If this lady finds its way onto the battlefield, *cough oath/reanimate/T&N cough*,the opponent can move into scoop phase.
Laguz
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
There are plenty of ways to get her into play without hard-casting her.
I'd imagine that most people are going to scoop the second she hits the table.
This is my favorite card amongst the few interesting cards in this lackluster set.
OutlawD1
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Well is the game wan't already decided by then it will be after she drops
sir_dwar
★☆☆☆☆ (1.9/5.0)(10 votes)
Not. Another. Stupid. Overly-Destructive. Angel.
shiana
★★☆☆☆ (2.9/5.0)(5 votes)
mono black vampire deck's world will stop as soon as this enters the battlefield
Eggroll
★☆☆☆☆ (1.6/5.0)(4 votes)
Talk about permission...
godmetal101
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(8 votes)
Reya Dawnbringer and Akroma, Angel of Wrath, meet Iona, Shield of Emeria!
Another plus for my Angel deck. With the right cards, I could prolly get her out between turns 6 and 7. This is prolly Bant's worst nightmare...and all monocolored deck's nightmare as well.
Oleander
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(2 votes)
@darkfury, She's not banned at all, because Zendikar is not legal in any formats yet...it hasn't even been released, just pre-released.
fewwdragon
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Really?? My reanimator deck could easily get this out first turn especially with entomb back. 4th turn pretty consistently... way too broken... it will be banned in formats i am sure ... i really hope. It just takes all the fun out of the game imho. We already banned it with my local group of friends. Any card that causes a scope is boring.
bigschwang
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Executioner's Capsule = GG if you can keep it there :P
Luvs2Spoog
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
HELLO green and white control, meet IONA and elvish piper.
This card is hilariously evil(good?) and will deinitely find its way into tournaments if not banned
hail_squishface
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Instead of darksteel collossus, I wonder how a U/W polomorph deck would go with this. This card would be insane to drop on turn 4.
redwinedrummer
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
First turn:
-Dark Ritual
-Entomb
-Exhume: Iona
*Opponent scoops*
Belz_
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(10 votes)
Beautiful art. A little expensive but a definite game-ender.
darkfury: "colorless" isn't a color.
MrPink343
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Because clearly the Angels needed another obscenely powerful card. Demons are gonna have to pull some serious crap to catch up.
Arachibutyrophobia
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
What's with these angels with a ton of wings? It started with Twilight Shepherd, who had 4 instead of 2 wings. But Iona has 6!!
I like the little dude climbing the rock.
Merlinoo
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
definitely the general in my mono-white EDH. Until it gets banned, that is......
Gezus82
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
this doesn't seem as good as people think to me. Sure its the doom of mono-color decks, but it has a decent manna cost so it wont be seen on turn 3 like our friend from 2010. it also doesn't have protection so I feel, especially in multiplayer, that this will be more often calling black to stop its termination at the hands of Halo Hunter, its good but not nearly as good as Baneslayer Angel. Just a little bit better than Ward Sliver for twice as much manna
JaxsonBateman
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
In 1v1 against monocolor decks, she offers insane control. It's like a constant, infinite Silence being cast. Being a flying 7/7 herself she's also quite powerful, so even if the person who plays her is at a slight disadvantage at the time she can still provide a few turns with which to turn the tide. Even a multicolor deck will run into problems when this card comes out, provided an intelligent color is chosen.
Fortunately, there are still a few counters. I run a monoblack vamp deck myself, and my mate who uses this won't ever cast her while Kalitas is on the board. In my own monowhite deck I have a World Queller, so if it's up I simply choose "legendary creature" and watch her die. Having said that, despite her having counters she is devilishly good, and if your opponent sees you have something on the board which can wipe her out they'll bide their time.
And on a final note, she works insanely well if you play a planar cleansing or day of judgment on the turn before (provided you're not in a very advantageous position already). Clear the board of potential threats, then shut the opponent down. If they can come back from that it'd be quite impressive.
Rainyday2012
★★☆☆☆ (2.2/5.0)(2 votes)
Ban this? You've got to be kidding me. It has to be cheated into play, which means it needs a combo deck. And even if that combo deck turns out powerful, any combo can be disrupted.
Iona is a good reanimation and Tooth and Nail target, especially if T&N grabs Painter's Servant at the same time, but she will never be banned. There are lots of instant win combos (and counterspells) out there, and Iona alone only shuts down one colour.
CamppyreSongSong
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Aside from the annoyingly long (and boring to read) argument over the brokenness (or otherwise) of this card has pretty cool art, except for the fact that it has no halo. All other angels in this set have one (I'll bet it was teased at school). In fact, this set has quite unique haloes (halos? is there an "e"?) which I am sure will be important in the storyline. Why is this? More storyline perhaps?
We now return to this incredibly long and pointless argument...
lukejf01
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I think this card is great, obviously. The fact that I pulled it on my first Zendikar pack is even more amazing! For those who say it's pricey, I agree. Except, you'd probably pay 7 mana for a 7/7 Flyer, and you'd definitely pay 2 mana for a card that blocks your opponent from playing (in many cases) a good portion of their deck.
darkfury
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.6/5.0)(6 votes)
this card is only tournament legal because Painter's Servant is rotating out, even then set her to colorless and your opponent cant play a huge portion of their deck.
this card needs to be banned in all formats. being able to shut down a deck, even for an absurd 9 mana, this is unbeatable.
of the mythic rares in this set, i can only see Obsidian Fireheart and Lotus Cobra really being fair.
SocialExperiment
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(8 votes)
I actually saw someone playing a mondeck win after having this played against him. He had an Ant Queen (and a huge swarm of insects), a gigantic Scute Mob, some smaller creatures (Llanowar Elves, Deadly Recluse), and a Garruk Wildspeaker. He managed to use Garruk's overrun ability to win the game, but it was a lot closer than it would have been without Iona.
Shmahogenfogen
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
I swear to god. If you ran two of these in a mono-black deck it would be insane!! No white mana needed.
If you got the perfect hand, it'd be an almost guaranteed 1 turn scoop. Of course, that's if you are playing against a 2 or 1 colored deck. If it's beyond that, usually that's a good 2/3's of their deck.
Turn 1:
Drop a Swamp, and cast Dark Ritual.
Use the floating mana to cast Entomb to throw Iona in your graveyard.
Reanimate Iona, and cast the second Dark Ritual to repeat the process.
Watch'em scoop. Repeat and enjoy :)
Sure it ends with you at 2 life, but you just locked down their deck. Hell, it might not happen first turn, it could, but it might not always. Even still, it's an insanely powerful combo, if it came together. Just don't be stupid and play against a mono-blue control-you deck.
Now that I realize it. Save yourself the trouble, and instead of casting entomb/reanimate the second time.....just cast a Painter's Servant. You'll have locked down their entire deck, no matter how many colors and you'll still be at 11 life!
John_Q._Mayhem
★★☆☆☆ (2.2/5.0)(5 votes)
*shakes head* what a pointless card.
Yotika
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@ JaxsonBateman: World Queller will not work. Legendary is not a card type, just a super type.
I pulled this in a draft with two summoning traps. Fun times were had by all
Dingo777
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(6 votes)
this is a nice card, a little expensive, but white is becoming the control color, meaning white games will go longer and there is a better chance she will hit the table and there is an audiable thud when she hits
yeah, it will likely be black or red that is called, but that kinda makes sense, considering the enemy colors of white
and yes, that is a massive combo with painter's servent, as you are still free to play your spells
in all, she does deserve hey "mythic" status, that is a game changing event
T1: plains, sunspring expedition T2: forest, Khali Heart Expedition T3: Emeria, Sky ruin, Prismatic omen T4: a land, fog effect T5: a land, crack expeditions, make Iona find the GY T6: hello Iona, opponent scopes because they now cant kill it, to make extra sure, give it savage silhouette, and it is unkillable, black spells cant be played, this can regen through DoJ and martial coup, give it shroud and your opponent cant do anything to get rid of it, no bounces
notice that the card doesnt say that the effect goes away when this does, I could be wrong, I thought it did till a friend pointed it out to me, and if that is the case, killing this then recurring it could very well be a good thing for you to do, for instance 2 emeria sky ruins, this on field, emeria brings 1 back, declare second color, the 2 Iona kill eachother, second emeria brings one back, third color crippled and well, if that wasnt enough, next turn you can clear 2 more colors
Qazior
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(2 votes)
@Shmahogenfogen: Have you noticed that Iona is legendary?
