Pattern Recognition #42 - Band of Brothers

Opinion Pattern Recognition

berryjon

31 August 2017

2660 views

Hello everyone! My name is berryjon, and I am TappedOut.net's resident Old Fogey and part-time Smart Ass! I write Pattern Recognition, a series of articles that talk about Magic's history, its present and its future. I'll even shoehorn in a reference to the Time Spiral block if I can! Because I can. ;)

I admit it, Teferi's Protection is beautiful and thought provoking. And I am looking forward to the endless questions about how Phasing works, and for people to try to figure out how to get around it. (Here's the answer: You can't, that's the point.)

But the existence of this mechanic makes me wonder about the other mechanic that is considered too complicated to ever come back properly.

And as I've never given any indication that this is anything other than what it is, let's show you just how the complicated the rules really are:

702.21. Banding
702.21a Banding is a static ability that modifies the rules for combat.
702.21b “Bands with other” is a special form of banding. If an effect causes a permanent to lose banding, the permanent loses all “bands with other” abilities as well.
702.21c As a player declares attackers, he or she may declare that one or more attacking creatures with banding and up to one attacking creature without banding (even if it has “bands with other”) are all in a “band.” He or she may also declare that one or more attacking [quality] creatures with “bands with other [quality]” and any number of other attacking [quality] creatures are all in a band. 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. (Defending players can’t declare bands but may use banding in a different way; see rule 702.21j.)
702.21d All creatures in an attacking band must attack the same player or planeswalker.
702.21e Once an attacking band has been announced, it lasts for the rest of combat, even if something later removes banding or “bands with other” from one or more of the creatures in the band.
702.21f An attacking creature that’s removed from combat is also removed from the band it was in.
702.21g Banding doesn’t cause attacking creatures to share abilities, nor does it remove any abilities. The attacking creatures in a band are separate permanents.
702.21h 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).
702.21i If one member of a band would become blocked due to an effect, the entire band becomes blocked.
702.21j During the combat damage step, if an attacking creature is being blocked by a creature with banding, or by both a [quality] creature with “bands with other [quality]” and another [quality] creature, the defending player (rather than the active player) chooses how the attacking creature’s damage is assigned. That player can divide that creature’s combat damage as he or she chooses among any number of creatures blocking it. This is an exception to the procedure described in rule 510.1c.
702.21k During the combat damage step, if a blocking creature is blocking a creature with banding, or both a [quality] creature with “bands with other [quality]” and another [quality] creature, the active player (rather than the defending player) chooses how the blocking creature’s damage is assigned. That player can divide that creature’s combat damage as he or she chooses among any number of creatures it’s blocking. This is an exception to the procedure described in rule 510.1d.
702.21m Multiple instances of banding on the same creature are redundant. Multiple instances of “bands with other” of the same kind on the same creature are redundant.

Now, what the heck does that all translate to? Well, on the defense, whenever creatures band together, the defending player rather than the attacking player determines how the damage is allocated to the defending creatures. All blocks must still be legal of course, but 702.21J is, in my experience the most common use of Banding.

On the attack though, things get really complicated. You can form a "Band" of any number of creatures with Banding in addition to one other creature without banding. They effectively combine their power and toughness, and should one component creature in the Band be blocked, then the whole thing is.

So, uh, what does this all mean?

Well, let's get the mechanics out of the way first so I can move on to the intent and flavor of the mechanic, then even talk about a couple other things that sorta-work like it.

As I mentioned, 702.21J is the most common use of the Banding mechanic. When teaching new players the ins and outs of combat, explaining how you can have multiple creatures block a single attacking creature can be a little confusing. I think these are people who are used to the 1-on-1 combat of ... other game systems.

But once they get the difference between "Chump Blocking" - which is throwing a disposable creature in the way of a much larger and more dangerous one, "Trading" - where the creatures mutually kill each other, and "Bad for the Attacker" - where the defending creature outright wins in combat, the idea that you can throw multiple creatures into the fray to turn a Chump into a Trade or a Bad is a revelation to them.

Or maybe it's a problem with my teaching style? Eh, a question for another day.

But the problem with multi-blocking is that the attacker can still pick and choose who dies. Let me give an example. Andy is attacking with a Watchwolf, and Nancy decides to block with a Alaborn Trooper and a Glory Seeker. Now, because Andy is the attacker, he can determine how the combat damage from his Watchwolf is determined.

BUT if one of those defending creatures has Banding, like say replacing the Glory Seeker with a Noble Elephant, then the defending Nancy gets to determine how the damage is distributed. In this case, instead of losing one of the creatures she controls to the Watchwolf's 3 Power, she can instead declare that the Alaborn Trooper receives 2 damage and the Noble Elephant takes 1 damage. Because of this, the Watchwolf dies, and neither of the defending creatures do!

Now recall that this is the simplest and most easy way to invoke Banding. But once you get into attacking, things quickly become more complicated. Let me try to explain.

In normal combat, each creature attacks distinctly and by itself. While all attacks happen at the same time, each attacking creature is treated as a unique attacker for the purposes of blocking. However, when you form a Band to attack, all the attacking creatures are considered a unique instance of an attacker, while at the same time having each participating creature be uniquely attacking.

