string_col.case().when("1-URGENT", 1).else_(0).end().sum()
-        )
+        high_line_count=alltypes.string_col.cases(("1-URGENT", 1), else_=0).sum()
     )
 
     expr.execute()
@@ -1476,7 +1474,7 @@ def test_agg_name_in_output_column(alltypes):
 def test_grouped_case(backend, con):
     table = ibis.memtable({"key": [1, 1, 2, 2], "value": [10, 30, 20, 40]})
 
-    case_expr = ibis.case().when(table.value < 25, table.value).else_(ibis.null()).end()
+    case_expr = ibis.cases((table.value < 25, table.value), else_=ibis.null())
 
     expr = (
         table.group_by(k="key").aggregate(mx=case_expr.max()).dropna("k").order_by("k")
diff --git a/ibis/backends/tests/test_generic.py b/ibis/backends/tests/test_generic.py
index 4d3c6126c01fe..96021a88b2ed8 100644
--- a/ibis/backends/tests/test_generic.py
+++ b/ibis/backends/tests/test_generic.py
@@ -356,12 +356,11 @@ def test_case_where(backend, alltypes, df):
     table = alltypes
     table = table.mutate(
         new_col=(
-            ibis.case()
-            .when(table["int_col"] == 1, 20)
-            .when(table["int_col"] == 0, 10)
-            .else_(0)
-            .end()
-            .cast("int64")
+            ibis.cases(
+                (table["int_col"] == 1, 20),
+                (table["int_col"] == 0, 10),
+                else_=0,
+            ).cast("int64")
         )
     )
 
@@ -394,9 +393,7 @@ def test_select_filter_mutate(backend, alltypes, df):
 
     # Prepare the float_col so that filter must execute
     # before the cast to get the correct result.
-    t = t.mutate(
-        float_col=ibis.case().when(t["bool_col"], t["float_col"]).else_(np.nan).end()
-    )
+    t = t.mutate(float_col=ibis.cases((t["bool_col"], t["float_col"]), else_=np.nan))
 
     # Actual test
     t = t[t.columns]
@@ -1999,6 +1996,13 @@ def test_substitute(backend):
     assert expr["subs_count"].execute()[0] == t.count().execute() // 10
 
 
+def test_cases_empty(con):
+    assert con.execute(ibis.cases()) is None
+    assert con.execute(ibis.cases(else_=2)) == 2
+    assert con.execute(ibis.literal(1).cases()) is None
+    assert con.execute(ibis.literal(1).cases(else_=2)) == 2
+
+
 @pytest.mark.notimpl(
     ["dask", "pandas", "polars"], raises=NotImplementedError, reason="not a SQL backend"
 )
diff --git a/ibis/backends/tests/test_sql.py b/ibis/backends/tests/test_sql.py
index 097bbb9cb4577..8f78d3560f899 100644
--- a/ibis/backends/tests/test_sql.py
+++ b/ibis/backends/tests/test_sql.py
@@ -65,16 +65,16 @@ def test_group_by_has_index(backend, snapshot):
     )
     expr = countries.group_by(
         cont=(
-            _.continent.case()
-            .when("NA", "North America")
-            .when("SA", "South America")
-            .when("EU", "Europe")
-            .when("AF", "Africa")
-            .when("AS", "Asia")
-            .when("OC", "Oceania")
-            .when("AN", "Antarctica")
-            .else_("Unknown continent")
-            .end()
+            _.continent.cases(
+                ("NA", "North America"),
+                ("SA", "South America"),
+                ("EU", "Europe"),
+                ("AF", "Africa"),
+                ("AS", "Asia"),
+                ("OC", "Oceania"),
+                ("AN", "Antarctica"),
+                else_="Unknown continent",
+            )
         )
     ).agg(total_pop=_.population.sum())
     sql = str(ibis.to_sql(expr, dialect=backend.name()))
diff --git a/ibis/backends/tests/test_string.py b/ibis/backends/tests/test_string.py
index 595129cb9091a..17d6cfae496d3 100644
--- a/ibis/backends/tests/test_string.py
+++ b/ibis/backends/tests/test_string.py
@@ -508,9 +508,9 @@ def uses_java_re(t):
             id="length",
         ),
         param(
-            lambda t: t.int_col.cases([(1, "abcd"), (2, "ABCD")], "dabc").startswith(
-                "abc"
-            ),
+            lambda t: t.int_col.cases(
+                (1, "abcd"), (2, "ABCD"), else_="dabc"
+            ).startswith("abc"),
             lambda t: t.int_col == 1,
             id="startswith",
             marks=[
@@ -518,7 +518,7 @@ def uses_java_re(t):
             ],
         ),
         param(
-            lambda t: t.int_col.cases([(1, "abcd"), (2, "ABCD")], "dabc").endswith(
+            lambda t: t.int_col.cases((1, "abcd"), (2, "ABCD"), else_="dabc").endswith(
                 "bcd"
             ),
             lambda t: t.int_col == 1,
@@ -694,11 +694,9 @@ def test_re_replace_global(con):
 @pytest.mark.notimpl(["druid"], raises=ValidationError)
 def test_substr_with_null_values(backend, alltypes, df):
     table = alltypes.mutate(
-        substr_col_null=ibis.case()
-        .when(alltypes["bool_col"], alltypes["string_col"])
-        .else_(None)
-        .end()
-        .substr(0, 2)
+        substr_col_null=ibis.cases(
+            (alltypes["bool_col"], alltypes["string_col"]), else_=None
+        ).substr(0, 2)
     )
     result = table.execute()
 