My friend played a pithing needle and named iona,shield of emeria the turn before i reanimated her into play.He says that i cant use her ability anymore and i say it wasn't triggered or activated but a static ability.Who is right?Did he really stop that ability from pithing needle?
Gomorrah
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
You can play this turn 4 with Turn 1- Forest, Llanowar Elves. Turn 2 Forest, Llanowar Elves/Greenweave Druid. Turn 3 Elvish Piper. And Turn 4 Good ol'Iona. Who knew elves could be so awesome?
KnightLord77
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Wow! This will make a great, Legendary addition to any Angel Deck! And although I can feel the sting of her 9 converted mana cost, it is more than a fair price given her 7/7 status and abilities. It does concern me that, by the time this expensive creature goes into play, the game will almost be over. Clearly, the idea is to get her onto the battlefield much sooner using some other way, to make her potent ability much more useful.
PaladinOfSunhome
★★☆☆☆ (2.7/5.0)(8 votes)
White lockdown. How can anyone not like this awesome card? ^_^
4.5
no_body
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
imagine the look on my opponent's face when i used telemin performance to get this card out on my side, after which i named white. yep, it was priceless.
Taltor
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Don't forget Quicksilver Amulet or Elvish Piper people. Have her out on turn 5.
NinjaEnigmatic
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
ok I have a question about Iona, Shield of Emeria. Let's say someone plays this card, could I use the instant card Gather Specimens to take control of it even if the original owner of Iona says blue?
ICEFANG13
★☆☆☆☆ (1.8/5.0)(2 votes)
@ NinjaEnigmatic the simple question to your answer is yes, because to use Gather Specimens Iona can't be in play yet. Here's what it looks like:
Player A: Cast Iona, Shield of Emeria, right now it's a creature spell that's being cast, so it hasn't hit the field yet meaning that her ability hasn't triggered and you can still play any color you want.
Player B: Casts Gather Specimens in response to Iona. (Player A has time to cancel the Gather Specimens if he/she can). So any creatures that would come into play, as in Iona and any creature spell Player A plays after Iona during this turn are yours. If Gather Specimens resolves, you control her, she comes into play onto your side of the field and you get to say the color you want.
It's mostly the same as, you played an Iona that costs 3UUU during player A's turn and you tapped nine of his/her's lands.
You can't do anything with Gather Specimens after she's hit the field (that's how the Gather Specimens works), but you can still use any color card (with flash/instant) in response to her triggered ability being triggered. Since you're spell is cast second on a stack, it resolves first and isn't canceled by Iona's ability.
bowlofgumbo
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(21 votes)
I think we can all agree that it's time to update the Oracle text for Iona, Shield of Emeria.
: You win.
j883376
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Play Mirror Gallery and then 4 Ionas. You pretty much win.
Eved
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I want it.
jaymash
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@ Dingo777
Unless an ability says "This effect lasts indefinitely" it ceases when the card is leaves the battlefield.
snowyy
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If Dingo777 is correct about her ability not wearing off when she leaves play, good old Turn to mist would be great with this card. Using it just before your end step, and allowing you to stop your opponent using to types of colours.
capitalR
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
this+my burn deck= T_T
Pol_Pot
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Now, barring the other means white can render Iona an illegal target, I would think that the first color you'd want to lock down is blue.
Why?
See Rite Of Replication. A kicked Rite of Replication targeting Iona could pretty much lock down an entire deck. 5 copies of Iona, each copy locks down an individual color for the opponent. And, of course, there are only 5 colors.
you may begin raging now.
Artifact decks would be barely affected (unless colored artifacts, such as SCOURGLASS, would be affected by color lockdown) in this situation, so chances are that there's going to be that one guy in multiplayer who will shrug it off and unleash some other unspeakable horror.
...although there are ways of working around the "cannot CAST" portion... for one thing, you can still drop lands. I guess Valakut, The Molten Pinnacle might make an interesting workaround, what with the 3 damage for every mountain played past the 5th mountain and whatnot...
ClowWizardEriol
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
According to the comprehensive rules, Iona's "As..." text is not a triggered ability. Only "whenever," "when," and "at" words are considered triggered abilities. This is an important distinction, because Iona's ability is part of the spell, so anything that checks for triggered abilities will not occur.
Iona's ability no longer exists if she leaves the battlefield. As far as I know, effects that last indefinitely have explicitly mentioned this as reminder text, like Obsidian Fireheart.
Other cards that can be used to get Iona out faster that I have successfully used: Mirari's Wake: Double the amount of mana you have to hard cast the spell. Deathrender: An alternative to Quicksilver Amulet, but this requires a creature you control. Defense of the Heart: Good against weenie decks.
@Pol_Pot: Using Rite of Replication on Iona, Shield of Emeria will cause all Ionas (including the original) to be sent to the graveyard under the "legend rule."
xc1234
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
ok i have a problem that came up when playing ..... if my brother were to use Rite of Replication or Clone to copy my Iona... would he be able to use Iona's effect for each one played onto the battlefield?
Donovan_Fabian
★☆☆☆☆ (1.6/5.0)(4 votes)
She is really awesome, although at 9 mana cost I feel like by time anyone plays her the ability may not be as powerful as it sounds. Her ability also falls apart when she leaves the field aka stops functioning, so if she hits play and you guess the wrong color (about 50/50 chance since you don't know what your opponent has in hand) she gets exiled by a path to exile immediately, she wont do much good. Multi color decks are also less susceptible against deactivating the ability to only play one color. She is also a legendary so no you cannot copy her/duplicate her.
On a side note, angels in magic are all ridiculous powerful, and for some reason all female while all the demons appear to be male. Not really sure why that is, just something I thought I'd point out.
Gaussgoat
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Expensive and devastating. The fact that she is a 7/7 flyer makes it incredibly tough to remove her once she is out there and gutting your spells. Nice artwork to boot.
Not quite the game-ender some are making her out to be, as she can't affect artifacts which are frequently a source of torment. She also wouldn't be able to stop a currently ongoing enchantment or effect.
Onviously a game changer though, nasty card.
4.5/5
Deanosaur64
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.8/5.0)(2 votes)
can you "cancel" the card before saying the colour?
Silverstar843
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Man, it's a good thing she costs 9 mana. Almost makes her hard to get into play... I wouldn't personally have a problem with her if her stupid ability read "WHEN Iona enters the battlefield" giving the opponent one chance to stop her.
Just to point this out... because I've heard a few people say that maybe killing it doesn't remove the effect... read platinum angel. Her effect, too, doesn't say it ends when she does. Yet, it still does. It's a constant effect that is checked every time status based effects are checked (at least, that's what I think they're called). When status based effects are checked and hers is no longer there... the effect is no longer applied. Just pointing this out. (Also, see True Believer).
Running two copies of this in my dredge deck. This thing is just unreal.
skew
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Expensive as hell, but when she gets on the table, she's totally nuts. I don't like this philosophy much, but thene again, getting her onto the battlefield (at last!) is probably extremly satisfying.
thezanet
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
So I guess the death of any monocolored deck is cmc 9, huh?
