Mana Severance

Mana Severance was released in 1997 as part of the Tempest expansion for Magic: The Gathering. Designed by Mike Elliott, the set introduced mechanics focused on graveyard interaction and aggressive play styles, with Mana Severance appearing as a blue rare card intended to thin a player's library of lands to increase the probability of drawing high-impact spells. It emerged during a pivotal era for the game, where the power level of combo-enabling cards was being carefully explored by Wizards of the Coast.

The card features illustration by Margaret Organ-Kean, whose work on the set captures the surreal, high-fantasy aesthetic characteristic of late-nineties Magic art. Her design depicts a figure surrounded by swirling ethereal energy, visually representing the card's function of stripping basic lands from the deck. The card remains a niche but noted inclusion in various combo archetypes, often discussed by players for its unique mechanical identity in the early history of the game.