Banding Bandit Bands

Commander / EDH Banding Budget Deathtouch Indestructible Jank RGW (Naya)

TheAlchemist-404

Land (35)

• 1x Canopy Vista
• 1x Cinder Glade
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 8x Forest
• 1x Forge of Heroes
• 1x Krosan Verge
• 1x Mosswort Bridge
• 7x Mountain
• 1x Opal Palace
• 10x Plains
• 1x Spinerock Knoll
• 1x Windbrisk Heights

Tank (11)

• 1x Deftblade Elite
• 1x Nahiri's Machinations
• 1x Boros Reckoner
• 1x Frontline Medic
• 1x Gideon Blackblade
• 1x Shielded by Faith
• 1x Taranika, Akroan Veteran
• 1x Ill-Tempered Loner  ^Flip
• 1x Spitemare
• 1x Brash Taunter
• 1x Coalhauler Swine

Banding (6)

• 1x Helm of Chatzuk
• 1x Baton of Morale
• 1x Sterling Grove
• 1x Cooperation
• 1x Moon-Blessed Cleric
• 1x Nature's Blessing

Other (12)

• 1x Instrument of the Bards
• 1x Nature's Claim
• 1x Tamiyo's Safekeeping
• 1x Darksteel Mutation
• 1x Gaea's Gift
• 1x Nature's Lore
• 1x Bala Ged Recovery  ^Flip
• 1x Generous Gift
• 1x Wear / Tear
• 1x Yisan, the Wanderer Bard
• 1x Nahiri, the Harbinger
• 1x Blasphemous Act

Sinergy (11)

• 1x Infiltration Lens
• 1x Bonds of Mortality
• 1x Quest for Renewal
• 1x Varchild's War-Riders
• 1x Fight Rigging
• 1x Garruk's Uprising
• 1x Jangling Automaton
• 1x Odric, Master Tactician
• 1x Reveille Squad
• 1x Total War
• 1x Port Razer

Mana (5)

• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Boros Signet
• 1x Gruul Signet
• 1x Selesnya Signet

Commander (1)

Basilisk (11)

• 1x Barrow-Blade
• 1x Gorgon's Head
• 1x Ashmouth Hound
• 1x Gorgon Flail
• 1x Tangle Asp
• 1x Quietus Spike
• 1x Venom
• 1x Venomous Dragonfly
• 1x Cockatrice
• 1x Sylvan Basilisk
• 1x Assembled Alphas

Decoy (8)

• 1x Taunting Elf
• 1x Shinen of Life's Roar
• 1x Lure
• 1x Nemesis Mask
• 1x Noble Quarry
• 1x Tempting Licid
• 1x Golgari Decoy
• 1x Prized Unicorn

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Sideboard

Other (2)

• 1x Pariah
• 1x Pariah's Shield

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Maybeboard

Other (25)

• 1x Throne of the High City
• 1x Dead-Iron Sledge
• 1x Elvish Berserker
• 1x Elvish Scout
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Fight as One
• 1x Guilty Conscience
• 1x Altar of Bone
• 1x Farseek
• 1x Mogg Maniac
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Uncage the Menagerie
• 1x Bastion Protector
• 1x Horrible Hordes
• 1x Hunter's Insight
• 1x Idyllic Tutor
• 1x Sparring Golem
• 1x Saber Ants
• 1x Skyship Weatherlight
• 1x AErathi Berserker
• 1x Gorilla Berserkers
• 1x Phytohydra
• 1x Rabid Elephant
• 1x Gang of Elk
• 1x Star of Extinction

Decoy (5)

• 1x Roar of Challenge
• 1x Elvish Bard
• 1x Nath's Elite
• 1x Treeshaker Chimera
• 1x Breaker of Armies

Tank (19)

• 1x Wily Bandar
• 1x Adanto Vanguard
• 1x Bronzehide Lion
• 1x Dolmen Gate
• 1x Guardian of New Benalia
• 1x Seasoned Hallowblade
• 1x Siegehorn Ceratops
• 1x Trained Pronghorn
• 1x Armored Transport
• 1x Darksteel Myr
• 1x Everdawn Champion
• 1x Gideon of the Trials
• 1x Predator Ooze
• 1x Phyrexian Vindicator
• 1x Viashino Weaponsmith
• 1x Wolverine Pack
• 1x Ironscale Hydra
• 1x Stuffy Doll
• 1x Bellowing Aegisaur