TheMurderousKitten
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I recently ran into Iona in a game, and the guy I was playing against told me her effect is permanent, even if she leaves play. He then removed her from play and brought her back in again, choosing a different color, and essentially paralyzing my deck. Since it was just a friendly game, I didn't argue the rule very long. However, I did email customer service for rule clarification, just in case I see her again in another game. So, since there seems to be some uncertainty here regarding her abilities, here is the official ruling, straight from Wizards' rule gurus:
Iona, Shield of Emeria's ability is only in effect while she is in play. If she leaves play at any point, the ability immediately ends. This is a standard feature of abilities that do not give a duration effect. Once the card providing the ability leaves play, the ability ends.
As I told the other player, any other way of running it would make her far too powerful and broken to be playable.
boubou80
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
yeah of course: if Iona leaves the game, the effect doesn't work anymore.
If effect stay in play after creature kill, it is specified on the card (exemple: "Obsidian Fireheart": ... The land continues to burn after Obsidian Fireheart has left the battlefield.)
Arthindole
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Deathrender and martyr of the sands...
Thatguy368
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card is insane in reanimate, if your playing mono color and know the color you can win turn one. Swamp, Dark Ritual, Entomb(Iona), Exhume, name color you win.
statiefreez
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Dingo777: A slightly more risky, but faster method of bringing this out with Painter's Servant.
T1: Forest, Arbor Elf
T2: Forest, Greenseeker Druid
T3: Forest, Painter's Servant (call whatever color you like, besides purple), Elvish Piper
T4: Use Elvish Piper to drop Iona (choosing the same color you did for Painter's Servant), take a picture of the look on your oppponent's face (it's going to be priceless)
Or, staying within the bounds of Constructed, replace Painter's Servant with Vines of Vastwood in your hand to protect the Piper from doomblades.
will essence scatter work on this thing? lets say you respond to this thing entering the battliefield with essence scatter or counter, but they choose blue. i checked the details of the card, but i dont see a reason a counter card shouldnt work
strigen
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Dingo777 I could be wrong here, but I think Iona's effect ends when she leaves the battlefield. Notice how Obsidian Fireheart's ability specifies that the effect continues even after he leaves play. My thinking is that Iona's effect would include a similar clause if her ability did hang around whether or not she's still in play.
I could be wrong though. Either way, still a fantastic card.
blitzer090909
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Umm...why hasnt anyone said anything about Polymorph and this card....
T1- land, ponder
T2- land, explore, khalni garden as extra land
T3- if opponent is tapped out, land, cast polymorph target the plant token and boom instant Iona...
the deck runs 2 Iona's with 2 see beyonds in case she jumps into your hand...no other creature's and use growth spasm's, gardens, and garruk to put in tokens to polymorph...also works with Emerakul, the aeons torn
12qwaszx
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If my opponent have Iona Shield of Emeria in play and the chosen colour is green, will I be able to cast Hypergensis via cascade or suspend? Thanks.
klaff
★★★☆☆ (3.4/5.0)(9 votes)
@surewhynot: Copy her and she'll blow up. Its the nature of Legendary things.
@12qwaz: Nope, Cascade and Suspend still cast the spell, which you cannot do, so a Hypergenesis cannot be used with her on green.
@DarkZai: She chooses and colour and starts blocking the cast as she comes into play. While she still on the stack, you can counter her. (Note: you cannot wait until they choose a colour before countering her. By then she'll already be on the battlefield.)
EDIT: Ah damn, so you're right klaff. Hey, look on the bright side...with this true she's not monumentally broken.
vomitron6000
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
turn 1: swamp, dark ritual, buried alive (find her, Reya Dawnbringer, and Akroma) turn2: swamp, exhume Reya Dawnbringer
mostly i like to open with her(or it the betrays), swamp, (blackmail, mire tole, raven's crime, or skull fracture) another swamp (or dark ritual) and exhume target myself to discard said fatty, then next turn, GG personally i like to blackmail myself revealing dark ritual, fatty and exhume, just to push it in their face that next turn i'll be bringing a monster onto the board
Aradimar
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
should have made it all players cant cast spells of a certain color, this ruins decks by itself and with reanimaters they can put it out turn 2-3, just a ridiculous card
TheMoustacheCame
★☆☆☆☆ (1.6/5.0)(4 votes)
so basicaly, u play her and u win the game, exept ur opponent play artifacts... oh i forgot, now artifacts have colors, ridiculous
Mnemonic_Jabberssac
★☆☆☆☆ (1.3/5.0)(6 votes)
Iona is one of the most RIDICULOUSLY overpowered cards ever. I hate her.
AXER
★★☆☆☆ (2.1/5.0)(8 votes)
They SHOULD have made its ability work ONLY IF YOU CAST HER FROM YOUR HAND! Some f@gg tossed this in his graveyard and then basically just beat me by retrieving it from there.
murdershot21
★☆☆☆☆ (1.8/5.0)(5 votes)
broken
rillaan
★☆☆☆☆ (1.2/5.0)(7 votes)
This card is stupid and deserves to be banned as soon as possible.
I'm normally not one to complain about overpowered cards, but this card can be unfun. Let me explain. Approximately 95% of the time, your opponent will cheat Iona in play. The problem with this is that the casting cost is absolutely meaningless. In addition, if Iona comes into play, 95% of the time, their opponent will lose. In a competitive Standard setting, this is completely fine. It is perfectly balanced in Type 2. But when you take this card into casual settings, it's a slap in the face. It literally makes the game unfun. Now, in all fairness, if my opponent hardcasts Iona, I deserve to get beaten to a pulp. But seeing as 95% of the time my opponent uses polymorph or elvish piper to bring this out is a major turn off.
When this hits the field, I don't get excited and say, "Wow! Awesome! Cool creature!" I just moan and sigh to myself. This should have been given Phage's comming into play restriction. Heck, I even wouldn't mind if the casting cost dropped by 2. Paying 4WWW legit seems a lot better than bringing it out with a polymorph/piper/show and tell/braids/hideaway.
Reguardless of my beliefs, this is still an awesome card. Great art and good angel. 4/5
jonfck
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Akroma wins as often can hardly be destroyed with her protection, (of course there are ways) but still I like iona 5/5
Ormiss
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
A lot of people have mentioned Obsidian Fireheart as a counterpoint to this card. But keep in mind that the reason why Obsidian Fireheart's effect stays around after it's dead is NOT because the card reminds you it does. It sticks around because Obsidian Fireheart's ability grants an ability to the land when it's used. So, even when Obsidian Fireheart is dead, the land itself still possesses the ability "At the beginning of your upkeep, this land deals 1 damage to you." Notice how it says "You" and not "the land's controller".
Small distinction, perhaps, but the rules of Magic are very complex and it's obvious from the discussion around Iona that most people are confused about them. Me too. :P
Someone mentioned Stifle and/or Pithing Needle, and I'll point out that Pithing Needle probably won't work since the "As Iona enters the battlefield..." is a triggered ability and not an activated ability (will someone confirm this?) Stifle does work because it counters a triggered ability. Stifle won't stop Iona from possessing the static ability "Your opponents can't cast spells of the chosen color" but it will stop the triggered ability "As Iona enters the battlefield, choose a color." If no color has been chosen, the static ability is meaningless.
Oh, and I think this card is pretty cool, but I don't know if I'd find it fun in casual, especially since I love mono-colored. :)
Tharikifa
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Turn 1: Play a swamp, then Dark Ritual into Entomb and Exhume, putting Iona from your library to your graveyard and playing her immediately Turn 2: Play another land and play Painter's Servant, just to be a dick.
Your purple spells are useless!
storophanthus
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(2 votes)
oh noo... today, my only lost match is only because of this card T_T they should have made the ability triggered when she is casted, just like phage.. this might as well said "target player who played monocolored deck should concede immediately" i hate this card.. but can't be denied it should be rated high.
Kamidii
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card is very good, but I have a vengeance against both her and baneslayer for stopping my mono red deck.
