Iona is never an interesting addition to a game. She often shuts down interaction and sometimes turns off a majority of the ways in which to get out from under her thumb. Good players with good decks are rarely the ones who resort to playing her as the only commander I can really think of that naturally wants to include her in the deck is probably Kaalia.
I don't understand how we have so many things that we have banned for essentially the exact reason she should be banned and yet she continues to run free.
That's your perspective. But I find it equally arguable that Iona, Shield of Emeria is the exact type of card that was made for EDH. A huge, fat, flying angel with a truly impressive, flashy ability. A salty opponent (who's not a good player) once told me that my counterspells weren't "interesting" so can't ban just on that. Good players with good decks don't play her because she's 9cmc and in white (almost all of the good decks with reanimation are not white), that and she actually doesn't shut down all that much for 9cmc. A card in Humility shuts down even more for even less (4cmc).
What I don't understand is the people who want Iona and Painter's Servant to switch places. They say that Iona shuts off interaction, yet most of the huge impact "colors-matter" cards that Painter's Servant would enable are color-hosers and Grindstone. People also forgot about Ugin, the Spirit Dragon. Got to ban that too if Painter's is off the list?
There's always Glamerdye and its ilk, if anyone is actually interested in colors.
Many ban suggestions simply boil down to "what I want" vs "what I don't want." So after seeing people post more and more cards, I decided to just post as many off the top of my head that I could. Not that I would want any of them banned. People should get the opportunity to play as many of the cards that they want. To me, that's an important aspect of "casual" play. That's why I would only want to see certain cards unbanned.
Cards that I'd move to unban:
Biorhythm: There was a time where creatures weren't as good as removal. That time has past, and commanders are creatures. If the only permanents in play were mana + everyone's generals when Biorhythm was cast and someone lost because they had a Planeswalker commander. Shed no tears for that guy. Nowadays, Biorhythm is a more expensive Triumph of the Hordes.
Coalition Victory: Some people just assume that having your 5-color general in play and a few duals in play is a given. Therefore, there's no cost to playing this other than the 3WUBRG. Well, there's a cost to playing 5-colors. There's also better ways to win other than playing this 8 cmc card. Alternate win cons are cool (like Biorhythm) and people should get to play them if they want.
Limited Resources: It's so funny how a crappy card from Exodus ended up here among Moxen and like. People just cannot get over losing their lands. Come on, you don't even lose all of them. /s Stax players are pretty maligned and bullied out of this format (by the good players and the bad players). Real casual, real inclusive... Besides Balance and Braids, it's the only stax piece on the list but pales in comparison. Again, people should get to play what they want.
Panoptic Mirror: Cost is high, payoff is low. So why is this cool card on the list? Oh, because it copies time magic, yet all [non-RL] time magic is unbanned...so, again, people should get to play this if they want.
Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary: This guy ramps- not even that hard by modern standards. Out of the banned-as-commander cards, this guy doesn't lock anyone out. So why is he still here?
Cards I went back and forth on: Gifts Ungiven: It tutors, so people more opportunities to get to play their cards during a game. But it makes combo really easy and Intuition is close enough that I don't feel bad people cannot build Gifts piles. Stay banned.
Purphoros, God of the Forge: I personally don't mind sitting behind a Solitary Confinement which will never be dealt with by the mono-red player. But this card means the game is essentially archenemy, no matter the power level of the build. Even with the over-use of "exile" on new cards, it's still the same. However, if people want to play it...
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That's your perspective. But I find it equally arguable that Iona, Shield of Emeria is the exact type of card that was made for EDH. A huge, fat, flying angel with a truly impressive, flashy ability. A salty opponent (who's not a good player) once told me that my counterspells weren't "interesting" so can't ban just on that. Good players with good decks don't play her because she's 9cmc and in white (almost all of the good decks with reanimation are not white), that and she actually doesn't shut down all that much for 9cmc. A card in Humility shuts down even more for even less (4cmc).
What I don't understand is the people who want Iona and Painter's Servant to switch places. They say that Iona shuts off interaction, yet most of the huge impact "colors-matter" cards that Painter's Servant would enable are color-hosers and Grindstone. People also forgot about Ugin, the Spirit Dragon. Got to ban that too if Painter's is off the list?
There's always Glamerdye and its ilk, if anyone is actually interested in colors.
Cards that I'd move to unban:
Biorhythm: There was a time where creatures weren't as good as removal. That time has past, and commanders are creatures. If the only permanents in play were mana + everyone's generals when Biorhythm was cast and someone lost because they had a Planeswalker commander. Shed no tears for that guy. Nowadays, Biorhythm is a more expensive Triumph of the Hordes.
Coalition Victory: Some people just assume that having your 5-color general in play and a few duals in play is a given. Therefore, there's no cost to playing this other than the 3WUBRG. Well, there's a cost to playing 5-colors. There's also better ways to win other than playing this 8 cmc card. Alternate win cons are cool (like Biorhythm) and people should get to play them if they want.
Limited Resources: It's so funny how a crappy card from Exodus ended up here among Moxen and like. People just cannot get over losing their lands. Come on, you don't even lose all of them. /s Stax players are pretty maligned and bullied out of this format (by the good players and the bad players). Real casual, real inclusive... Besides Balance and Braids, it's the only stax piece on the list but pales in comparison. Again, people should get to play what they want.
Panoptic Mirror: Cost is high, payoff is low. So why is this cool card on the list? Oh, because it copies time magic, yet all [non-RL] time magic is unbanned...so, again, people should get to play this if they want.
Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary: This guy ramps- not even that hard by modern standards. Out of the banned-as-commander cards, this guy doesn't lock anyone out. So why is he still here?
Cards I went back and forth on:
Gifts Ungiven: It tutors, so people more opportunities to get to play their cards during a game. But it makes combo really easy and Intuition is close enough that I don't feel bad people cannot build Gifts piles. Stay banned.
Purphoros, God of the Forge: I personally don't mind sitting behind a Solitary Confinement which will never be dealt with by the mono-red player. But this card means the game is essentially archenemy, no matter the power level of the build. Even with the over-use of "exile" on new cards, it's still the same. However, if people want to play it...