@@ -919,7 +917,7 @@ def test_levenshtein(con, right):
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "expr",
     [
-        param(ibis.case().when(True, "%").end(), id="case"),
+        param(ibis.cases((True, "%")), id="case"),
         param(ibis.ifelse(True, "%", ibis.NA), id="ifelse"),
     ],
 )
diff --git a/ibis/backends/tests/test_struct.py b/ibis/backends/tests/test_struct.py
index e7f078f7591a1..2101dff274779 100644
--- a/ibis/backends/tests/test_struct.py
+++ b/ibis/backends/tests/test_struct.py
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ def test_collect_into_struct(alltypes):
 @pytest.mark.notimpl(["flink"], raises=Py4JJavaError, reason="not implemented in ibis")
 def test_field_access_after_case(con):
     s = ibis.struct({"a": 3})
-    x = ibis.case().when(True, s).else_(ibis.struct({"a": 4})).end()
+    x = ibis.cases((True, s), else_=ibis.struct({"a": 4}))
     y = x.a
     assert con.to_pandas(y) == 3
 
diff --git a/ibis/backends/tests/tpch/test_h08.py b/ibis/backends/tests/tpch/test_h08.py
index 651a725b1fc8a..5ffa2f2c53101 100644
--- a/ibis/backends/tests/tpch/test_h08.py
+++ b/ibis/backends/tests/tpch/test_h08.py
@@ -42,9 +42,7 @@ def test_tpc_h08(part, supplier, region, lineitem, orders, customer, nation):
         ]
     )
 
-    q = q.mutate(
-        nation_volume=ibis.case().when(q.nation == NATION, q.volume).else_(0).end()
-    )
+    q = q.mutate(nation_volume=ibis.cases((q.nation == NATION, q.volume), else_=0))
     gq = q.group_by([q.o_year])
     q = gq.aggregate(mkt_share=q.nation_volume.sum() / q.volume.sum())
     q = q.order_by([q.o_year])
diff --git a/ibis/backends/tests/tpch/test_h12.py b/ibis/backends/tests/tpch/test_h12.py
index 0fb092beb8e31..e56efb9507f03 100644
--- a/ibis/backends/tests/tpch/test_h12.py
+++ b/ibis/backends/tests/tpch/test_h12.py
@@ -32,18 +32,10 @@ def test_tpc_h12(orders, lineitem):
     gq = q.group_by([q.l_shipmode])
     q = gq.aggregate(
         high_line_count=(
-            q.o_orderpriority.case()
-            .when("1-URGENT", 1)
-            .when("2-HIGH", 1)
-            .else_(0)
-            .end()
+            q.o_orderpriority.cases(("1-URGENT", 1), ("2-HIGH", 1), else_=0)
         ).sum(),
         low_line_count=(
-            q.o_orderpriority.case()
-            .when("1-URGENT", 0)
-            .when("2-HIGH", 0)
-            .else_(1)
-            .end()
+            q.o_orderpriority.cases(("1-URGENT", 0), ("2-HIGH", 0), else_=1)
         ).sum(),
     )
     q = q.order_by(q.l_shipmode)
diff --git a/ibis/expr/api.py b/ibis/expr/api.py
index 2dd766ac2bc8b..8114e7f206946 100644
--- a/ibis/expr/api.py
+++ b/ibis/expr/api.py
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@
     "array",
     "asc",
     "case",
+    "cases",
     "coalesce",
     "connect",
     "cross_join",
@@ -1105,56 +1106,76 @@ def interval(
     return functools.reduce(operator.add, intervals)
 
 
+@util.deprecated(instead="use ibis.cases() instead", as_of="9.0")
 def case() -> bl.SearchedCaseBuilder:
-    """Begin constructing a case expression.
+    """DEPRECATED: Use `ibis.cases()` instead."""
+    return bl.SearchedCaseBuilder()
+
+
+@deferrable
+def cases(*branches: tuple[Any, Any], else_: Any | None = None) -> ir.Value:
+    """Create a multi-branch if-else expression.
 