IshubarashI
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I played a monogreen deck and someone reanimated iona, I still beat him because they waited til like turn 6 to do it and I still had some mana dorks out and like 6 lands anyway, hard casted the single artisan of kozilek I have in my deck then brought back a terra stomper my opponent killed via righteousness earlier in the game. Bashed my opponents face off the next 2 turns
Slipping a single colorless (eldrazi) card in a deck capable of producing lots of mana anyways can sometimes win you the game!
dragonking987
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
5/5 for being the most powerful creator in the game on even Emrakul, the Aeons Torn can match her power.
SleetFox
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Alternate text: "you win the game."
I mean, if your board position is bad enough, you might not, but generally if you survive long enough to get out nine mana, that's not likely to be the case. She's great for demonstrating to players that with ridiculous mana costs, a creature had better win it for you or it's not worth it.
apollogod
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Iona is pure power, case closed. Nothing says "I win" more than a reanimated Iona on turn 1 or 2.
I run a toolbox reanimator deck, and I usually go for her first, followed by one of the Akroma.
A few points of clarification to whomever mentioned these issues:
1.) You cannot stifle/pithing needle any of her abilities. She has no triggered or activated abilities. They are all static, and "As...choose a color" is neither triggered nor activated. Triggered abilities usually begin with "when", "whenever", or "at". Because none of her abilities have those phrases, they are not triggered. Activated abilities have "cost:", with the colon as the key part. None of her abilities contain a colon in the text, so none of them are activated.
2.) Obsidian fireheart grants the counter and the "deals 1 damage" ability to the land. "You" always refers to the controller of the card. That has been a rule for a very long time. So, If I put a blaze counter on your swamp, and then for some reason I decide to Annex that swamp, I would take 1 damage from that swamp during each of my turns. Again, "you" is the controller, not the owner, of the card.
feeble2002
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Best re-animator to date. Like it even better than Akroma, Angel of Wrath. Even better than Sphinx of the Steel Wind. It's a game-changer, it's a game-ender. Pick the right color early in the game, and it is all over. Never has a re-animator ended a game so quickly. 5/5. It doesn't get much better...
Shadoflaam
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
...I'm such an idiot i traded one of these plus progenitus lighthouse chronologist and 5 other rares for vampire nocturnus 3 years ago, and i only play standard! i had to sell the nocturnus for 8 bucks while this dominates standard!
murphy1428
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Does this ability last indefinitely after she is removed from play.
bijart_dauth
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
sorry : Dingo777, a card hase to say "for the rest of the game" or otherwise spesify that it lasts longer than it does to mean that. the automatic assumption is that it doesent. that would be like saying that the arch druid pumped them after he died or the same for beast master Assension
Iona was the mythic rare in the first pack I ever opened. Do I use her? Not at the moment because I don't have a sensible way to get her onto the battlefield. But I still love her for the nostalgia and the gorgeous artwork.
As a gameplay comment, she's not all-powerful. Obviously, she can only negate one color. Most decks are duel-colored. So you just have to have some sort of contingency in place to work around this. Is it a pain? Yes. Is it an instant game winner? Not necessarily. Still total badass, though.
land_comment
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Okay, I've decided to let my comment get lost, but here goes:
When playing this in EDH, can you choose a different color every time she comes into play?
and xc, no, because they die right away. (Legendary).
DiasFlac420
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Quick question: Is her 3rd ability permanent, or only as long as she's on the battlefield? If it is permanent and you copy Iona, do you get to declare a second colour before they both blow up?
BigT29
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I have this cards and I used it on a friend who used a deck of multicolored cards and it brought up the question: If a multicolored spell has the chosen color , but also a non-chosen color , can it still be used?
Oricalcous234
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(4 votes)
This card plus Rite of Relplication is a instant win unless your opponent is using a artifact deck
Axelle
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
@ BigT29: No, it can't be cast. After all, for example, if you chose red for Iona, your opponent can't cast red and green spells, because they are red.
Azrael1911
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(9 votes)
The fun here is that Emeria is just the kor name for our favorite tentacle monster, Emrakul, the Aeons Torn.
Corynth224
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Ok, so what happens if my opponent has a mono green elf deck and he has his asceticism down before I put down my Iona? Can he still cast his creatures?
Bowshewicz
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
@Corynth224: Your opponent wouldn't be able to cast any green creatures, but he'd still be free to regenerate any that were on the battlefield before you resolved Iona.
@DiasFlac420: Iona's third ability is a static ability that only functions when she's in play. If your opponent figures out a way to get rid of Iona, he'll be able to cast his spells again.
@land_comment: Yes, you can choose a new color each time Iona enters the battlefield.
@infernox10: I'm not sure what you can use to kill Emrakul that wouldn't also work against Iona. Maybe if you had a creature with deathtouch in your hand? Anyway, my opponent tends to concede once either creature resolves.
er... emrakul, go play with the nice little angel... owned...
sarroth
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I want her banned in Commander so bad... Not being able to play half my deck is not my idea of fun. Nonetheless, 5/5 for being a beast.
Nagoragama
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(6 votes)
I never realized how huge she was until I saw a larger version of the art and noticed the tiny man standing on the rock floating near her. I think she takes the cake for "largest angel," as she's nearly as tall as the Eldrazi titans themselves. It's a great piece of art.
That said, while this is most assuredly a powerful card, it always wins the award for "least fun" card. In most situations, it reads, "Until the end of the game, your opponent can no longer play Magic: the Gathering."
landboysteve
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
For all you folks saying to play Rite of Replication on her or cast two of her to lock down 2 color decks, you better read the card again. She's a legend, which means that a second one coming into play sends both to the graveyard. So the combo doesn't work.
GengilOrbios
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I was so happy when I pulled it from a booster. Now I'm so sad I gave it away. -.-
Gatsumon
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(17 votes)
It is my humble opinion that Iona is the biggest "**** you" card in all of Magic. I'm sure many disagree with me, but oh well.
RichardJesperson
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(9 votes)
99% of the time, playing her means you win.
But for the reasons described by many other commentators, I would never put her in a casual or Commander deck.
Player2: Sheet I wish I mulliganed for a hand with Force of Will Plays Karakas and laughs like a maniac.
ax_morph
★★★☆☆ (3.6/5.0)(4 votes)
Notice her flavor text mentions the righteous. Notice her toughness is 7. That's either awesome or terrible, I'm not sure which...
Anyway, with this annoying angel, I'm glad I put a Emergency: Break Glass Here card or four in each of my decks. Sure, you can drop Iona for green against my Elf deck, so long as you don't mind it dieing to Banefire next turn.
valhalla86
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
so am wondering??? might not Mirror Gallery be a legit card to run with her? might be fun if you can pull it of.
Sarang
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Amazing art. I've got one coming in the mail now, when it arrives I'm just going to sit and admire it for awhile.
Oh I'll probably put it in a deck too.
1qazxsw
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(4 votes)
@Shiana: If someone gets this out by paying 9 and you havn't killed them with your mono black vamp, theres probably something wrong and your gonna lose anyways. Besides, Kalitas eats this for breakfast.
Lueseto
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(3 votes)
Oh she looks so nice and pretty. I don´t believe her. She is SO cruel.
Turn 1 :black mana and an entomb
Turn 2 :black mana and a ehume
Turn 3: sucks for u elfs Teehee
RunedServitor
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Epic target for reanimator decks, and I don't know why it was in Graveborn.
GFrogbottom
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I was against my friend who had this in his deck with my almost completely blue drake-serphent deck and it was late in the game, yet he hadn't drawn Iona so he asked if he could check the bottom card in his deck,so I said yes. (Can you guess what card it was?) Once he saw it was Iona he surrendured because we were even in creatures and I still had lots more coming, whereas he had none left, so he was trying to ban my creatures by choosing blue. This just shows how valuable this can be.
GideonJura
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Cool card it messes you up big time!
