Rule 702.21. Banding. The bane of even experienced Magic judges, it is an ability that evokes more confusion than a Salvador Dali painting. The simplified reminder text alone takes up most of the card, and the official rules are twelve explanation points long (for comparison, trample, another rules heavy mechanic, has five points; flying has three). For all the confusion surrounding it, I believe it’s fairly simple, and this article will attempt to clarify it for you.
Cutting through the legalese of the rules text, banding can be simplified into three main points. The first of these is that as you declare attackers, you may have any number of creatures with banding, and up to one without, become a band (702.21c). You may have any number of bands, all creatures in a band attack the same thing, and a creature can’t be in more than one band. With me so far? Great.
Secondly, while declaring blockers, if one creature in a band becomes blocked, the whole band does as well (702.21h). This does allow “impossible” blocks to happen, because rules. Most notably, Progenitus (otherwise known as M.C. Hammer) can be blocked if it’s in a band. This is the only known scenario where an unmodified Progenitus can be blocked. Rules are great, aren’t they?
The third point deals with the distribution of combat damage. Normally a creature’s controller determines where its damage goes, but any time a creature with banding is involved, that creature’s controller chooses where it goes (702.21j and .21k). Because the defending player distributes the damage, a creature with banding blocking a creature with trample means that all damage can be redirected to the creature, sparing the player.
This article does not cover all possible scenarios and completely ignores the “bands with others” modification, so I’ve provided the rule numbers for you. Banding is hands down my favorite mechanic because it’s so dang enjoyable to use (and it’s busted). As it is a 10 on the Storm Scale, we’re never going to see it again, so I’ll have to enjoy my Helm of Chatzuks and Fortified Areas, such as I have. Oh, well, one can only dream. Have a good whatever!
