diff --git a/effekt/shared/src/main/scala/effekt/Namer.scala b/effekt/shared/src/main/scala/effekt/Namer.scala
index 844f88370..ad4a8a11e 100644
--- a/effekt/shared/src/main/scala/effekt/Namer.scala
+++ b/effekt/shared/src/main/scala/effekt/Namer.scala
@@ -704,6 +704,15 @@ object Namer extends Phase[Parsed, NameResolved] {
       patterns.flatMap { resolve }
     case source.MultiPattern(patterns, _) =>
       patterns.flatMap { resolve }
+    case source.OrPattern(patterns, _) =>
+      patterns.foreach { p =>
+        val bindings = resolve(p)
+        if (bindings.nonEmpty) {
+          val bs = bindings.map { b => pretty"`${b.name}`" }.mkString(", ")
+          Context.error(pretty"Pattern ${p} binds ${bs}, but or-patterns should not bind values.")
+        }
+      }
+      Nil
   }
 
   def resolve(p: source.MatchGuard)(using Context): Unit = p match {
diff --git a/effekt/shared/src/main/scala/effekt/Parser.scala b/effekt/shared/src/main/scala/effekt/Parser.scala
index 8aa94351f..7bc519db3 100644
--- a/effekt/shared/src/main/scala/effekt/Parser.scala
+++ b/effekt/shared/src/main/scala/effekt/Parser.scala
@@ -910,7 +910,7 @@ class Parser(positions: Positions, tokens: Seq[Token], source: Source) {
 
   def matchClause(): MatchClause =
     nonterminal:
-      val patterns = `case` ~> some(matchPattern, `,`)
+      val patterns = `case` ~> some(orPattern, `,`)
       val pattern: MatchPattern = patterns match {
         case Many(List(pat), _) => pat
         case pats => MultiPattern(pats.unspan, pats.span)
@@ -930,25 +930,39 @@ class Parser(positions: Positions, tokens: Seq[Token], source: Source) {
 
   def matchGuard(): MatchGuard =
     nonterminal:
-      expr() ~ when(`is`) { Some(matchPattern()) } { None } match {
+      expr() ~ when(`is`) { Some(orPattern()) } { None } match {
         case e ~ Some(p) => MatchGuard.PatternGuard(e, p, span())
         case e ~ None    => MatchGuard.BooleanGuard(e, span())
       }
 
+  // TODO check positions and potentially change syntax
+  def orPattern(): MatchPattern =
+    nonterminal:
+      val subpatterns = ListBuffer.empty[MatchPattern]
+      subpatterns.addOne(matchPattern())
+      while (peek.kind == TokenKind.`|`) {
+        next()
+        subpatterns.addOne(matchPattern())
+      }
+      subpatterns.toList match {
+        case p :: Nil => p
+        case ps => OrPattern(ps, span())
+      }
+
   def matchPattern(): MatchPattern =
     nonterminal:
       peek.kind match {
         case `__` => skip(); IgnorePattern(span())
         case _ if isVariable  =>
           idRef() match {
-            case id if peek(`(`) => TagPattern(id, many(matchPattern, `(`, `,`, `)`).unspan, span())
+            case id if peek(`(`) => TagPattern(id, many(orPattern, `(`, `,`, `)`).unspan, span())
             case IdRef(Nil, name, span) => AnyPattern(IdDef(name, span), span)
             case IdRef(_, name, _) => fail("Cannot use qualified names to bind a pattern variable")
           }
         case _ if isVariable =>
           AnyPattern(idDef(), span())
         case _ if isLiteral => LiteralPattern(literal(), span())
-        case `(` => some(matchPattern, `(`, `,`, `)`) match {
+        case `(` => some(orPattern, `(`, `,`, `)`) match {
           case Many(p :: Nil , _) => fail("Pattern matching on tuples requires more than one element")
           case Many(ps, _) => TagPattern(IdRef(List("effekt"), s"Tuple${ps.size}", span().synthesized), ps, span())
         }
diff --git a/effekt/shared/src/main/scala/effekt/Typer.scala b/effekt/shared/src/main/scala/effekt/Typer.scala
index 61ccf6773..a42c953a4 100644
--- a/effekt/shared/src/main/scala/effekt/Typer.scala
+++ b/effekt/shared/src/main/scala/effekt/Typer.scala
@@ -609,8 +609,13 @@ object Typer extends Phase[NameResolved, Typechecked] {
       }
 
       bindings
+
     case source.MultiPattern(patterns, _) =>
       Context.panic("Multi-pattern should have been split at the match and not occur nested.")
+
+    case source.OrPattern(patterns, _) =>
+      patterns.foreach { p => checkPattern(sc, p) }
+      Map.empty
   } match { case res => Context.annotateInferredType(pattern, sc); res }
 
   def checkGuard(guard: MatchGuard)(using Context, Captures): Result[Map[Symbol, ValueType]] = guard match {
diff --git a/effekt/shared/src/main/scala/effekt/core/PatternMatchingCompiler.scala b/effekt/shared/src/main/scala/effekt/core/PatternMatchingCompiler.scala
index 04ae6f906..9e1ccf319 100644
--- a/effekt/shared/src/main/scala/effekt/core/PatternMatchingCompiler.scala
+++ b/effekt/shared/src/main/scala/effekt/core/PatternMatchingCompiler.scala
@@ -224,9 +224,17 @@ object PatternMatchingCompiler {
       core.Match(scrutinee, branches, default)
     }
 