S-r-ex
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(5 votes)
This angel stinks of irony. When she arrived in limited, she'd stop the color of your choice, But what happened six months later?
Igooog
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Works unnaturally well with Painter's Servant. Just stop them from casting spells, period.
shotoku64
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If you have a friend that plays this card, make a deck with four Chromeshell Crabs. Morph creatures are colorless. He will never see it coming.
There are very few better ways to flip your opponent the bird when playing a reanimator deck than by exhuming this on turn one, although I suppose one of them might be to follow that up with a turn two or three Jin-Gitaxias. Good game, bro.
DacenOctavio
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Sakashima the Imposter.
CataclysmicOreo
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
As an additional cost to cast Iona, Shield of Emeria lose all of your friends.
Kleidokratwr
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Against mono-decks 99.9% win. Against other decks this is only slightly reduced. Glad to have it in my angels' deck.
TattooedMessiah
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
One of the best target cards in a reanimator deck
DaKKaDaKKa100
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Okay, I'm confused...Can she stop you from using artifacts and what not? Or can she not stop colorless? Unless that in itself is a color?
psychichobo
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I've been completely screwed by this card and it is NOT fun. It's easy to say run two or three colour decks but sometimes you're struggling to draw into removal of the correct colour, and a lot of multi-colour decks are often benefiting from multi-colour cards anyway, which isn't going to help.
She's expensive, I guess, which is an upside when you're against her. But a green-white deck can easily blitz her out. And if you're using Kaalia, well, you're just evil.
Roborapter
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
when iona enters the battlefield, target player wishes he played tron
Anzu-chan
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
What the matter, guys? There is no problem : I just have colorless artifacts and some Eldrazis!
EDIT : Oh yeah, gg to people who hardcast it. I still prefer to Entomb it and Reanimate it after XD.
Cazaric
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I once thought I had an opponent made when I dropped this in a casual game. All he had was a Sun Titan on the field in his monowhite deck, and I had a heavy wall of blockers. Either way, he didn't play any lands for a turn or two until he had to discard a card. He discarded Oblivion Ring, then attacked with the Titan.
Iona, I hardly knew ye.
C1455
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
How is this legal in edh?
RecurringMemories
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If I run her in a deck I will also need to run Painter's Servant. It's only fair I screw over ALL of my opponents.
It is undoubtedly bad design when a single card destroys your entire deck, negates any counter measures, can hit the battlefield as early as turn one (why did she get no "reanimation-inhibitor", like Progenitus and co. did?), needs not much thought playing, and kills all the fun you might have had otherwise.
There are ways to deal with her, but if you happen to play a deck without tons of differently colored solutions (or no colors at all), this bi*** WILL screw you over.
It can't be good for business, if you print cards that bore and annoy one player, while the other one simply finishes the game alone, either.
Ich finde Iona jedenfalls nervtötend und langweilig, würde sie nie spielen (und ich spiele mehr als ein weißes Deck) und wüsste auch nicht, wer so dermaßen versessen auf's Gewinnen sein könnte, dass er sie in einem casual deck spielen würde. In 'nem "ernsthaften" Wettkampf könnte ich's ja vielleicht nachvollziehen, aber selbst DA wäre mir dieser Engel zu öde. Drop 'n' Win. Warum dann überhaupt Überlegung und Mühe in die Konstruktion eines Decks stecken? Ernsthaft, was hat Wizards sich dabei gedacht?
EvilDarkVoid
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
As the flavor texts of Dawnglare Invoker and Merfolk Skyscout show, the true nature of Emrakul, Ulamog, and Kozilek was forgotten by the people on Zendikar but their power was not. They came to be worshiped as gods known as Emeria, Ula, and Cosi. So...all the cards referencing Emeria are actually referencing Emrakul, sort of. Plot twist?
Kragash
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The man on the floating stone is Sephiroth and he's all like "B!tch! SIX WINGS!?"
Loiden
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Play this as commander!
flare1122
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Great card, one of my win conditions in my progenitus commander deck. I first use Mirror Gallery then Rite of Replication her, GG all around from some very ***ed off magic players.
A big huge middle finger to any mono deck and absolutely hilarious in reanimator. I was playing a modded version of the newest MTG computer game against a mono-red burn deck, using a reanimator deck with some of the best animation spells and legendaries up the wazoo. Turn one Entomb, turn 2 Reanimate, and Chandra was locked out of her only color before even getting to do anything. Then I beat her to death with a giant angel.
Shieldman
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
She would have been so, so much less broken if they replaced her etb trigger with a cast trigger.
DarthParallax
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
RunedServitor: because- Graveborn wanted to make a faster, funner, stompyer kind of 'Dead Stuff Wins' deck. If they'd wanted to make "Premium Deck Series: Ass hole" they could have put Jace, the Mind Sculptor in it too. And Force of Will. And while we're at it, 4 Dark Rituals. No, they knew going in was already a combo deck, and they wanted to mitigate that quality of it as much as possible, and lean it a bit more towards 'merely' aggro. However, if you want to play her, you might as well go all in. Mirror Gallery. :P
EDIT 2013:
If you for some reason find yourself needing to be hated by people more, because for some reason you think people liking you is a bad thing that should be avoided at all costs-
Instead of building the whole deck, we can stop there. Skithyrix, Avacyn, and Worldgorger all have two-card combo possibilities with Worldslayer, Animate Dead, and Gisela. And then I tried listing a bunch of "Hard to Kill Jerk Creatures in-color that would just be good to Living End. Really, the only reason to play a deck modeled this way is to actively try to lose as many friends as possible. Sorin Markov is in there because he's apparently still not banned in EDH or something. Tibalt is in there because he's shockingly passable in Reanimator, and on-flavor with Kaalia, making him embarrassingly alright to put in the deck. This might not be the Spikiest, Most-Wins deck you could build ever, but it does do one thing most decks don't: Deliberately sets out to be Unfun. Good for Archenemy because it ignores the Banned List with Griselbrand and Balance. XP
Super-Tech Combo: You can't play 2 Bladewings in one deck in EDH...but it's easy enough to steal a Bladewing out of someone else's deck or battlefield, and worth it.
MortisAngelus
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I gave this 5/5. Admitted, this card is almost a sure win-card. But one has to take in consideration that this card also costs 9 mana; that is white mana. So unless you are skilled in making a mana-ramp deck you won't play this card that easily (apart from cards like Kaalia or quicksilver amulet).
The best combo I've ever had with this card was having Iona + Akroma's Memorial out on the field. And wouldn't you know it? I locked out all three colors of my opponent.
Dismember is pretty much all I can think of mono-colored decks using to combat Iona once she hits the battlefield. Yeah, you'd need two in hand and it doesn't help with mono-black since Dismember itself is black, but it's something. If my opponent were consistently ramping or reanimating Iona into play without my having means to counter her, I'd sideboard in 4 Dismembers. At least you wouldn't have to scoop. You could work with what you had on the field and hope for those Dismembers. Having SOME means of dealing with her, regardless of how reliable, is just so much better than being flat out doomed...
I still hate this card and wish it were banned in all formats though...
Toasterx18
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
She can be counter with a Cancel though right? Because even according to the stack her ability wouldn't resolve until she enters the battlefield. Even though your opponent already chose blue and the color? Please give all detailed information about this
I used to run this woman in my reanimator deck. Then, one fateful day, my "friend" decided it was a good idea to target her with a reanimate before I had dropped my first land. It is very difficult to win when your opponent steals your iona and cuts off one of your colors. Especially when that color is white and your swords to plowshares and vindicate don't seem to leave your hand.
megamastergamer
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Try pairing it up with a Conjurer's Closet and you have pretty much got the game made.
TheWrathofShane
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Still blown away that they didnt give this the graveyard shuffle ability, like darksteel colossus. 9 times out of 10, I would want to reanimate this b*tch over colossus.
GrimjawxRULES
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(5 votes)
If you're spending mana to cast Iona, you're doing it wrong.
