Banding, a keyword ability in Magic: The Gathering, is often regarded as one of the most confusing and intricate mechanics in the game’s history. Introduced in the early days of Magic, it allowed for unique and strategic combat scenarios, but its complexity led to its eventual phasing out. Despite its rarity in modern Magic, understanding Banding can provide valuable insights into the game’s evolution and offer a novel challenge for players seeking to explore its older mechanics. This comprehensive guide will delve deep into the rules, nuances, and implications of Banding, empowering you to master this perplexing ability.
What Exactly is Banding?
At its core, Banding is a keyword ability that primarily affects combat. It allows a player to group multiple attacking creatures into a single ‘band’ that shares a collective combat role. This band, however, isn’t a single unit; each creature within it still retains its individual characteristics and status. The most crucial aspect of Banding lies in how it manipulates damage assignment and, to a lesser extent, blocking.
Banding comes in two main forms: basic Banding and ‘bands with other’, which has slightly more specific constraints. We will cover both variations in detail below. Understanding the distinctions is key to mastering this mechanic.
Banding vs. Other Keywords
Before we go deeper, it’s important to distinguish Banding from similar mechanics that exist in Magic: The Gathering. Banding is not the same as:
- Trample: Trample allows excess damage to ‘bleed over’ from attacking creatures onto the defending player. Banding does not inherently alter how damage is assigned, just who assigns it.
- First Strike/Double Strike: These keywords affect when creatures deal combat damage in the combat phase. Banding does not alter the timing of damage, only the allocation.
- Teamwork: Banding is not a general teamwork mechanic. It applies specifically during the combat phase.
- Creature Groups: While it might feel like you are creating a single unit, the creatures remain as separate entities.
Banding is unique in how it changes the way damage is assigned during combat.
Basic Banding: How It Works
A creature with Banding can form a ‘band’ during the declare attackers phase. Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how it works:
- Declaring Attackers: When declaring attackers, you can choose to declare a band. A band must include at least one creature with Banding and can include other attacking creatures that don’t have Banding.
- Forming the Band: You, as the attacker, choose which creatures to include in the band. Note that the creatures within the band have to attack the same player or planeswalker. Also note, a creature may only be in one band.
- Blocking: The defending player declares blockers as normal, targeting individual creatures or bands. This is where the defender must choose which creatures will block which of your attackers, which is not changed by the existance of a band.
- Damage Assignment (the critical step): This is where Banding really shines. With no Banding, the defending player decides how to assign damage from their blocking creatures to each of your attacking creatures. With Banding, the attacker decides how to assign damage from the defending blockers to the creatures in their band..
- Damage Resolution: Once damage assignment is complete, creatures deal their damage and are marked as lethal if appropriate.
Key Points About Basic Banding:
- Attacker Control: The key is that the attacking player decides how damage is assigned by blockers to the banded creatures. This is a significant advantage since the attacking player can minimize losses. This means you are able to ensure that the most fragile creatures in the band (usually) receive the least damage in combat.
- Damage Prevention: Banding is not itself a damage prevention mechanic. If a blocker has more power than the combined toughness of the creatures in the band, then excess damage cannot be assigned to the player or any other creatures.
- Multiple Bands: You can have multiple bands in the same combat phase, as long as there is at least one creature with banding in each of the bands.
- No Blocking Band: There is no ‘blocking band’ concept. Banding only applies to how damage is assigned by blockers to the attacking creatures.
Example of Basic Banding in Action
Let’s say you attack with three creatures:
- A 2/2 creature with Banding (let’s call it Banding Warrior).
- A 1/1 creature (we’ll call it Weak Warrior).
- A 3/3 creature (let’s call it Strong Warrior).
You band the Banding Warrior, Weak Warrior and Strong Warrior together. Your opponent blocks your band with a 4/4 creature. Without Banding, your opponent would be able to assign 4 damage across your 3 attackers however they want. With banding, you decide how the 4 damage is assigned. Here’s how you might choose to distribute the damage:
- Banding Warrior: Takes 1 damage.
- Weak Warrior: Takes 1 damage.
- Strong Warrior: Takes 2 damage.
Because you control damage assignment, you choose to let your 1/1 creature be destroyed, which might be less impactful than your bigger creatures dying. Without Banding, the defending player could assign the 4 damage to kill Strong Warrior and inflict damage to another of your creatures.
Bands with Other: A More Specific Form of Banding
Bands with other is a subtype of Banding that adds a restriction on the creatures that can be included in a band. A creature with ‘bands with other [creature type or card name]’ can only form a band with the creature type or the specific card named. Here’s how it differs from basic Banding:
- Specific Restrictions: A card like ‘Mesa Pegasus’ would have ‘bands with other Pegasus’. This means it can form a band only with another creature with the ‘Pegasus’ creature type.
- Functionally Identical: Once a band is formed with the appropriate creatures, it functions identically to a basic Banding band. The attacker is still in charge of how damage is assigned to creatures in the band.
- More Limited: ‘Bands with other’ makes the Banding ability significantly more limited, requiring specific deck composition to maximize its utility.
