Under pic math the \cases becomes a picture due to the \left and \right operations.
<..plain,latex math..>+
\NewConfigure{cases}[8]{\c:def\a:cases{#1}\c:def\b:cases{#2}%
\c:def\c:cases{#5}\c:def\d:cases{#6}\c:def\e:cases{#7}%
\c:def\f:cases{#8}\c:def\g:cases{#3}\c:def\h:cases{#4}}
\Configure{cases}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}
-_-_-
<..plain,latex math..>+
\def\:tempc#1{\tx:halign{cases}{#1}}
\HLet\cases=\:tempc
\catcode‘\#13 \catcode‘\!6
\def\reg:cases!1{\left\{\vcenter{\normalbaselines\m@th \g:cases
\SaveMkHalignConf:g{cases}\RecallTeXcr
\MkHalign#{$#$&{#}}!1\crcr
\EndMkHalign\RecallMkHalignConfig \h:cases}\right.}
\catcode‘\#=6 \catcode‘\!=12
-_-_-