David.O
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Iona and Avacyn are missing the text of graveyard shuffle in their text. Both cards are amazing and deserve some kind graveyard prevention to prevent re-animation and make the game a bit more interesting I think.
deaddrift
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Wait a minute, it doesn't say the effect leaves the battlefield when the card does. Right? Can you flicker to block multiple colors? Because broken.
CogMonocle
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Toasterx18 The color isn't chosen until she is entering. It's chosen as part as her resolution, just like when clone chooses a creature.
In GB you can; for instance; run Crop Rotation (go find Karakas) and any mono-black sacrifice card. This means no matter which color they choose you still have a chance.
Enelysios
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I love the art on Iona, but she has to be one of the least fun cards around. Reanimating her in EDH is probably one of the format's least fun legal moves. If someone in your playgroup runs her you are basically required to have at least a couple colorless or cast-less answers in your deck. Chainsmoker's list is good, but missing a few options. She doesn't stop you from doing things other than casting, so use your Royal Assassin's tap ability (Or myriad other activated abilities that can kill or bounce): channel Arashi, the Sky Asunder for : use Ninjutsu to sneak out a Mistblade Shinobi or Throat Slitter: splice a Consuming Vortex or Horobi's Whisper onto a spell of a different color: Transmorgify a Fleshwrither into a creature to kill it. You cannot however pay an alternative cost ability to play a spell.
Fortunately for me, she also doesn't stop you from playing face down creatures, so she really only stop's my Ixidor deck's control spells. So, she is unfun for most players and kind of a dick move to use in some formats, but she is hardly indomitable.
Pongdok
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Here for more trolling of cards I think are dumb. Hi, white mages! You seem to get more than your share, and many of them are angels, for some reason.
Here's a quick test I developed to see whether that card you're putting in your casual deck is what we in the kitchen table crowd might call 'abusive'.
First, look in the text box for the following line of text: "your opponents can't"
See it there? If so, don't panic yet. Fold the card in half. Now in half again. Put it in your mouth, chew at least ten times, and swallow. About 24 hours from now you will feel a grumble down in your squishy bits. Don't worry. Your body knows what to do. Afterwards, sift through and locate your card. If it belonged in your casual deck, you will find it miraculously restored to mint condition and signed by Chuck Norris.
You're welcome. 0.5/5
coyotemoon722
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Against Monored in Cube: EOT Turn 1 Entomb this chick. Turn 2 Reanimate. GG.
MechaKraken
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
If you can cheat her into play, then simply put, you will win very soon. She practically shuts down mono-color decks single-handedly, and severely handicaps multicolor decks.
The most common way I see her cheated into play is with Kaalia of the Vast, but Braids, Conjurer Adept and Jhoira of the githu can also do this pretty well. Elvish Piper and Quicksilver Amulet are usually too slow to get her out early, so you might not want to bother with those.
Anyway, creatures like these are what makes playing artifacts and ability lands pretty good. If I'm lucky, I'll have Vedalkan Shackles out and might be able to steal her, from which I'll just attempt to suicide attack or block stronger creatures with her, whichever kills her faster. Ashnod's Alter and Birthing Pod can also be used to sac her.
OlvynChuru
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
In my opinion, Iona is the least fun single card in the game (some combinations of cards can be less fun) when played seriously. I do play her in casual, but to make her less boring I either name a color that my opponent is splashing or name one that he or she isn't using at all.
deworde2510
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Whole lot of folks on here talking about how she's busted because you can reanimate her. Psst, guys, the payload is not the busted part of a deck running Exhume
Comments (178)
If this lady finds its way onto the battlefield, *cough oath/reanimate/T&N cough*,the opponent can move into scoop phase.
I'd imagine that most people are going to scoop the second she hits the table.
This is my favorite card amongst the few interesting cards in this lackluster set.
Another plus for my Angel deck. With the right cards, I could prolly get her out between turns 6 and 7. This is prolly Bant's worst nightmare...and all monocolored deck's nightmare as well.
This card is hilariously evil(good?) and will deinitely find its way into tournaments if not banned
-Dark Ritual
-Entomb
-Exhume: Iona
*Opponent scoops*
darkfury: "colorless" isn't a color.
I like the little dude climbing the rock.
Just a little bit better than Ward Sliver for twice as much manna
Fortunately, there are still a few counters. I run a monoblack vamp deck myself, and my mate who uses this won't ever cast her while Kalitas is on the board. In my own monowhite deck I have a World Queller, so if it's up I simply choose "legendary creature" and watch her die. Having said that, despite her having counters she is devilishly good, and if your opponent sees you have something on the board which can wipe her out they'll bide their time.
And on a final note, she works insanely well if you play a planar cleansing or day of judgment on the turn before (provided you're not in a very advantageous position already). Clear the board of potential threats, then shut the opponent down. If they can come back from that it'd be quite impressive.
Iona is a good reanimation and Tooth and Nail target, especially if T&N grabs Painter's Servant at the same time, but she will never be banned. There are lots of instant win combos (and counterspells) out there, and Iona alone only shuts down one colour.
We now return to this incredibly long and pointless argument...
this card needs to be banned in all formats. being able to shut down a deck, even for an absurd 9 mana, this is unbeatable.
of the mythic rares in this set, i can only see Obsidian Fireheart and Lotus Cobra really being fair.
If you got the perfect hand, it'd be an almost guaranteed 1 turn scoop. Of course, that's if you are playing against a 2 or 1 colored deck. If it's beyond that, usually that's a good 2/3's of their deck.
Ultimate hand.....
1 Swamp, 2 Dark Rituals, 2 Entombs, 2 Reanimates.
Turn 1:
Drop a Swamp, and cast Dark Ritual.
Use the floating mana to cast Entomb to throw Iona in your graveyard.
Reanimate Iona, and cast the second Dark Ritual to repeat the process.
Watch'em scoop. Repeat and enjoy :)
Sure it ends with you at 2 life, but you just locked down their deck. Hell, it might not happen first turn, it could, but it might not always. Even still, it's an insanely powerful combo, if it came together. Just don't be stupid and play against a mono-blue control-you deck.
Now that I realize it. Save yourself the trouble, and instead of casting entomb/reanimate the second time.....just cast a Painter's Servant. You'll have locked down their entire deck, no matter how many colors and you'll still be at 11 life!
I pulled this in a draft with two summoning traps. Fun times were had by all
yeah, it will likely be black or red that is called, but that kinda makes sense, considering the enemy colors of white
and yes, that is a massive combo with painter's servent, as you are still free to play your spells
in all, she does deserve hey "mythic" status, that is a game changing event
T1: plains, sunspring expedition
T2: forest, Khali Heart Expedition
T3: Emeria, Sky ruin, Prismatic omen
T4: a land, fog effect
T5: a land, crack expeditions, make Iona find the GY
T6: hello Iona, opponent scopes because they now cant kill it, to make extra sure, give it savage silhouette, and it is unkillable, black spells cant be played, this can regen through DoJ and martial coup, give it shroud and your opponent cant do anything to get rid of it, no bounces
notice that the card doesnt say that the effect goes away when this does, I could be wrong, I thought it did till a friend pointed it out to me, and if that is the case, killing this then recurring it could very well be a good thing for you to do, for instance 2 emeria sky ruins, this on field, emeria brings 1 back, declare second color, the 2 Iona kill eachother, second emeria brings one back, third color crippled and well, if that wasnt enough, next turn you can clear 2 more colors
Controls finishing card
4.5
Player A: Cast Iona, Shield of Emeria, right now it's a creature spell that's being cast, so it hasn't hit the field yet meaning that her ability hasn't triggered and you can still play any color you want.
Player B: Casts Gather Specimens in response to Iona. (Player A has time to cancel the Gather Specimens if he/she can). So any creatures that would come into play, as in Iona and any creature spell Player A plays after Iona during this turn are yours. If Gather Specimens resolves, you control her, she comes into play onto your side of the field and you get to say the color you want.
