Sever the Bloodline MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 7 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityRare
TypeSorcery
Abilities Flashback

Key Takeaways

  1. Sever the Bloodline excels at removing identical threats, optimizing card advantage with its exile ability.
  2. Its instant speed and flexibility in use complement a range of defensive and offensive strategies.
  3. The card’s high mana cost requires thoughtful deck construction for optimal mana management.

Text of card

Exile target creature and all other creatures with the same name as that creature. Flashback (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.)


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Sever the Bloodline provides a two-for-one potential or better, allowing you to exile multiple creatures sharing the same name, this can lead to significant card advantage over your opponent if used strategically during gameplay.

Resource Acceleration: While the card itself does not directly accelerate resources, removing key creatures from your opponent can indirectly accelerate your board state advantage. This is because your opponent may lose crucial combo pieces or threats that would have otherwise consumed your resources.

Instant Speed: The fact that Sever the Bloodline can be cast at instant speed provides flexibility in gameplay, permitting you to respond to threats on your opponent’s turn or at the end of their turn, allowing for surprise plays and optimal timing when exiling creatures.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: This particular card does not have a discard requirement, but it’s important to be aware of your deck’s composition and resources when playing cards with such demands.

Specific Mana Cost: Sever the Bloodline necessitates a precise mana cost, including two black mana, which could be challenging for multicolor decks to accommodate, particularly when you need to be mana-flexible.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of four mana, including two that must be black, Sever the Bloodline can be considered costly. This can be particularly noticeable when you’re trying to maintain tempo against more aggressive decks that capitalize on low-cost creatures and spells.


Reasons to Include Sever the Bloodline in Your Collection

Versatility: Sever the Bloodline offers a unique set of abilities that allow it to adapt to various gameplay scenarios. Not only does it exile a creature and all others with the same name, which is ideal for dealing with token strategies or powerful duplicates, it also comes with flashback, meaning it can be used twice, further stretching its utility.

Combo Potential: In decks that manipulate the graveyard, Sever the Bloodline gains extra value. Its synergy with strategies that recycle or cast spells from the graveyard can turn it into a recurring threat, disrupting opponent strategies not just once but potentially multiple times throughout a game.

Meta-Relevance: Given its ability to handle swarms of creature tokens or repetitive threats that many decks in the current meta rely on, Sever the Bloodline holds a place as a relevant sideboard card, if not a mainboard staple in certain metas where these strategies are prevalent.


How to beat

Sever the Bloodline is a robust removal spell in Magic: The Gathering, known for its ability to exile target creature and all other creatures with the same name. It’s an especially powerful card against decks that capitalize on creature tokens or copies. However, to tackle this formidable card, thinking about strategy diversity is key. Playing a deck with a wide variety of single creatures reduces the impact of Sever the Bloodline, as it minimizes the chances of having multiple creatures with the same name on the battlefield.

Moreover, incorporating counterspells or using instant-speed hexproof-granting spells can help protect your key creatures from being exiled. Playing around Sever the Bloodline involves anticipating it and having the appropriate response. It’s also beneficial to apply pressure with non-creature threats or employ graveyard retrieval mechanics to bounce back from a hit. Effective deck-building that anticipates and mitigates the consequences of removal spells is crucial in maintaining the upper hand against cards like Sever the Bloodline.


Cards like Sever the Bloodline

Sever the Bloodline is a unique removal option in the vast repertoire of Magic: The Gathering. It stands alongside other single-target exile spells, such as Utter End and Anguished Unmaking. These cards differ slightly in their mana costs and have no targeting restrictions, but they do not offer the sweep potential that Sever the Bloodline does with its flashback ability, allowing it to be used a second time from the graveyard.

Another comparable card is Curse of the Swine. Despite being a sorcery like Sever the Bloodline, it allows for mass exile and provides a way to deal with numerous threats at once by turning them into harmless creatures. However, it lacks the recursion that Sever the Bloodline’s flashback provides, which can be pivotal in longer games. Lastly, there’s Merciless Eviction, which offers a more versatile solution by allowing the choice to exile all artifacts, creatures, or planeswalkers, but at a steeper mana cost and without the repeatability provided by flashback.

Overall, Sever the Bloodline offers a unique combination of single and potential multi-target exile efficiency, which is unmatched by similar cards in its ability to systematically dismantle enemy strategies not once, but twice, should the game’s tides call for it.