Protection (7)

• 1x Maze of Ith
• 1x Ajani's Presence
• 1x Blacksmith's Skill
• 1x Loran's Escape
• 1x Vitalize
• 1x Withstand Death
• 1x Valorous Stance

Mana (2)

• 1x Prying Blade
• 1x Coveted Jewel

Banding (1)

• 1x Formation

Basilisk (17)

• 1x Basilisk Collar
• 1x Permeating Mass
• 1x Kolaghan Aspirant
• 1x Nightshade Peddler
• 1x Acolyte of the Inferno
• 1x Bow of Nylea
• 1x Ohran Viper
• 1x Elven Warhounds
• 1x Oakhame Adversary
• 1x Saryth, the Viper's Fang
• 1x Trailblazer's Torch
• 1x Basalt Golem
• 1x Kjeldoran Frostbeast
• 1x Ohran Frostfang
• 1x Rust Scarab
• 1x Grasping Giant
• 1x Stone-Tongue Basilisk

Sinergy (10)

• 1x Joven's Ferrets
• 1x Song of Freyalise
• 1x Angel's Trumpet
• 1x Drumbellower
• 1x Masako the Humorless
• 1x Retaliation
• 1x Awakening
• 1x Icatian Skirmishers
• 1x War's Toll
• 1x Blinding Angel

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why?

After learning that banding exists (Im an mtg zoomer for what´s worth) decided to throw my hat in the ring and make my own deck for commander, it didnt take long until i found from The commander tabern, wich makes banding a repeateable way to destroy the opponets board (quite nasty stuff), following the same design, i removed a color and built a budget deck out of it!!

What is banding?

For those who dont know banding essentially lets you (when declaring attackers or defenders) separate your creatures into groups, all creatures on a group defend together and/or attack together, overall if this was all it does it´s not that powerfull, additionally banding lets you distribute all the combat damage dealt to your band and how your band deals damage, and here lies the magic.

How it works...

The Commander Tavern made a sweet interaction wich the deck is built around, you need at least a band with three specific "types" of creatures (more on that later) and a strike team (not necesarily a band), your Bandits will distract all the creatures an opponent controls and your strike team are in charge of player removal.

The bandits

The bread and butter of this deck, the bandits is a group comprised of a Basilisk, a Tank and a Decoy

• The Decoy is a creature wich ensures our opponent deals with the band first (some great examples are Taunting Elf and Shinen of Life's Roar)
• The Tank is our damage sink, because banding lets us redirect the damage to other creatures on our band, this guy will take most of it, additionally this guy usually comes with an upside from recieving damage, flinging the damage back to the opponent or making our creatures stronger
• The Basilisk is the final piece, a creature that removes permanents, this can be as simple as a creature with deathtouch, as long as it has a way to "mark for death" its a basilisk

Most of the creatures of the deck will fall on one or more of these categories, outside of the decoy, every other creature on the team can be part of the strike team by just not being banded with other creatures, now lets get on to the specifics...

Where's the band?

Most of the creatures on the deck dont naturally have banding, so is on us to fix that, Nature's Blessing is our best way to do this, a permanent way to give banding but if necesary there's Baton of Morale effects that give banding until end of the turn wich, on the offense is something you only need to do at most twice as banding lets you group one creature without banding as long as the other members of the band do have the ability.

Why Jared?

Jared not only grant us the colors needed (green for chunky basilisks, white for banding, red for "gotcha" creatures) but also gives a way to make it into a one shot, first by blocking with it (make sure you are the monarch first) powering him up and then swing with it on your strike team clearing the way with your band.

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Some notes on this

• this deck lacks ways to deal with your opponents tapping their creatures before combat, maybe mechanics like provoke is a potencial way to deal with this (im working on it)
• Your own creatures are at risk because they are going to be tapped most of the time (requires some playtest)
• Card draw and ramp is not yet in the deck outside of commander staples or the monarch
• Maybe a nonbudget version of this could change red for black to get access to way more powerful basilisks like Phyrexian Obliterator wich, good luck finding friends later

Date added	1 year
Last updated	1 year
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	3 - 0 Mythic Rares 25 - 2 Rares 26 - 0 Uncommons 21 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.89
Tokens	Day, Elephant 3/3 G, Night, Survivor 1/1 R, The Monarch, Treasure