Banding-By: Paul Hou

Just read the bold if you don't want to read it all

Perhaps the most confusing ability, banding has confused experts and newbies alike. There have been so many new rulings and exceptions that you no longer can tell how something works at first glance. However, the basic ability goes like this. A creature that has banding can use it when it is attacking or blocking. A creature can band with one other creature. You can band 3 creatures with 2 with banding, 4 creatures with 3 with banding, and so on. The advantage of banding is that all the creatures are treated as one. You can choose how combat damage is dealt to them. Individual creatures can still be targeted. When deciding trample, if the controller chooses to deal all the damage to one creature, the remaining damage will go through as trample damage. If it is decided that the damage will be split between the creatures, leaving no extra, then no trample damage occurs. When a creature that doesn't take damage is part of the banding group, it is ignored for all trample damage properties. If a creature gains or loses banding by some other effect (Helm of Chatzuk) and the fast effects for declaring attackers has already passed (if a blocker[s] have already been declared) the banding ability may not be used. If a creature with flanking attacks and the banded group blocks, both of them still get -1/-1. If one creature in the banded group has flying, the blocking player can choose to block the group. It can only deal damage to non-flying creatures if it is not flying itself. If a creature with shadow is part of the banding group, and the defender blocks with a non-shadow creature, it can only deal damage to the non-shadow creatures. If the defender blocks with a shadow creature, then it can only damage the shadow creature(s). The same applies if the defender was attacking. In all of these cases, the controller of the banded group can pass shadow or non-flying damage to non-shadow or flying creatures through the banding ability. This is a recent ruling. If a creature with first strike confronts the banding group, it deals damage to any creature within its range, and the banding group's first strike members (if any) deal the damage to the first-strike opponent. The creature's controller may choose deal the first-strike damage to a non-first-strike creature, thusly preventing damage to itself. You may not include a creature with summoning sickness in the banding group and then attack with the group. If there is a landwalk creature in the banding group, and it is attacking, then it cannot be dealt damage directly. The controller may choose to distribute the damage to the other members of the group to it, though. If there is a creature with protection in the group, it cannot be assigned damage by the specific color. The controller may even choose to distribute the damage taken by the other members onto the protected creature, preventing all the damage. To tap a creature to prevent it from banding, you have to tap it when attackers are declared, not chosen. You cannot use any abilities of any member in the group while attacking, but you can when you are blocking.