Example of Bands with Other
Suppose you have two creatures:
- ‘Mesa Pegasus’, a 1/1 with ‘bands with other Pegasus’.
- ‘Another Pegasus’, another 1/1 with ‘bands with other Pegasus’.
- ‘Knight Errant’, a 2/2 creature with no banding ability.
You can band Mesa Pegasus with Another Pegasus, but not with the Knight Errant. The band of pegasus creatures will function the same as if they had banding, with the attacker allocating damage to the defending creature. The Knight Errant will function as a normal attacker.
Strategic Implications of Banding
Banding is not just a rules quirk; it has profound strategic implications that can swing the tide of a game. Here’s what makes Banding strategically relevant:
- Damage Mitigation: The primary strength of Banding is its ability to redirect damage during the blocking phase. This means that you can protect high-value creatures by having more disposable creatures take the brunt of blocking damage. This is extremely important as it provides a large amount of control over damage assignment.
- Aggressive Attacks: With Banding, players can attack more aggressively, knowing that they can minimize losses in combat. This allows for more frequent and effective attacks that can threaten your opponent.
- Deck Building Constraints: The need to have creatures with banding to make it work forces you to consider your card choices very carefully and commit to a specific strategy.
- Strategic Depth: Understanding and using Banding adds a complex layer to combat, forcing players to think about damage assignment beyond simply attacking and blocking with brute force.
- Defensive Weakness: Banding is powerful on the attack, however it is virtually useless on defense.
The Drawbacks of Banding
While Banding can be powerful in the right hands, it’s not without its drawbacks:
- Complexity: Banding is a notoriously complex rule, which often trips up new and experienced players alike. The rules surrounding how and when to assign damage require careful attention and understanding, which can be confusing for players.
- Limited Card Pool: There are not many cards with Banding. The fact that it was phased out many years ago makes creating a strong deck with the mechanic difficult. It is possible, but it requires a larger commitment to card hunting.
- Situational Usefulness: Banding is only relevant during combat. If your strategy relies less on combat, Banding will be less useful.
- Ineffective vs. Flyers: Banding is not useful against flying creatures, especially when used offensively.
- Limited Synergies: Banding does not interact with other common combat mechanics like First Strike, Trample, or Double Strike, limiting how often you can effectively use it.
Why Banding Was Phased Out
Given its complexities and often confusing nature, Wizards of the Coast phased out Banding and the associated ‘bands with other’ ability many years ago. Here are the primary reasons:
- Complexity for New Players: The complex rules of Banding made it hard for new players to grasp. It created confusing situations which could lead to frustration and misunderstandings in games.
- Limited Design Space: The designers found that the design space for Banding was limited. Creating new and exciting cards with this mechanic was not easy.
- Niche Appeal: Banding was a niche mechanic that only appealed to a small section of the player base. It is an ability that requires an additional level of effort to understand and requires you to change your game plan around it.
- Better, More Streamlined Mechanics: As Magic evolved, other more streamlined mechanics took over, providing similar functionality without the rules baggage of Banding.
Banding in Commander and Casual Play
While not present in modern constructed formats, Banding can still be found in older sets and is available in formats like Commander and Casual Play. Here’s how it fares in these environments:
- Niche Appeal in Commander: Commander players often enjoy exploring unique and quirky mechanics, making Banding a fun, if niche, inclusion in a casual deck.
- Challenges and Novelty: Banding creates a strategic puzzle that can be fun for players interested in exploring older mechanics and finding creative solutions.
- Requires Careful Deck Construction: Successfully using a Banding deck requires specific card choices to maximize the benefits and minimize the disadvantages.
- Casual Fun: In casual play, Banding can be a way to add an unexpected element of complexity and fun to a game.
Building a Banding Deck
If you’re looking to build a deck around Banding, here are some tips:
- Focus on Creatures with Banding: Your first priority is to secure enough creatures with the Banding mechanic in your collection.
- Consider ‘Bands with Other’: If using the specific ‘bands with other’ mechanic is useful for you, then search for cards that have this mechanic.
- Protect Your Banding Creatures: Ensure you have some means of protecting your creatures since there aren’t that many of them available.
- Include Card Draw and Ramp: Standard deck building elements are important too, and shouldn’t be left out just for the sake of including more Banding creatures.
- Test and Adjust: Banding is a mechanic that requires testing and adjustments as you play. Don’t be afraid to change card composition as needed.
Conclusion: Embracing the Complexity of Banding
Banding in Magic: The Gathering is a complex and often misunderstood mechanic that has a surprisingly large amount of depth. While no longer a major part of modern Magic, it provides insight into the game’s early years and offers a unique challenge for players seeking to explore all aspects of the game. By understanding how Banding works, you can add another layer of strategic thinking to your games. Banding requires you to be more creative with deck building as you need to include enough cards that allow you to create viable bands. It also gives you a greater level of control over damage allocation during combat. While it has some draw backs, and can be complex to understand at first, the benefits of understanding it are worth the time investment if you are looking to expand your Magic The Gathering understanding. Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or a newer player, understanding Banding can enrich your appreciation for the game’s long and fascinating history.