It's mostly the same as, you played an Iona that costs 3UUU during player A's turn and you tapped nine of his/her's lands.
You can't do anything with Gather Specimens after she's hit the field (that's how the Gather Specimens works), but you can still use any color card (with flash/instant) in response to her triggered ability being triggered. Since you're spell is cast second on a stack, it resolves first and isn't canceled by Iona's ability.
Unless an ability says "This effect lasts indefinitely" it ceases when the card is leaves the battlefield.
Why?
See Rite Of Replication. A kicked Rite of Replication targeting Iona could pretty much lock down an entire deck. 5 copies of Iona, each copy locks down an individual color for the opponent. And, of course, there are only 5 colors.
you may begin raging now.
Artifact decks would be barely affected (unless colored artifacts, such as SCOURGLASS, would be affected by color lockdown) in this situation, so chances are that there's going to be that one guy in multiplayer who will shrug it off and unleash some other unspeakable horror.
...although there are ways of working around the "cannot CAST" portion... for one thing, you can still drop lands. I guess Valakut, The Molten Pinnacle might make an interesting workaround, what with the 3 damage for every mountain played past the 5th mountain and whatnot...
Iona's ability no longer exists if she leaves the battlefield. As far as I know, effects that last indefinitely have explicitly mentioned this as reminder text, like Obsidian Fireheart.
Other cards that can be used to get Iona out faster that I have successfully used:
Mirari's Wake: Double the amount of mana you have to hard cast the spell.
Deathrender: An alternative to Quicksilver Amulet, but this requires a creature you control.
Defense of the Heart: Good against weenie decks.
@Pol_Pot: Using Rite of Replication on Iona, Shield of Emeria will cause all Ionas (including the original) to be sent to the graveyard under the "legend rule."
On a side note, angels in magic are all ridiculous powerful, and for some reason all female while all the demons appear to be male. Not really sure why that is, just something I thought I'd point out.
Not quite the game-ender some are making her out to be, as she can't affect artifacts which are frequently a source of torment. She also wouldn't be able to stop a currently ongoing enchantment or effect.
Onviously a game changer though, nasty card.
4.5/5
A Kicked Rite Of Replication on Iona, Shield of Emeria and Mirror Gallery already in play = Opponents scoop. Just protect the Gallery and it's gg.
or the overused Painter's Servant + Iona
Flavorful?
Game-Ending?
Cheat-into-playable?
Yeah, a pretty darn good card.
Iona, Shield of Emeria's ability is only in effect while she is in play. If she leaves play at any point, the ability immediately ends. This is a standard feature of abilities that do not give a duration effect. Once the card providing the ability leaves play, the ability ends.
As I told the other player, any other way of running it would make her far too powerful and broken to be playable.
If effect stay in play after creature kill, it is specified on the card (exemple: "Obsidian Fireheart": ... The land continues to burn after Obsidian Fireheart has left the battlefield.)
Swamp, Dark Ritual, Entomb(Iona), Exhume, name color you win.
T1: Forest, Arbor Elf
T2: Forest, Greenseeker Druid
T3: Forest, Painter's Servant (call whatever color you like, besides purple), Elvish Piper
T4: Use Elvish Piper to drop Iona (choosing the same color you did for Painter's Servant), take a picture of the look on your oppponent's face (it's going to be priceless)
Or, staying within the bounds of Constructed, replace Painter's Servant with Vines of Vastwood in your hand to protect the Piper from doomblades.
i checked the details of the card, but i dont see a reason a counter card shouldnt work
I could be wrong though. Either way, still a fantastic card.
T1- land, ponder
T2- land, explore, khalni garden as extra land
T3- if opponent is tapped out, land, cast polymorph target the plant token and boom instant Iona...
the deck runs 2 Iona's with 2 see beyonds in case she jumps into your hand...no other creature's and use growth spasm's, gardens, and garruk to put in tokens to polymorph...also works with Emerakul, the aeons torn
@12qwaz: Nope, Cascade and Suspend still cast the spell, which you cannot do, so a Hypergenesis cannot be used with her on green.
@DarkZai: She chooses and colour and starts blocking the cast as she comes into play. While she still on the stack, you can counter her. (Note: you cannot wait until they choose a colour before countering her. By then she'll already be on the battlefield.)
EDIT: Ah damn, so you're right klaff. Hey, look on the bright side...with this true she's not monumentally broken.
turn 1: swamp, dark ritual, buried alive (find her, Reya Dawnbringer, and Akroma)
turn2: swamp, exhume Reya Dawnbringer
mostly i like to open with her(or it the betrays), swamp, (blackmail, mire tole, raven's crime, or skull fracture) another swamp (or dark ritual) and exhume
target myself to discard said fatty, then next turn, GG
personally i like to blackmail myself revealing dark ritual, fatty and exhume, just to push it in their face that next turn i'll be bringing a monster onto the board
Some f@gg tossed this in his graveyard and then basically just beat me by retrieving it from there.
When this hits the field, I don't get excited and say, "Wow! Awesome! Cool creature!" I just moan and sigh to myself. This should have been given Phage's comming into play restriction. Heck, I even wouldn't mind if the casting cost dropped by 2. Paying 4WWW legit seems a lot better than bringing it out with a polymorph/piper/show and tell/braids/hideaway.
Reguardless of my beliefs, this is still an awesome card. Great art and good angel. 4/5
Small distinction, perhaps, but the rules of Magic are very complex and it's obvious from the discussion around Iona that most people are confused about them. Me too. :P
Someone mentioned Stifle and/or Pithing Needle, and I'll point out that Pithing Needle probably won't work since the "As Iona enters the battlefield..." is a triggered ability and not an activated ability (will someone confirm this?) Stifle does work because it counters a triggered ability. Stifle won't stop Iona from possessing the static ability "Your opponents can't cast spells of the chosen color" but it will stop the triggered ability "As Iona enters the battlefield, choose a color." If no color has been chosen, the static ability is meaningless.
Oh, and I think this card is pretty cool, but I don't know if I'd find it fun in casual, especially since I love mono-colored. :)
Turn 2: Play another land and play Painter's Servant, just to be a dick.
Your purple spells are useless!
they should have made the ability triggered when she is casted, just like phage..
this might as well said "target player who played monocolored deck should concede immediately"
i hate this card.. but can't be denied it should be rated high.
Slipping a single colorless (eldrazi) card in a deck capable of producing lots of mana anyways can sometimes win you the game!
I mean, if your board position is bad enough, you might not, but generally if you survive long enough to get out nine mana, that's not likely to be the case. She's great for demonstrating to players that with ridiculous mana costs, a creature had better win it for you or it's not worth it.
I run a toolbox reanimator deck, and I usually go for her first, followed by one of the Akroma.
A few points of clarification to whomever mentioned these issues:
1.) You cannot stifle/pithing needle any of her abilities. She has no triggered or activated abilities. They are all static, and "As...choose a color" is neither triggered nor activated. Triggered abilities usually begin with "when", "whenever", or "at". Because none of her abilities have those phrases, they are not triggered. Activated abilities have "cost:", with the colon as the key part. None of her abilities contain a colon in the text, so none of them are activated.
2.) Obsidian fireheart grants the counter and the "deals 1 damage" ability to the land. "You" always refers to the controller of the card. That has been a rule for a very long time. So, If I put a blaze counter on your swamp, and then for some reason I decide to Annex that swamp, I would take 1 damage from that swamp during each of my turns. Again, "you" is the controller, not the owner, of the card.
As a gameplay comment, she's not all-powerful. Obviously, she can only negate one color. Most decks are duel-colored. So you just have to have some sort of contingency in place to work around this. Is it a pain? Yes. Is it an instant game winner? Not necessarily. Still total badass, though.
