Shield Bearer

Creature — Human Soldier

Banding

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Pauper Duel Commander	Legal
Pauper EDH	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (5)

Spell_Slam on So, so, sorry.

2 years ago

The biggest (and probably only) advantage of the banding mechanic is that you are the one to decide how damage is spread out to your creatures when attacking. This can be leveraged.

Deftblade Elite and a bunch of banders means that you can not only force a creature to block your band, but you can prevent all combat damage to your creatures by moving it all to the Deftblade once you arrange combat damage.

Similarly, any creatures with protection are pretty strong. Guardian of the Guildpact comes to mind. You could also go with high-toughness creatures to soak up the damage for the team. Benalish Infantry and Shield Bearer are examples of good strategic use of banding creatures. You'll notice a lot of banding creatures have high toughness or first strike for these reasons.

Other than that... Wow. Unless you find a way to give your creatures trample, you're still dealing with all the drawbacks of banding.

With that in mind, I think you'll have a hard time winning using 8 walls. There's not much reason to play defensive banding creatures, honestly. If you want to run walls, well... Fortified Area? If not, there are lots of other banding creatures to choose from.

FormOverFunction on Mono-White Keyword Banding

4 years ago

I’ve also got a banding EDH deck, but I ran with an even sillier commander (General Jarkeld) in order to have even more combat-goofiness. I found value in turning more banders into Shield Bearer types of tools with Slagwurm Armor, and got a bunch of value out of banding an Armored Transport into the group.

I apologize if these are in your deck already, I’ve written this over an extended period of time and have completely forgotten what I saw in your list.

Love the deck! Can’t wait until WOTC brings banding back!! We’ll be ahead of the curve!!

ErebosMortuus on Chromium, the Forsakened One (Combo)

6 years ago

Since You are aiming for critters with big butts I will definitely add Shield Bearer here!

Balzeron on The Department of Defense

6 years ago

This is actually a deck I really want to build, and know nothing about making a commander deck, so I'm keeping a very close eye on this deck! Some card suggestions/ideas I personally have would be:

Amaranthine Wall, I played this wall in a draft game a few weeks ago and the indestructible ability pretty much won the game for me by itself, and is what inspired me to think about this kind of deck. Manor Gargoyle is another good choice for this.

Champion's Helm, Good equipment to keep our commander safe

Doorkeeper, the mill potential is pretty high here

Ezuri, Claw of Progress, since so many walls have 0 power,

Wave of Reckoning, as another board wipe

Woolly Razorback, doesn't have defender, but is cheap, becomes a 7/7, and can block literally any amount of damage 3 times

Fog Bank, Guard Gomazoa, Hover Barrier, Monastery Flock, Plumeveil, Soulbound Guardians, Wall of Air, Spidersilk Armor Tower Defense as flying blockers, as this deck seems really open to flying

Shield Bearer, Wall of Caltrops, Wall of Shields, Fortified Area, Baton of Morale, Helm of Chatzuk, Formation, Remember banding? I used to love banding! I think banding would compliment a wall deck very well. Being able to dictate where your opponents damage goes is a big plus I think

Hornet Nest, Living Wall,Mindbender Spores, are other good additions.

What do you think of these suggestions? I really want to buy the cards for a deck like this soon, and your deck is a huge inspiration to me.

lilgiantrobot on Cheap-Manno, Revolutionary(<15$)

7 years ago

Banding is so un-intuitive that I think Shield Bearer is not the best choice for a beginner friendly deck.