-    Use the `.when` method on the resulting object followed by `.end` to create a
-    complete case expression.
+    Goes through each (condition, value) pair in `branches`, finding the
+    first condition that evaluates to True, and returns the corresponding
+    value. If no condition is True, returns `else_`.
 
     Returns
     -------
-    SearchedCaseBuilder
-        A builder object to use for constructing a case expression.
+    Value
+        A value expression
 
     See Also
     --------
-    [`Value.case()`](./expression-generic.qmd#ibis.expr.types.generic.Value.case)
+    [`Value.cases()`](./expression-generic.qmd#ibis.expr.types.generic.Value.cases)
 
     Examples
     --------
     >>> import ibis
-    >>> from ibis import _
     >>> ibis.options.interactive = True
-    >>> t = ibis.memtable(
-    ...     {
-    ...         "left": [1, 2, 3, 4],
-    ...         "symbol": ["+", "-", "*", "/"],
-    ...         "right": [5, 6, 7, 8],
-    ...     }
-    ... )
-    >>> t.mutate(
-    ...     result=(
-    ...         ibis.case()
-    ...         .when(_.symbol == "+", _.left + _.right)
-    ...         .when(_.symbol == "-", _.left - _.right)
-    ...         .when(_.symbol == "*", _.left * _.right)
-    ...         .when(_.symbol == "/", _.left / _.right)
-    ...         .end()
-    ...     )
-    ... )
-    ┏━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━┓
-    ┃ left  ┃ symbol ┃ right ┃ result  ┃
-    ┡━━━━━━━╇━━━━━━━━╇━━━━━━━╇━━━━━━━━━┩
-    │ int64 │ string │ int64 │ float64 │
-    ├───────┼────────┼───────┼─────────┤
-    │     1 │ +      │     5 │     6.0 │
-    │     2 │ -      │     6 │    -4.0 │
-    │     3 │ *      │     7 │    21.0 │
-    │     4 │ /      │     8 │     0.5 │
-    └───────┴────────┴───────┴─────────┘
-
+    >>> v = ibis.memtable({"values": [1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 2, 4]}).values
+    >>> ibis.cases((v == 1, "a"), (v > 2, "b"), else_="unk").name("cases")
+    ┏━━━━━━━━┓
+    ┃ cases  ┃
+    ┡━━━━━━━━┩
+    │ string │
+    ├────────┤
+    │ a      │
+    │ unk    │
+    │ a      │
+    │ unk    │
+    │ b      │
+    │ unk    │
+    │ b      │
+    └────────┘
+    >>> ibis.cases(
+    ...     (v % 2 == 0, "divisible by 2"),
+    ...     (v % 3 == 0, "divisible by 3"),
+    ...     (v % 4 == 0, "shadowed by the 2 case"),
+    ... ).name("cases")
+    ┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓
+    ┃ cases          ┃
+    ┡━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┩
+    │ string         │
+    ├────────────────┤
+    │ NULL           │
+    │ divisible by 2 │
+    │ NULL           │
+    │ divisible by 2 │
+    │ divisible by 3 │
+    │ divisible by 2 │
+    │ divisible by 2 │
+    └────────────────┘
     """
-    return bl.SearchedCaseBuilder()
+    for b in branches:
+        try:
+            condition, result = b
+        except (TypeError, ValueError) as e:
+            raise ValueError(
+                "Each branch must be a tuple of (condition, result)"
+            ) from e
+    cases, results = zip(*branches) if branches else ([], [])
+    return ops.SearchedCase(cases=cases, results=results, default=else_).to_expr()
 
 
 def now() -> ir.TimestampScalar:
diff --git a/ibis/expr/decompile.py b/ibis/expr/decompile.py
index 43452fa0c09ac..078d015cd9dc3 100644
--- a/ibis/expr/decompile.py
+++ b/ibis/expr/decompile.py
@@ -298,16 +298,12 @@ def ifelse(op, bool_expr, true_expr, false_null_expr):
 