When playing this in EDH, can you choose a different color every time she comes into play?
and xc, no, because they die right away. (Legendary).
@Axelle: Iona is Legendary, so Rite of Replication wouldn't work for you. Unless you had Mirror Gallery in play.
@DiasFlac420: Iona's third ability is a static ability that only functions when she's in play. If your opponent figures out a way to get rid of Iona, he'll be able to cast his spells again.
@land_comment: Yes, you can choose a new color each time Iona enters the battlefield.
@infernox10: I'm not sure what you can use to kill Emrakul that wouldn't also work against Iona. Maybe if you had a creature with deathtouch in your hand? Anyway, my opponent tends to concede once either creature resolves.
That said, while this is most assuredly a powerful card, it always wins the award for "least fun" card. In most situations, it reads, "Until the end of the game, your opponent can no longer play Magic: the Gathering."
But for the reasons described by many other commentators, I would never put her in a casual or Commander deck.
Player1: HAHAHA TASTE MY GOD HAND
Play Lotus Petal, Swamp, tap sacrifice Petal and play Hapless Researcher, draw a card and discard Iona, Shield of Emeria. Tap swamp and play Dark Ritual, Painter's Servant, Reanimate Iona and pays 9 life.
Player2: Sheet I wish I mulliganed for a hand with Force of Will
Plays Karakas and laughs like a maniac.
That's either awesome or terrible, I'm not sure which...
Anyway, with this annoying angel, I'm glad I put a Emergency: Break Glass Here card or four in each of my decks. Sure, you can drop Iona for green against my Elf deck, so long as you don't mind it dieing to Banefire next turn.
Oh I'll probably put it in a deck too.
Turn 2 :black mana and a ehume
Turn 3: sucks for u elfs Teehee
Morph creatures are colorless. He will never see it coming.
A. Emeria, as we all know, is a derivitive of the name Emrakul...
B. She is totally helpless against the eldrazi...
She's expensive, I guess, which is an upside when you're against her. But a green-white deck can easily blitz her out. And if you're using Kaalia, well, you're just evil.
EDIT : Oh yeah, gg to people who hardcast it. I still prefer to Entomb it and Reanimate it after XD.
Iona, I hardly knew ye.
Ira Vehementi
Estuans Interius
Ira Vehementi
Iona
Welcome to Magic: The Gathering.
Victory count: +1
Friend count: -1
Fortunately, I play artifacts :)
But it is still a 7/7 threat turn 1, so:
Mishra's Workshop, Mox Diamond, Mana Vault, Duplicant.
However, this would be hilarious:
Mishra's Workshop, Mox Diamond, Mana Vault, Grim Monolith, Sol Ring, Echo Chamber, "
There are ways to deal with her, but if you happen to play a deck without tons of differently colored solutions (or no colors at all), this bi*** WILL screw you over.
It can't be good for business, if you print cards that bore and annoy one player, while the other one simply finishes the game alone, either.
Ich finde Iona jedenfalls nervtötend und langweilig, würde sie nie spielen (und ich spiele mehr als ein weißes Deck) und wüsste auch nicht, wer so dermaßen versessen auf's Gewinnen sein könnte, dass er sie in einem casual deck spielen würde. In 'nem "ernsthaften" Wettkampf könnte ich's ja vielleicht nachvollziehen, aber selbst DA wäre mir dieser Engel zu öde. Drop 'n' Win. Warum dann überhaupt Überlegung und Mühe in die Konstruktion eines Decks stecken? Ernsthaft, was hat Wizards sich dabei gedacht?
5/5 for good abilities.
But I give .05/5 stars, because cards like this don't make MTG fun anymore.
EDIT 2013:
If you for some reason find yourself needing to be hated by people more, because for some reason you think people liking you is a bad thing that should be avoided at all costs-
Let's see if we can build the Least Fun, most Overpowered deck ever.
1 Commander
Kaalia of the Vast EDH Nightmares Deck:
3 Utility Creatures
Anger
Putrid Imp
Stoneforge Mystic
9 Creatures People Hate
Iona, Shield of Emeria
Avacyn, Angel of Hope
Griselbrand
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
Obzedat, the Ghost Council
Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
Urabrask the Hidden
Worldgorger Dragon
Kokusho, the Evening Star
3 Slightly Fun on-Theme creatures
Angel of Despair
Malfegor
Rakdos the Defiler
4 Super-Tech Combo
Bladewing the Risen
Praetor's Grasp
Traitorous Blood
Scourge of Valkas
3 Planeswalkers
Sorin Markov
Liliana Vess
Tibalt, the Fiend-blooded
13 card Reanimate Combo Suite
Wheel of Fortune
Faithless Looting
Necropotence
Demonic Tutor
Grim Tutor
Vampiric Tutor
Animate Dead
Exhume
Reanimate
Unburial Rites
Buried Alive
Entomb
Living Death
5 Busted Artifacts
Sol Ring
Lightning Greaves
Worldslayer
Mindslaver
Akroma's Memorial
2 Retarded Control cards
Balance
Maze of Ith
Instead of building the whole deck, we can stop there. Skithyrix, Avacyn, and Worldgorger all have two-card combo possibilities with Worldslayer, Animate Dead, and Gisela. And then I tried listing a bunch of "Hard to Kill Jerk Creatures in-color that would just be good to Living End. Really, the only reason to play a deck modeled this way is to actively try to lose as many friends as possible. Sorin Markov is in there because he's apparently still not banned in EDH or something. Tibalt is in there because he's shockingly passable in Reanimator, and on-flavor with Kaalia, making him embarrassingly alright to put in the deck. This might not be the Spikiest, Most-Wins deck you could build ever, but it does do one thing most decks don't: Deliberately sets out to be Unfun. Good for Archenemy because it ignores the Banned List with Griselbrand and Balance. XP
Super-Tech Combo: You can't play 2 Bladewings in one deck in EDH...but it's easy enough to steal a Bladewing out of someone else's deck or battlefield, and worth it.
The best combo I've ever had with this card was having Iona + Akroma's Memorial out on the field. And wouldn't you know it? I locked out all three colors of my opponent.
I still hate this card and wish it were banned in all formats though...
death touch creatures
Brittle Effigy
Duplicant
Helvault
Altar of Shadows
Suncrusher
Predator, Flagship
Sandstone Deadfall
this is the reason why i quit mono colored strategies...
The color isn't chosen until she is entering. It's chosen as part as her resolution, just like when clone chooses a creature.
In GB you can; for instance; run Crop Rotation (go find Karakas) and any mono-black sacrifice card. This means no matter which color they choose you still have a chance.
Fortunately for me, she also doesn't stop you from playing face down creatures, so she really only stop's my Ixidor deck's control spells. So, she is unfun for most players and kind of a dick move to use in some formats, but she is hardly indomitable.
Here's a quick test I developed to see whether that card you're putting in your casual deck is what we in the kitchen table crowd might call 'abusive'.
First, look in the text box for the following line of text: "your opponents can't"
See it there? If so, don't panic yet. Fold the card in half. Now in half again. Put it in your mouth, chew at least ten times, and swallow. About 24 hours from now you will feel a grumble down in your squishy bits. Don't worry. Your body knows what to do. Afterwards, sift through and locate your card. If it belonged in your casual deck, you will find it miraculously restored to mint condition and signed by Chuck Norris.
You're welcome. 0.5/5
The most common way I see her cheated into play is with Kaalia of the Vast, but Braids, Conjurer Adept and Jhoira of the githu can also do this pretty well. Elvish Piper and Quicksilver Amulet are usually too slow to get her out early, so you might not want to bother with those.
Anyway, creatures like these are what makes playing artifacts and ability lands pretty good. If I'm lucky, I'll have Vedalkan Shackles out and might be able to steal her, from which I'll just attempt to suicide attack or block stronger creatures with her, whichever kills her faster. Ashnod's Alter and Birthing Pod can also be used to sac her.