+    // (3c) Split or-patterns
+    def splitOnOr(ps: List[Pattern]) =
+      val Clause(Condition.Patterns(patterns) :: rest, target, targs, args) = headClause : @unchecked
+      compile(ps.map { p =>
+        Clause(Condition.Patterns(patterns + (scrutinee -> p)) :: rest, target, targs, args)
+      } ++ remainingClauses)
+
     patterns(scrutinee) match {
       case Pattern.Literal(lit, equals) => splitOnLiteral(lit, equals)
       case p: Pattern.Tag => splitOnTag()
+      case Pattern.Or(ps) => splitOnOr(ps)
       case _ => ???
     }
   }
@@ -278,9 +286,11 @@ object PatternMatchingCompiler {
       case Condition.Patterns(other) :: rest =>
         val substituted = other.map(substitute)
         val additionalSubst = substituted.collect { case (sc, Pattern.Any(id)) => id -> sc }
-        val filtered = substituted.collect {
-          case (sc, p: Pattern.Tag) => sc -> p
-          case (sc, p: Pattern.Literal) => sc -> p
+        val filtered = substituted.flatMap {
+          case (sc, p: Pattern.Tag) => Some(sc -> p)
+          case (sc, p: Pattern.Literal) => Some(sc -> p)
+          case (sc, p: Pattern.Or) => Some(sc -> p)
+          case (sc, Pattern.Ignore() | Pattern.Any(_)) => None
         }
         normalize(patterns ++ filtered, rest, substitution ++ additionalSubst)
 
diff --git a/effekt/shared/src/main/scala/effekt/core/Transformer.scala b/effekt/shared/src/main/scala/effekt/core/Transformer.scala
index 23b6f762c..1ad5253d6 100644
--- a/effekt/shared/src/main/scala/effekt/core/Transformer.scala
+++ b/effekt/shared/src/main/scala/effekt/core/Transformer.scala
@@ -670,6 +670,7 @@ object Transformer extends Phase[Typechecked, CoreTransformed] {
       case source.TagPattern(id, patterns, _) => patterns.flatMap(boundInPattern)
       case _: source.LiteralPattern | _: source.IgnorePattern => Nil
       case source.MultiPattern(patterns, _) => patterns.flatMap(boundInPattern)
+      case source.OrPattern(patterns, _) => Nil
     }
     def boundInGuard(g: source.MatchGuard): List[core.ValueParam] = g match {
       case MatchGuard.BooleanGuard(condition, _) => Nil
@@ -680,6 +681,7 @@ object Transformer extends Phase[Typechecked, CoreTransformed] {
       case p @ source.TagPattern(id, patterns, _) => Context.annotation(Annotations.TypeParameters, p) ++ patterns.flatMap(boundTypesInPattern)
       case _: source.LiteralPattern | _: source.IgnorePattern => Nil
       case source.MultiPattern(patterns, _) => patterns.flatMap(boundTypesInPattern)
+      case source.OrPattern(patterns, _) => Nil
     }
     def boundTypesInGuard(g: source.MatchGuard): List[Id] = g match {
       case MatchGuard.BooleanGuard(condition, _) => Nil
@@ -718,6 +720,8 @@ object Transformer extends Phase[Typechecked, CoreTransformed] {
         Pattern.Literal(Literal(value, transform(tpe)), equalsFor(tpe))
       case source.MultiPattern(patterns, _) =>
         Context.panic("Multi-pattern should have been split on toplevel / nested MultiPattern")
+      case source.OrPattern(pattern, _) =>
+        Pattern.Or(pattern.map(transformPattern))
     }
 
     def transformGuard(p: source.MatchGuard): List[Condition] =
diff --git a/effekt/shared/src/main/scala/effekt/source/Tree.scala b/effekt/shared/src/main/scala/effekt/source/Tree.scala
index 86e39bdb8..7aada779a 100644
--- a/effekt/shared/src/main/scala/effekt/source/Tree.scala
+++ b/effekt/shared/src/main/scala/effekt/source/Tree.scala
@@ -658,7 +658,14 @@ enum MatchPattern extends Tree {
    *
    * Currently should *only* occur in lambda-cases during Parsing
    */
-  case MultiPattern(patterns: List[MatchPattern], span: Span) extends MatchPattern
+  case MultiPattern(patterns: List[MatchPattern], span: Span)
+
+  /**
+   * A pattern with different alternatives that share the right and side
+   *
+   *   case "a" | "b" => ...
+   */
+  case OrPattern(patterns: List[MatchPattern], span: Span)
 }
 export MatchPattern.*
 
diff --git a/effekt/shared/src/main/scala/effekt/typer/ExhaustivityChecker.scala b/effekt/shared/src/main/scala/effekt/typer/ExhaustivityChecker.scala
index 8dde6c09e..264e67074 100644
--- a/effekt/shared/src/main/scala/effekt/typer/ExhaustivityChecker.scala
+++ b/effekt/shared/src/main/scala/effekt/typer/ExhaustivityChecker.scala
@@ -114,6 +114,7 @@ object ExhaustivityChecker {
     case LiteralPattern(lit, _) => Pattern.Literal(lit.value, lit.tpe)
     case MultiPattern(patterns, _) =>
       Context.panic("Multi-pattern should have been split in preprocess already / nested MultiPattern")
+    case OrPattern(patterns, _) => Pattern.Any() // TODO
   }
   def preprocessGuard(g: source.MatchGuard)(using Context): Condition = g match {
     case MatchGuard.BooleanGuard(condition, _) =>