Banding

[Bandkid1969]

What is it and why was it taken out of the game?

[BlackJester]

It's an awful, complicated, non-intuitive combat ability where a number of attackers or blocker (i think) act as one.

[Chaosquirrel]

The one good thing is it essentially let the controller of the baned creatures decide how damage was distributed in a multiple blocker situation if they were Banded.

[Bilygote]

Also if they attacked as a band, the banded creatures controller decided where the damage dealt by the blocker(s) went

[Bilygote]

Here is the best explanation I can find, it is from a 4th Ed rule book, which is only 64 pages BTW.

Creatures with the banding ability can join forces with other creatures during attack or defense.

You can form a band of attacking creatures out of any number of creatures that have banding; you can include 1 creature that doesn't have banding.

You must declare which creatures you want to band when you declare your attack; attacking bands can't form or disband after defense is declared.

When your banded group attacks your opponent has to block it as one or let it through as one.

If a creature blocks any of the banded creatures it blocks them all.

Any damage dealt by the blocking creature is distributed among your banded creatures how you choose.

Banding doesn't allow creatures to share special abilities. Example if you band {Mesa Pegasus} with {War Mammoth} the war mammoth doesn't get flying and the band can be blocked by a creature without flying (and the Pegasus doesn't get trample).

[Bilygote]

One more attack note, let's say a 4/4 creature blocks your attacking band above, you can assign all 4 damage from the defender to the Pegasus so the mammoth lives.

Defense works pretty much the same only you, as the defender, don't have to declare the band. Also, you could block a creature with 3 creatures if 1 of those blockers has banding you as the defender gets to decide how the attacking creature's damage is distributed. All of the blockers have to be able to legally block the attacking creature on their own.

Banding does not apply to damage from sorceries or instants, only combat damage.

[Dudecore]

Clunky mechanics rule. You can be looking at the official rules and still either take too much/or too little damage.