Severed Strands MTG Card

Severed Strands allows managing opponent’s threats while improving your life total, synergizing with sacrifice-mechanics decks. Its utility and combo potential make it a viable choice for specific deck builds, especially in creature-centric metas. Understanding its balance of sacrifice and advantage is key for players aiming to counterplay effectively.

Severed Strands - Guilds of Ravnica (GRN)

Guilds of Ravnica (GRN)
2018-10-05 - Number 85

Severed Strands - Double Masters 2022 (2X2)

Double Masters 2022 (2X2)
2022-07-08 - Number 88

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Common
Type	Sorcery

Text of card

As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice a creature. You gain life equal to the sacrificed creature's toughness. Destroy target creature an opponent controls.

"I've seen Ravnica's fate. Believe me, I'm doing you a favor."

Cards like Severed Strands

Severed Strands serves as a unique addition to the plethora of removal options in Magic: The Gathering. It bears likeness to other spells like Fungal Infection or Moment of Craving in that they too serve the purpose of eliminating creatures. However, Severed Strands distinctively requires the sacrifice of a creature as an additional cost to cast it, in exchange for life gain and removal in a single package.

Comparing it further, there’s Bone Splinters, which also mandates a creature sacrifice for its casting, but unlike Severed Strands, it doesn’t offer any life gain. This makes Severed Strands a more appealing choice for decks that benefit from both removal and life gain strategies. Altar’s Reap is another card with a sacrifice element, designed primarily for card draw rather than creature removal. While it doesn’t deal with opposing threats, it provides a different resource advantage.

To summarize, Severed Strands stands out among similar MTG cards for its ability to disrupt the battlefield while bolstering your own life total, making it a valuable card for decks that synergize with sacrifice and life gain mechanics.

Cards similar to Severed Strands by color, type and mana cost

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Severed Strands provides a two-for-one payoff by enabling you to eliminate an opposing creature while gaining life in the process. This exchange can tip the scales in your favor by depleting your opponent’s resources while boosting your own.

Resource Acceleration: While not directly accelerating mana resources, Severed Strands can utilize creatures that have already served their purpose, such as those with enter-the-battlefield effects, effectively making the spell’s cost less impactful on your board presence and turning a potentially redundant creature into a valuable asset.

Instant Speed: Although Severed Strands does not operate at instant speed, its sorcery speed is countered by the advantages it brings when played strategically during your turn. It allows for well-planned interactions with sacrifice triggers and ensures that you can safely navigate through your opponent’s defenses or pinpoint key threats to remove on your terms.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Severed Strands demands the sacrifice of a creature upon casting, which can be a strategic setback if you’re not poised to utilize the death of your creature to your advantage or if your board presence is scarce.

Specific Mana Cost: This spell’s casting cost requires one black mana, making it less flexible for decks that aren’t heavily invested in black mana sources or those running a wide array of colors.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although costing two mana may seem low, the additional cost of sacrificing a creature elevates the actual cost and might outweigh the benefits compared to other creature removal options that don’t erode your board state.

Reasons to Include Severed Strands in Your Collection

Versatility: Severed Strands provides a powerful two-in-one utility for decks. It not only acts as creature removal, which can disrupt opponent strategies, but it also offers a life gain component which can be crucial in tight matchups.

Combo Potential: This card synergizes with decks that capitalize on sacrificing creatures, whether to trigger death-related abilities or to pave the way for larger threats by clearing the board.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where the board gets crowded with creatures or where preserving life total is key, Severed Strands serves as an excellent tool. Its capability to remove problematic creatures while bolstering your own life makes it relevant in various meta scenarios.

How to beat

Severed Strands ranks as a quirky yet potent removal spell within Magic: The Gathering, presenting a unique dynamic in gameplay. Standing out by requiring the sacrifice of a creature as part of its cost, it offers both life gain and the ability to target and destroy a creature an opponent controls. The nuanced strategy to conquer this card lies in understanding the balance of power and sacrifice on the board.

To effectively counter Severed Strands, players should aim to limit the value their opponent gains from the sacrifice. This can be accomplished by maintaining a board state where the player doesn’t have expendable creatures to use as fodder for Severed Strands. Employing instant-speed removals or effects that exile or bounce the potential sacrifice to the owner’s hand when an opponent tries to cast Severed Strands can disrupt their strategy, forcing them to lose the spell without gaining its benefits.

Moreover, leaning on creatures with hexproof or indestructible negates the removal aspect of Severed Strands. By crafting a deck with these strategies and capitalizing on the moments when an opponent may be vulnerable during the sacrifice, MTG players stand a better chance of turning the tables and rendering Severed Strands less formidable.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Severed Strands MTG card by a specific set like Guilds of Ravnica and Double Masters 2022, 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 Severed Strands and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Severed Strands Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2018-10-05 and 2022-07-08. Illustrated by Zack Stella.

#	Released	Name	Code	Symbol	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	2018-10-05	Guilds of Ravnica	GRN		85	2015	Normal	Black	Zack Stella
2	2022-07-08	Double Masters 2022	2X2		88	2015	Normal	Black	Zack Stella

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Severed Strands has restrictions

Format	Legality
Historicbrawl	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Commander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Penny	Legal
Timeless	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2018-10-05	If the target creature is a legal target but can’t be destroyed, most likely because it has indestructible, you still gain life.
2018-10-05	If the target creature is an illegal target by the time Severed Strands tries to resolve, the spell doesn’t resolve. You don’t gain life.
2018-10-05	The amount of life gained is equal to the sacrificed creature’s toughness as it last existed on the battlefield.
2018-10-05	You must sacrifice exactly one creature to cast this spell; you can’t cast it without sacrificing a creature, and you can’t sacrifice additional creatures.