Utter End - MTG Card versions
Anguished Unmaking - MTG Card versions
Curse of the Swine - MTG Card versions
Merciless Eviction - MTG Card versions
Utter End - Khans of Tarkir Promos (PKTK)
Anguished Unmaking - Shadows over Innistrad Promos (PSOI)
Curse of the Swine - Theros (THS)
Merciless Eviction - Gatecrash (GTC)

Cards similar to Sever the Bloodline by color, type and mana cost

Stench of Evil - MTG Card versions
Fatal Lore - MTG Card versions
Mind Warp - MTG Card versions
Final Strike - MTG Card versions
Persecute - MTG Card versions
Ancient Craving - MTG Card versions
Unmask - MTG Card versions
Reprocess - MTG Card versions
Befoul - MTG Card versions
Agonizing Memories - MTG Card versions
Mutilate - MTG Card versions
Extinction Event - MTG Card versions
Terisiare's Devastation - MTG Card versions
Zombify - MTG Card versions
Cranial Extraction - MTG Card versions
Diabolic Tutor - MTG Card versions
Aphetto Dredging - MTG Card versions
Memoricide - MTG Card versions
Massacre - MTG Card versions
All Hallow's Eve - MTG Card versions
Stench of Evil - Ice Age (ICE)
Fatal Lore - Alliances (ALL)
Mind Warp - Fifth Edition (5ED)
Final Strike - Portal (POR)
Persecute - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Ancient Craving - Crimson Vow Commander (VOC)
Unmask - From the Vault: Lore (V16)
Reprocess - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Befoul - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Agonizing Memories - Tenth Edition (10E)
Mutilate - Warhammer 40,000 Commander (40K)
Extinction Event - Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths (IKO)
Terisiare's Devastation - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Zombify - Masters 25 (A25)
Cranial Extraction - Champions of Kamigawa (CHK)
Diabolic Tutor - Secret Lair Drop (SLD)
Aphetto Dredging - Premium Deck Series: Slivers (H09)
Memoricide - Scars of Mirrodin (SOM)
Massacre - Magic Online Theme Decks (TD0)
All Hallow's Eve - Magic Online Theme Decks (TD0)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Sever the Bloodline MTG card by a specific set like Innistrad and Commander 2015, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Sever the Bloodline and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Sever the Bloodline Magic the Gathering card was released in 7 different sets between 2011-09-30 and 2023-03-21. Illustrated by Clint Cearley.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12011-09-30InnistradISD 1152003normalblackClint Cearley
22015-11-13Commander 2015C15 1362015normalblackClint Cearley
32016-02-26Duel Decks: Blessed vs. CursedDDQ 632015normalblackClint Cearley
42017-03-17Modern Masters 2017MM3 842015normalblackClint Cearley
52017-06-09Commander AnthologyCMA 672015normalblackClint Cearley
62022-04-29New Capenna CommanderNCC 2592015normalblackClint Cearley
72023-03-21Shadows of the PastSIS 332015normalblackClint Cearley

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Sever the Bloodline has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
CommanderLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
GladiatorLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Sever the Bloodline card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

DateText
2017-03-14 A double-faced creature only has the name of the face that's up. For example, if Village Ironsmith is targeted by Sever the Bloodline, Ironfang wouldn't be exiled.
2017-03-14 If the targeted creature is an illegal target by the time Sever the Bloodline resolves, it won't resolve and none of its effects will happen. No creatures will be exiled.
2017-03-14 Only creatures on the battlefield will be exiled. In other zones, they're “creature cards,” not “creatures.”
2021-03-19 A spell cast using flashback will always be exiled afterward, whether it resolves, is countered, or leaves the stack in some other way.
2021-03-19 If a card with flashback is put into your graveyard during your turn, you can cast it if it's legal to do so before any other player can take any actions.
2021-03-19 To determine the total cost of a spell, start with the mana cost or alternative cost (such as a flashback cost) you're paying, add any cost increases, then apply any cost reductions. The mana value of the spell is determined only by its mana cost, no matter what the total cost to cast the spell was.
2021-03-19 You can cast a spell using flashback even if it was somehow put into your graveyard without having been cast.
2021-03-19 You must still follow any timing restrictions and permissions, including those based on the card's type. For instance, you can cast a sorcery using flashback only when you could normally cast a sorcery.
2021-03-19Flashback
-ost]” means “You may cast this card from your graveyard by paying
-ost] rather than paying its mana cost” and “If the flashback cost was paid, exile this card instead of putting it anywhere else any time it would leave the stack.”
2022-06-10 Unless a token is a copy of another permanent or was explicitly given a name by the effect that created it, its name is the subtypes it was given when it was created plus the word "Token." For example, if an effect creates a 1/1 Soldier creature token, that token is named "Soldier Token."

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