 @translate.register(ops.SimpleCase)
 @translate.register(ops.SearchedCase)
-def switch_case(op, cases, results, default, base=None):
-    out = f"{base}.case()" if base else "ibis.case()"
-
-    for case, result in zip(cases, results):
-        out = f"{out}.when({case}, {result})"
-
-    if default is not None:
-        out = f"{out}.else_({default})"
-
-    return f"{out}.end()"
+def switch_cases(op, cases, results, default, base=None):
+    namespace = f"{base}" if base else "ibis"
+    case_strs = [f"({case}, {result})" for case, result in zip(cases, results)]
+    cases_str = ", ".join(case_strs)
+    else_str = f", else_={default}" if default is not None else ""
+    return f"{namespace}.cases({cases_str}{else_str})"
 
 
 _infix_ops = {
diff --git a/ibis/expr/operations/generic.py b/ibis/expr/operations/generic.py
index 754029e292b52..11f6b8bfa0258 100644
--- a/ibis/expr/operations/generic.py
+++ b/ibis/expr/operations/generic.py
@@ -281,11 +281,24 @@ class SimpleCase(Value):
     results: VarTuple[Value]
     default: Value
 
-    shape = rlz.shape_like("base")
-
-    def __init__(self, cases, results, **kwargs):
+    def __init__(self, base, cases, results, default):
         assert len(cases) == len(results)
-        super().__init__(cases=cases, results=results, **kwargs)
+
+        for case in cases:
+            if not rlz.comparable(base, case):
+                raise TypeError(
+                    f"Base expression {rlz._arg_type_error_format(base)} and "
+                    f"case {rlz._arg_type_error_format(case)} are not comparable"
+                )
+
+        if default.dtype.is_null() and results:
+            default = Cast(default, rlz.highest_precedence_dtype(results))
+        super().__init__(base=base, cases=cases, results=results, default=default)
+
+    @attribute
+    def shape(self):
+        exprs = [self.base, *self.cases, *self.results, self.default]
+        return rlz.highest_precedence_shape(exprs)
 
     @attribute
     def dtype(self):
@@ -301,14 +314,14 @@ class SearchedCase(Value):
 
     def __init__(self, cases, results, default):
         assert len(cases) == len(results)
-        if default.dtype.is_null():
+        if default.dtype.is_null() and results:
             default = Cast(default, rlz.highest_precedence_dtype(results))
         super().__init__(cases=cases, results=results, default=default)
 
     @attribute
     def shape(self):
-        # TODO(kszucs): can be removed after making Sequence iterable
-        return rlz.highest_precedence_shape(self.cases)
+        exprs = [*self.cases, *self.results, self.default]
+        return rlz.highest_precedence_shape(exprs)
 
     @attribute
     def dtype(self):
diff --git a/ibis/expr/operations/logical.py b/ibis/expr/operations/logical.py
index 78a33de77e1cc..af99b99668582 100644
--- a/ibis/expr/operations/logical.py
+++ b/ibis/expr/operations/logical.py
@@ -137,9 +137,9 @@ def shape(self):
 
 @public
 class IfElse(Value):
-    """Ternary case expression, equivalent to.
+    """Ternary case expression.
 
-    bool_expr.case().when(True, true_expr).else_(false_or_null_expr)
+    Equivalent to bool_expr.cases((True, true_expr), else_=false_or_null_expr)
 
     Many backends implement this as a built-in function.
     """
diff --git a/ibis/expr/types/generic.py b/ibis/expr/types/generic.py
index b9e26756a86f1..37bee4c3b9d39 100644
--- a/ibis/expr/types/generic.py
+++ b/ibis/expr/types/generic.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
-from collections.abc import Iterable, Sequence
+from collections.abc import Sequence
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any
 
 from public import public
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 import ibis.expr.builders as bl
 import ibis.expr.datatypes as dt
 import ibis.expr.operations as ops
+from ibis import util
 from ibis.common.deferred import Deferred, _, deferrable
 from ibis.common.grounds import Singleton
 from ibis.expr.rewrites import rewrite_window_input
@@ -717,19 +718,16 @@ def substitute(
         └────────┴──────────────┘
         """
         if isinstance(value, dict):
-            expr = ibis.case()
-            try:
-                null_replacement = value.pop(None)
-            except KeyError:
-                pass
-            else:
-                expr = expr.when(self.isnull(), null_replacement)
-            for k, v in value.items():
-                expr = expr.when(self == k, v)
+            branches = sorted(value.items())
         else:
-            expr = self.case().when(value, replacement)
-
-        return expr.else_(else_ if else_ is not None else self).end()
+            branches = [(value, replacement)]
+        nulls = [(k, v) for k, v in branches if k is None]
+        nonnulls = [(k, v) for k, v in branches if k is not None]
+        if nulls:
+            null_replacement = nulls[0][1]
+            self = self.fillna(null_replacement)
+        else_ = else_ if else_ is not None else self
+        return self.cases(*nonnulls, else_=else_)
 
     def over(
         self,
@@ -865,99 +863,32 @@ def notnull(self) -> ir.BooleanValue:
         """
         return ops.NotNull(self).to_expr()
 