Yeah, that's not working.

A "Band" is a group of creatures that share the Banding keyword. They attack as a single attacker (and thus can be blocked by only one creature), but each creature contributes to combat uniquely.

In other words, an example. Ash is attacking with a Benalish Hero that is equipped with a Loxodon Warhammer, and is in a Band with a Kjeldoran Skycaptain. The Benalish Hero is a 4/1 with Lifelink and Trample, while the Kjeldoran Skycaptain is a 2/2 with Flying a First Strike. Now, because the Kjeldoran Skycaptain is in the Band, and has flying, any creature that has the restriction of "May only block creatures with flying" may block the Band, and creatures that cannot block flyers (like those without Reach or Flying themselves) can block because the Benalish Hero does not have Flying.

Banding does not create a creature that is the sum of its parts. The above Band is not a 6/3 with Flying, First Strike and Trample. Although that would be a pretty nice creature in .

Now, this band is blocked. By what, that is irrelevant at this point. The Kjeldoran Skycaptain deals 2 points of First Strike damage, then if the defender is still alive, the Benalish Hero comes through with its 4 points of Trample and Lifelike damage. At the same time, the defender deals its damage to the attacking stack, and as per Banding, the attacking player determines how the combat damage is resolved to the creatures in the Band.

And yes, Bands can block Bands.

So, why did the mechanic fall out of use? Well, there are a couple reasons. Some mechanical, some flavorful. In terms of mechanics, it's complicated. Enough so that while it can be explained, it runs afoul of the fact you can't really put reminder text for it on a card. There's just too much of it. And even my explanation above, while covering the majority of it, still leaves out fiddly details.

On the other hand, flavor also has an effect. White has had the concept of the "Whole is greater than the sum of its parts", and Banding was an attempt to invoke this theme by creating a mechanic that would allow for individual creatures to become an army of sorts, a whole that could take down things much larger than any individual.

Another aspect is that White tends towards damage prevention. Things like Samite Healer are precision tools, but what Banding does, and why its so powerful on the defense, is that it allows you to absorb large and frankly ludicrous amounts of damage and distribute them among your creatures in such a way that no one actually dies. On your team, naturally. The other guy needs to die for their cause, right?

So when Banding failed, and stopped being printed ... oh ... around Mirage, there was now a gap in White's section of the colour pie. And Wizards found a neat little mechanic for the Tempest block that actually filled that gap without being complicated!

I would like to introduce you all to what I like to call the "Encore!" mechanic. Why? Because it's found on every creature named en-Kor. (Yes, the same Kor from Zendikar first showed up in the Tempest block on the plane of Rath.)

With the ability formatted as: ": The next 1 damage that would be dealt to $CARDNAME this turn is dealt to target creature you control instead", the en-Kor kept the vital damage redistribution of Banding without the combat complications. You could use this ability even on non-combat damage! Take that Lightning Bolt!

After that though, Wizards stepped away from damage manipulation like this, turning instead to outright prevention with Protections or cleric abilities. Simple addition or subtraction makes the game and combat flow smoother than keeping track of where damage was going over the turn. Simplicity was its own reward. Now, that's not to say that damage redirection was no longer a thing. Pariah and it's Equipment version of Pariah's Shield for example, were printed long after the en-Kor were last seen.

Banding lived in a time where mechanics could be complicated, and still be taught as there were fewer interactions to deal with. But as the game grew more complicated, it slowly died out for being too much for too little gain. Is there room for a damage-redirection mechanic in the modern game? I think so. But Banding won't be it - Mark Rosewater himself admits we will probably never see it again.

I don't mind. I love the mechanic, but it isn't fun.

Even the en-Kor ability is useful, though the cost would need to be changed to prevent horrible, horrible abuse. Trust me on this. Even making it would be a massive improvement.

But in the end, White has lost a lot of this section of the colour pie. As damage mitigation and manipulation slows down the game - not only on a case by case basis, but also by preventing creatures, Planeswalkers and players from taking damage. Damage that could be enough to end the game, or another card's presence on the board. For such a thing to return in force would require a carefully designed set that works with the assumption that White can prevent damage, and either find a way to escalate over the prevention without becoming overwhelming outside of Standard, or to be minor enough that it doesn't really affect anything at all.

Neither option appeals to me.

Join me next week when I talk about something. I don't know yet. Inspiration hasn't struck me, and I've already talked about Pirates... Actually ... that does give me an idea. I might be able to pull that off. Maybe not, but that's what audience suggestions are for!

Here is the deck for this week, the first one in a long time that I built for this series! Although to be fair, it's a slight optimization of a very old deck of mine. By combining the defensive damage allocation of Banding with the boosting of Bushido in combat, this deck can hold off large creatures with ease.

Band of Bushido

Casual berryjon

SCORE: 8 | 2 COMMENTS | 748 VIEWS | IN 4 FOLDERS

Be aware, the real powerhouse in the deck is Lashknife Barrier.

Until then, I'm selling out! Or is that tapping out? Visit my Patreon page, and see if you want to help me out. Basic donors get a preview copy of the final article, while advanced donors get that as well as the opportunity to join me in a podcast version of the series where I talk and you respond.