Recently there is a strong industrial need for high wear-resistant tool steels. To meet the complex requirements of high-performance tools the development of novel steels with adapted processing routes is demanded. At the same time costs for alloying elements are increasing, and strategic elements are to be avoided. For this purpose, a novel low-alloyed Fe-0.3Cr-0.4Mo-1.5Mn–3Ni-0.6C (wt%) steel was processed by gravity casting in a copper mould. As a result of the fast cooling, a fine microstructure composed of austenite and martensite is observed. The alloy exhibits high tensile and compressive strength -also under dynamic loading- already in the as-cast state and shows adequate deformability. Furthermore, a transformation induced plasticity (TRIP) could be detected by XRD studies of deformed samples. Due to these microstructural characteristics a higher abrasive wear resistance for the developed FeCrMoMnNiC alloy in comparison to the commercial low alloyed martensitic Hardox®600 (Figure 1a) could be obtained. SEM investigations of the worn surface reveal different wear mechanisms. For FeCrMoMnNiC the predominant mechanism micro-ploughing with low material loss is observed, whereas the analyses of Hardox®600 indicates surface spalling (Figure 1 b and c). Concluding, the novel designed cast steel offers  a high potential for tooling applications.