+    @util.deprecated(instead="use Value.cases() instead", as_of="9.0")
     def case(self) -> bl.SimpleCaseBuilder:
-        """Create a SimpleCaseBuilder to chain multiple if-else statements.
-
-        Add new search expressions with the `.when()` method. These must be
-        comparable with this column expression. Conclude by calling `.end()`.
-
-        Returns
-        -------
-        SimpleCaseBuilder
-            A case builder
-
-        See Also
-        --------
-        [`Value.substitute()`](./expression-generic.qmd#ibis.expr.types.generic.Value.substitute)
-        [`ibis.cases()`](./expression-generic.qmd#ibis.expr.types.generic.Value.cases)
-        [`ibis.case()`](./expression-generic.qmd#ibis.case)
-
-        Examples
-        --------
-        >>> import ibis
-        >>> ibis.options.interactive = True
-        >>> x = ibis.examples.penguins.fetch().head(5)["sex"]
-        >>> x
-        ┏━━━━━━━━┓
-        ┃ sex    ┃
-        ┡━━━━━━━━┩
-        │ string │
-        ├────────┤
-        │ male   │
-        │ female │
-        │ female │
-        │ NULL   │
-        │ female │
-        └────────┘
-        >>> x.case().when("male", "M").when("female", "F").else_("U").end()
-        ┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓
-        ┃ SimpleCase(sex, 'U') ┃
-        ┡━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┩
-        │ string               │
-        ├──────────────────────┤
-        │ M                    │
-        │ F                    │
-        │ F                    │
-        │ U                    │
-        │ F                    │
-        └──────────────────────┘
-
-        Cases not given result in the ELSE case
-
-        >>> x.case().when("male", "M").else_("OTHER").end()
-        ┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓
-        ┃ SimpleCase(sex, 'OTHER') ┃
-        ┡━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┩
-        │ string                   │
-        ├──────────────────────────┤
-        │ M                        │
-        │ OTHER                    │
-        │ OTHER                    │
-        │ OTHER                    │
-        │ OTHER                    │
-        └──────────────────────────┘
-
-        If you don't supply an ELSE, then NULL is used
-
-        >>> x.case().when("male", "M").end()
-        ┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓
-        ┃ SimpleCase(sex, Cast(None, string)) ┃
-        ┡━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┩
-        │ string                              │
-        ├─────────────────────────────────────┤
-        │ M                                   │
-        │ NULL                                │
-        │ NULL                                │
-        │ NULL                                │
-        │ NULL                                │
-        └─────────────────────────────────────┘
-        """
-        import ibis.expr.builders as bl
-
+        """DEPRECATED: Use `self.cases()` instead."""
         return bl.SimpleCaseBuilder(self.op())
 
     def cases(
         self,
-        case_result_pairs: Iterable[tuple[ir.BooleanValue, Value]],
-        default: Value | None = None,
+        *branches: tuple[Value, Value],
+        else_: Value | None = None,
     ) -> Value:
-        """Create a case expression in one shot.
+        """Create a multi-branch if-else expression.
+
+        This is semantically equivalent to
+        CASE self
+          WHEN test_val0 THEN result0
+          WHEN test_val1 THEN result1
+          ELSE else_
+        END
 
         Parameters
         ----------
-        case_result_pairs
-            Conditional-result pairs
-        default
+        branches
+            (test_val, result) pairs. We look through the test values in order
+            and return the result corresponding to the first test value that
+            matches `self`. If none match, we return `else_`.
+        else_
             Value to return if none of the case conditions are true
 
         Returns
@@ -968,48 +899,52 @@ def cases(
         See Also
         --------
         [`Value.substitute()`](./expression-generic.qmd#ibis.expr.types.generic.Value.substitute)
-        [`ibis.cases()`](./expression-generic.qmd#ibis.expr.types.generic.Value.cases)
-        [`ibis.case()`](./expression-generic.qmd#ibis.case)
+        [`ibis.cases()`](./expression-generic.qmd#ibis.cases)
 
