Currently overrated for being a promo card i guess. Banding is actually not that useful since you won't get a band consistant only of flying creatures, which will make the dragon just easier to block as soon as he becomes part of a band. Four mana for a tiny 1/1 flyer with a restricted pumping effect (also a typical red one which won't increase toughness) isn't impressive eiter. Dragon Whelp is much more preferable to that one.
Volcre
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.8/5.0)(4 votes)
Whats even good about this card?
Zosk
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
Well, one good thing about this card is the artwork. Michael Whelan is a fantastic artist, and this is the only card illustrated by him. Also, it is not available in any sets. This is one of the perks of having a promo card, yet it seems just about every other promo in Magic can be found in one set or another, at least lately.
Would I use this in a deck? Not likely.
MadMageQc
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(6 votes)
2010/01/16: Gatherer wrongly lists this card as not playable in any tournament format. It is actually fully legal in Legacy and Vintage. From the Magic tournament rules :
3.3 Authorized Cards Players may use any cards from special sets, supplements, and promotional printings that, unaltered, meet the following conditions: • The card is published by Wizards of the Coast • The card has a standard Magic back • The card does not have squared corners • The card has black or white borders • The card is not damaged or modified in a way that might make it marked • The card is otherwise legal for the tournament as defined by the format
Nalathni Dragon, as well as Sewers of Estark and Windseeker Centaur are tournament-legal Magic cards, because they are published by WotC, they have Magic card backs, they do not have squared corners and they have black borders. They are legal in the Legacy and Vintage formats because all tournament-legal Magic cards are legal in those (unless they appear on the Banned and Restricted lists of course, and these three cards don't). Their sister card Mana Crypt is correctly classified as restricted in Vintage only because it is a more high-profile card that sees extensive play in that format.
Fun fact: I'm pretty sure this is the only Red creature with Banding.
Beekhead
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(3 votes)
berserkberserker, I totally agree with you. When I saw this guy, I knew he was going to be an awesome addition to my dragon deck. I can band him with one of my other powerful dragons, essentially boost the dragon's power by 4 and prevent all combat damage that would be dealt to my dragon (therefore getting rid of those pesky reach creatures that kept trying to capture and eat my dragons).
Woohoo! Dragon with banding for the win!
Oh, and MadMageQc, good job! They corrected their mistake.
GainsBanding
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
It's online now! As a promo-only, fittingly enough. Never seen it played.
DarthParallax
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.8/5.0)(2 votes)
OK, I hate to be a real pain in the ass here- for the people who understand banding, you can skip this comment. For everyone else, observe:
Any creatures with banding, and up to one without, can attack in a band. Bands are blocked as a group. If any creatures with banding you control are blocking or being blocked by a creature, you divide that creature's combat damage, not its controller, among any of the creatures it's being blocked by or is blocking.
Alright, here's my problem. After reading this 12 times, I finally know what it does. The first 11 times I didn't know what it meant to 'divide a controller'. Here's my proposal for new banding text:
Any creatures with banding, and up to one without, can attack in a band. Bands are blocked as a group. If any creatures with banding you control are blocking or being blocked by a creature, you, not its controller, divide that creature's combat damage among any of the creatures it's being blocked by or is blocking.
God banding sucks xP I mean, ok, it might be somewhat useful, but it's not worth the headache it takes to read the damn reminder text. I swear to god, if anyone plays Duh on a creature with banding, they totally deserve to be kicked in the nuts.
Shadoflaam
★☆☆☆☆ (1.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Not only is this the only Dragon that bands,
THIS WAS THE FIRST AVAILABLE MAGIC CARD.
Let that sink in. This noble beast was the first creature EVER PRINTED. And the first spell, the first Dragon, the first bander, the first CARD.
Lord_of_Tresserhorn
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Shadowflaam, what the hell are you talking about??
This card was first handed out as a Dragon*Con promo in 1994, which seemed to have occurred in July...
It's really quite simple to use. You band it with a creature you like more, and assign all the damage to the dragon. The Dragon Whelp-like ability doesn't bother it, because it would die from the entire damage being assigned to it anyways.
Anzu-chan
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
One of the first promo card ever released (maybe the first one).
pedrodyl
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The guy with the spear is all, "Awh, what a cute wittle dragon!" And then Nalathni Dragon is like, "How dare you! That is slander where I come from good sir!" and proceeds to breath fire on him three times.
Comments (18)
Banding is actually not that useful since you won't get a band consistant only of flying creatures, which will make the dragon just easier to block as soon as he becomes part of a band.
Four mana for a tiny 1/1 flyer with a restricted pumping effect (also a typical red one which won't increase toughness) isn't impressive eiter.
Dragon Whelp is much more preferable to that one.
Would I use this in a deck? Not likely.
3.3 Authorized Cards
Players may use any cards from special sets, supplements, and promotional printings that, unaltered, meet the following conditions:
• The card is published by Wizards of the Coast
• The card has a standard Magic back
• The card does not have squared corners
• The card has black or white borders
• The card is not damaged or modified in a way that might make it marked
• The card is otherwise legal for the tournament as defined by the format
Nalathni Dragon, as well as Sewers of Estark and Windseeker Centaur are tournament-legal Magic cards, because they are published by WotC, they have Magic card backs, they do not have squared corners and they have black borders. They are legal in the Legacy and Vintage formats because all tournament-legal Magic cards are legal in those (unless they appear on the Banned and Restricted lists of course, and these three cards don't). Their sister card Mana Crypt is correctly classified as restricted in Vintage only because it is a more high-profile card that sees extensive play in that format.
Woohoo! Dragon with banding for the win!
Oh, and MadMageQc, good job! They corrected their mistake.
Any creatures with banding, and up to one without, can attack in a band. Bands are blocked as a group. If any creatures with banding you control are blocking or being blocked by a creature, you divide that creature's combat damage, not its controller, among any of the creatures it's being blocked by or is blocking.
Alright, here's my problem. After reading this 12 times, I finally know what it does. The first 11 times I didn't know what it meant to 'divide a controller'. Here's my proposal for new banding text:
Any creatures with banding, and up to one without, can attack in a band. Bands are blocked as a group. If any creatures with banding you control are blocking or being blocked by a creature, you, not its controller, divide that creature's combat damage among any of the creatures it's being blocked by or is blocking.
God banding sucks xP
I mean, ok, it might be somewhat useful, but it's not worth the headache it takes to read the damn reminder text. I swear to god, if anyone plays Duh on a creature with banding, they totally deserve to be kicked in the nuts.
THIS WAS THE FIRST AVAILABLE MAGIC CARD.
Let that sink in. This noble beast was the first creature EVER PRINTED. And the first spell, the first Dragon, the first bander, the first CARD.
This card was first handed out as a Dragon*Con promo in 1994, which seemed to have occurred in July...
http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/arcana/334
It is therefore post-Revised but pre-The Dark.
I actually have two of them, hidden all the way at the end of my Fallen Empires collection.
Kind of fitting...
And then Nalathni Dragon is like, "How dare you! That is slander where I come from good sir!" and proceeds to breath fire on him three times.