banding

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what exactly is banding?

 

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On Sat, 9 Oct 2004 11:34:53 +0200, "cemo" <cemo@rock.com> wrote:

>what exactly is banding?

Short answer (outline only):

Banding allows creatures to form a band. When attacking all but one
(in that band) must have banding. When defending, any number of
creatures can band as long as at least one of them has banding.

If any creature in a attacking band is blocked, all creatures in that
band is blocked (5 flyers banding with 1 non-flyer -> one non-flyer
blocks the non-flyer -> all 6 band members are blocked by the
non-flyer).

When combat damage must be assigned to a band, the band's controller
assigns the damage. <- Kinda the point of banding.


Long answer:

502.10. Banding

502.10a Banding is a static ability that modifies the rules for
declaring attackers and assigning combat damage.

502.10b As a player declares attackers, he or she may declare that any
number of those creatures with banding, and up to one of those
creatures without banding, are all in a "band." (Defending players
can't declare bands but may use banding in a different way; see rule
502.10h.)

502.10c A player may declare as many attacking bands as he or she
wants, but each creature may be a member of only one of them.

502.10d Once an attacking band has been announced, it lasts for the
rest of combat, even if something later removes the banding ability
from one or more creatures. However, creatures in a band that are
removed from combat are also removed from the band.

502.10e If an attacking creature becomes blocked by a creature, each
other creature in the same band as the attacking creature becomes
blocked by that same blocking creature.
Example: A player attacks with a band consisting of a creature with
flying and a creature with swampwalk. The defending player, who
controls a Swamp, can block the flying creature if able. If he or she
does, then the creature with swampwalk will also become blocked by the
blocking creature(s).

502.10f Banding doesn't cause attacking creatures to share abilities,
nor does it remove any abilities. The attacking creatures in a band
are separate permanents.

502.10g If one member of a band would become blocked due to an effect,
the entire band becomes blocked.

502.10h A player who controls an attacking creature with banding
chooses how combat damage is assigned by creatures blocking that
creature. A player who controls a blocking creature with banding
chooses how combat damage is assigned by creatures it blocks. If the
creature had banding when it attacked or blocked, but the ability was
removed before the combat damage step, damage is assigned normally.

502.10i Multiple instances of banding on the same creature are
redundant.


Note that a creature can also have "Bands with Other", which is
banding with restrictions on who to band with.

--
Regards
Simon Nejmann

 

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cemo <cemo@rock.com> wrote:
>what exactly is banding?

Well, for one thing, it's an ability not used since Mirage block, so it's not
important now except in Types I / 1.5 .

But, having said that:

Banding had two parts, entirely separate from each other, and is still on the
Top Five Keyword Abilities Most Confusing To Players list.

The second part was simple: You get to assign combat damage from creatures
blocking or blocked by this creature.
This means that if your bander, and some other creatures of yours, blocked
an attacking creature, _you_, not attacker, decided how to divide up the combat
damage from the attacker, among those blockers. (And among yourself too if the
attacker had Trample.) It also means that if your attacking band (see below)
gets blocked, you decide where the blocker's damage goes among the creatures
in the band, rather than defending player doing so.

The first part was more complex: While declaring attackers, you can decide to
make an attacking "band" out of any number of attackers with banding, plus
an optional one attacker WITHOUT banding. They're all still separate creatures,
all still attackers, but if something blocks any ONE of them, it instead blocks
all of them at once, even if it normally can't block multiple creatures or
normally can't block one or more of the -other- attacking creatures. A band of
attackers gets blocked as a group, rather than individually, in other words
(though a blocker must be able to block at least _one_ of the attackers or
else it's still out of luck).

The first part is a disadvantage for attacker. But it's balanced out by the
second part, since if your attacking band gets blocked (and nothing _removes_
banding from all its members before combat damage), _you_ decide where the
blocker damage goes, not defending player. Thus if you attack with two 1/1
banding creatures and a 7/7 regular creature, all in one band, and a 10/8
blocker blocks them, you could assign all 10 damage from the blocker onto one
of the 1/1s...

Dave
--
\/David DeLaney posting from dbd@vic.com "It's not the pot that grows the flower
It's not the clock that slows the hour The definition's plain for anyone to see
Love is all it takes to make a family" - R&P. VISUALIZE HAPPYNET VRbeable<BLINK>
http://www.vic.com/~dbd/ - net.legends FAQ & Magic / I WUV you in all CAPS! --K.

 

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Archived from groups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.rules (More info?)

In <ck8bbk$67a$1@ls219.htnet.hr> "cemo" <cemo@rock.com> writes:

> what exactly is banding?

In a nutshell, it allows you to form your creatures into a group and assign
blocking damage as you wish among those creatures.

For example:

Your opponent is attacking with a 4/4 creature. You block with four 1/1
creatures.

Without banding, your opponent would presumably choose to assign one
damage to each of your 1/1 creatures, killing them all.

But if one of your blocking creatures has banding, then *you* get to
decide where the damage goes. So you could assign all four damage to
one of your creatures, saving the other three.

Banding for an attack is similar, but has some drawbacks. ALL of the
attacking creatures in a group except one must have the banding ability.
In other words, in order to attack with a band of three creatures, at
least two of those creatures must have banding. (As opposed to blocking,
where only ONE creature in the group needs it.)

Also, if any creature in the attacking band is blocked, then the whole
band is considered to be blocked, so it can render evasion abilities
(flying, landwalk, shadow) useless.

--
John Gordon "Between BST melee, their spells, their warders' melee,
gordon@panix.com and their warders' procs, they put out enough damage
to make monks cry." -- Dark Tyger