         Examples
         --------
         >>> import ibis
         >>> ibis.options.interactive = True
-        >>> t = ibis.memtable({"values": [1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 2, 4]})
-        >>> t
-        ┏━━━━━━━━┓
-        ┃ values ┃
-        ┡━━━━━━━━┩
-        │ int64  │
-        ├────────┤
-        │      1 │
-        │      2 │
-        │      1 │
-        │      2 │
-        │      3 │
-        │      2 │
-        │      4 │
-        └────────┘
-        >>> number_letter_map = ((1, "a"), (2, "b"), (3, "c"))
-        >>> t.values.cases(number_letter_map, default="unk").name("replace")
-        ┏━━━━━━━━━┓
-        ┃ replace ┃
-        ┡━━━━━━━━━┩
-        │ string  │
-        ├─────────┤
-        │ a       │
-        │ b       │
-        │ a       │
-        │ b       │
-        │ c       │
-        │ b       │
-        │ unk     │
-        └─────────┘
+        >>> t = ibis.memtable(
+        ...     {
+        ...         "left": [5, 6, 7, 8, 9],
+        ...         "symbol": ["+", "-", "*", "/", "bogus"],
+        ...         "right": [1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
+        ...     }
+        ... )
+        >>> t.mutate(
+        ...     result=(
+        ...         t.symbol.cases(
+        ...             ("+", t.left + t.right),
+        ...             ("-", t.left - t.right),
+        ...             ("*", t.left * t.right),
+        ...             ("/", t.left / t.right),
+        ...         )
+        ...     )
+        ... )
+        ┏━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━┓
+        ┃ left  ┃ symbol ┃ right ┃ result  ┃
+        ┡━━━━━━━╇━━━━━━━━╇━━━━━━━╇━━━━━━━━━┩
+        │ int64 │ string │ int64 │ float64 │
+        ├───────┼────────┼───────┼─────────┤
+        │     5 │ +      │     1 │     6.0 │
+        │     6 │ -      │     2 │     4.0 │
+        │     7 │ *      │     3 │    21.0 │
+        │     8 │ /      │     4 │     2.0 │
+        │     9 │ bogus  │     5 │    NULL │
+        └───────┴────────┴───────┴─────────┘
         """
-        builder = self.case()
-        for case, result in case_result_pairs:
-            builder = builder.when(case, result)
-        return builder.else_(default).end()
+        for b in branches:
+            try:
+                test, result = b
+            except (TypeError, ValueError) as e:
+                raise ValueError(
+                    "Each branch must be a tuple of (condition, result)"
+                ) from e
+        cases, results = zip(*branches) if branches else ([], [])
+        return ops.SimpleCase(
+            base=self, cases=cases, results=results, default=else_
+        ).to_expr()
 
     def collect(self, where: ir.BooleanValue | None = None) -> ir.ArrayScalar:
         """Aggregate this expression's elements into an array.
diff --git a/ibis/expr/types/numeric.py b/ibis/expr/types/numeric.py
index 56d5c2dea178c..b7396c576b833 100644
--- a/ibis/expr/types/numeric.py
+++ b/ibis/expr/types/numeric.py
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
-import functools
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Literal
 
 from public import public
@@ -1143,13 +1142,7 @@ def label(self, labels: Iterable[str], nulls: str | None = None) -> ir.StringVal
         │     2 │ c       │
         └───────┴─────────┘
         """
-        return (
-            functools.reduce(
-                lambda stmt, inputs: stmt.when(*inputs), enumerate(labels), self.case()
-            )
-            .else_(nulls)
-            .end()
-        )
+        return self.cases(*enumerate(labels), else_=nulls)
 
 
 @public
diff --git a/ibis/expr/types/relations.py b/ibis/expr/types/relations.py
index c0cd7cb6e1d03..cb25cc80fcca1 100644
--- a/ibis/expr/types/relations.py
+++ b/ibis/expr/types/relations.py
@@ -2872,9 +2872,7 @@ def info(self) -> Table:
         for pos, colname in enumerate(self.columns):
             col = self[colname]
             typ = col.type()
-            agg = self.select(
-                isna=ibis.case().when(col.isnull(), 1).else_(0).end()
-            ).agg(
+            agg = self.select(isna=ibis.cases((col.isnull(), 1), else_=0)).agg(
                 name=lit(colname),
                 type=lit(str(typ)),
                 nullable=lit(typ.nullable),
diff --git a/ibis/tests/expr/test_case.py b/ibis/tests/expr/test_case.py
index 89e5b3b7df7b4..c8efe09590a30 100644
--- a/ibis/tests/expr/test_case.py
+++ b/ibis/tests/expr/test_case.py
@@ -1,11 +1,14 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import pytest
+
 import ibis
 import ibis.expr.datatypes as dt
 import ibis.expr.operations as ops
 import ibis.expr.types as ir
 from ibis import _
-from ibis.tests.util import assert_equal, assert_pickle_roundtrip
+from ibis.common.annotations import SignatureValidationError
+from ibis.tests.util import assert_pickle_roundtrip
 
 
 def test_ifelse_method(table):
@@ -44,72 +47,63 @@ def test_ifelse_function_deferred(table):
     assert res.equals(sol)
 
 
-def test_simple_case_expr(table):
-    case1, result1 = "foo", table.a
-    case2, result2 = "bar", table.c
-    default_result = table.b
-
-    expr1 = table.g.lower().cases(
-        [(case1, result1), (case2, result2)], default=default_result
-    )
-
-    expr2 = (
-        table.g.lower()
-        .case()
-        .when(case1, result1)
-        .when(case2, result2)
-        .else_(default_result)
-        .end()
-    )
+def test_err_on_bad_args(table):
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        ibis.cases((True,))
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        ibis.cases((True, 3, 4))
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        ibis.cases((True, 3, 4))
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        ibis.cases((True, 3), 5)
 
-    assert_equal(expr1, expr2)
-    assert isinstance(expr1, ir.IntegerColumn)
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        table.a.cases(("foo",))
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        table.a.cases(("foo", 3, 4))
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        table.a.cases(("foo", 3, 4))
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        table.a.cases(("foo", 3), 5)
 
 
 def test_multiple_case_expr(table):
-    expr = (
-        ibis.case()
-        .when(table.a == 5, table.f)
-        .when(table.b == 128, table.b * 2)
-        .when(table.c == 1000, table.e)
-        .else_(table.d)
-        .end()
+    expr = ibis.cases(
+        (table.a == 5, table.f),
+        (table.b == 128, table.b * 2),
+        (table.c == 1000, table.e),
+        else_=table.d,
     )
 
     # deferred cases
-    deferred = (
-        ibis.case()
-        .when(_.a == 5, table.f)
-        .when(_.b == 128, table.b * 2)
-        .when(_.c == 1000, table.e)
-        .else_(table.d)
-        .end()
+    deferred = ibis.cases(
+        (_.a == 5, table.f),
+        (_.b == 128, table.b * 2),
+        (_.c == 1000, table.e),
+        else_=table.d,
     )
     expr2 = deferred.resolve(table)
 
     # deferred results
-    expr3 = (
-        ibis.case()
-        .when(table.a == 5, _.f)
-        .when(table.b == 128, _.b * 2)
-        .when(table.c == 1000, _.e)
-        .else_(table.d)
-        .end()
-        .resolve(table)
-    )
+    expr3 = ibis.cases(
+        (table.a == 5, _.f),
+        (table.b == 128, _.b * 2),
+        (table.c == 1000, _.e),
+        else_=table.d,
+    ).resolve(table)
 
     # deferred default
-    expr4 = (
-        ibis.case()
-        .when(table.a == 5, table.f)
-        .when(table.b == 128, table.b * 2)
-        .when(table.c == 1000, table.e)
-        .else_(_.d)
-        .end()
-        .resolve(table)
+    expr4 = ibis.cases(
+        (table.a == 5, table.f),
+        (table.b == 128, table.b * 2),
+        (table.c == 1000, table.e),
+        else_=_.d,
+    ).resolve(table)
+
+    assert (
+        repr(deferred)
+        == "cases(((_.a == 5), <column[float64]>), ((_.b == 128), <column[int32]>), ((_.c == 1000), <column[float32]>), else_=<column[int64]>)"
     )
-
-    assert repr(deferred) == "<case>"
     assert expr.equals(expr2)
     assert expr.equals(expr3)
     assert expr.equals(expr4)
@@ -130,13 +124,11 @@ def test_pickle_multiple_case_node(table):
     result3 = table.e
 
     default = table.d
-    expr = (
-        ibis.case()
-        .when(case1, result1)
-        .when(case2, result2)
-        .when(case3, result3)
-        .else_(default)
-        .end()
+    expr = ibis.cases(
+        (case1, result1),
+        (case2, result2),
+        (case3, result3),
+        else_=default,
     )
 
     op = expr.op()
@@ -144,7 +136,7 @@ def test_pickle_multiple_case_node(table):
 
 
 def test_simple_case_null_else(table):
-    expr = table.g.case().when("foo", "bar").end()
+    expr = table.g.cases(("foo", "bar"))
     op = expr.op()
 
     assert isinstance(expr, ir.StringColumn)
@@ -154,8 +146,8 @@ def test_simple_case_null_else(table):
 
 
 def test_multiple_case_null_else(table):
-    expr = ibis.case().when(table.g == "foo", "bar").end()
-    expr2 = ibis.case().when(table.g == "foo", _).end().resolve("bar")
+    expr = ibis.cases((table.g == "foo", "bar"))
+    expr2 = ibis.cases((table.g == "foo", _)).resolve("bar")
 
     assert expr.equals(expr2)
 
@@ -172,8 +164,61 @@ def test_case_mixed_type():
         name="my_data",
     )
 
-    expr = (
-        t0.three.case().when(0, "low").when(1, "high").else_("null").end().name("label")
-    )
+    expr = t0.three.cases((0, "low"), (1, "high"), else_="null").name("label")
     result = t0[expr]
     assert result["label"].type().equals(dt.string)
+
+
+def test_err_on_nonbool(table):
+    with pytest.raises(SignatureValidationError):
+        ibis.cases((table.a, "bar"), else_="baz")
+
+
+@pytest.mark.xfail(reason="Literal('foo', type=bool), should error, but doesn't")
+def test_err_on_nonbool2():
+    with pytest.raises(SignatureValidationError):
+        ibis.cases(("foo", "bar"), else_="baz")
+
+
+def test_err_on_noncomparable(table):
+    table.a.cases((8, "bar"))
+    table.a.cases((-8, "bar"))
+    # Can't compare an int to a string
+    with pytest.raises(TypeError):
+        table.a.cases(("foo", "bar"))
+
+
+def test_empty_cases(table):
+    ibis.cases()
+    ibis.cases(else_=42)
+    table.a.cases()
+    table.a.cases(else_=42)
+
+
+def test_dtype():
+    assert isinstance(ibis.cases((True, "bar"), (False, "bar")), ir.StringValue)
+    assert isinstance(ibis.cases((True, None), else_="bar"), ir.StringValue)
+    with pytest.raises(TypeError):
+        assert ibis.cases((True, 5), (False, "bar"))
+    with pytest.raises(TypeError):
+        assert ibis.cases((True, 5), else_="bar")
+
+
+def test_dshape(table):
+    assert isinstance(ibis.cases((True, "bar"), (False, "bar")), ir.Scalar)
+    assert isinstance(ibis.cases((True, None), else_="bar"), ir.Scalar)
+    assert isinstance(ibis.cases((table.b == 9, None), else_="bar"), ir.Column)
+    assert isinstance(ibis.cases((True, table.a), else_=42), ir.Column)
+    assert isinstance(ibis.cases((True, 42), else_=table.a), ir.Column)
+    assert isinstance(ibis.cases((True, table.a), else_=table.b), ir.Column)
+
+    assert isinstance(ibis.literal(5).cases((9, 42)), ir.Scalar)
+    assert isinstance(ibis.literal(5).cases((9, 42), else_=43), ir.Scalar)
+    assert isinstance(ibis.literal(5).cases((table.a, 42)), ir.Column)
+    assert isinstance(ibis.literal(5).cases((9, table.a)), ir.Column)
+    assert isinstance(ibis.literal(5).cases((table.a, table.b)), ir.Column)
+    assert isinstance(ibis.literal(5).cases((9, 42), else_=table.a), ir.Column)
+    assert isinstance(table.a.cases((9, 42)), ir.Column)
+    assert isinstance(table.a.cases((table.b, 42)), ir.Column)
+    assert isinstance(table.a.cases((9, table.b)), ir.Column)
+    assert isinstance(table.a.cases((table.a, table.b)), ir.Column)
diff --git a/ibis/tests/expr/test_value_exprs.py b/ibis/tests/expr/test_value_exprs.py
index 5ded2434bfbfc..2e564b833af7e 100644
--- a/ibis/tests/expr/test_value_exprs.py
+++ b/ibis/tests/expr/test_value_exprs.py
@@ -822,23 +822,11 @@ def test_substitute_dict():
     subs = {"a": "one", "b": table.bar}
 
     result = table.foo.substitute(subs)
-    expected = (
-        ibis.case()
-        .when(table.foo == "a", "one")
-        .when(table.foo == "b", table.bar)
-        .else_(table.foo)
-        .end()
-    )
+    expected = table.foo.cases(("a", "one"), ("b", table.bar), else_=table.foo)
     assert_equal(result, expected)
 
     result = table.foo.substitute(subs, else_=ibis.NA)
-    expected = (
-        ibis.case()
-        .when(table.foo == "a", "one")
-        .when(table.foo == "b", table.bar)
-        .else_(ibis.NA)
-        .end()
-    )
+    expected = table.foo.cases(("a", "one"), ("b", table.bar), else_=ibis.NA)
     assert_equal(result, expected)