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.
Posted By:
GFrogbottom
(1/13/2012 6:07:35 PM)
Estuans Interius
Ira Vehementi
Estuans Interius
Ira Vehementi
Iona
Posted By:
EyeballFrog
(12/30/2012 10:59:09 PM)
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...
Posted By:
Jojabi
(8/16/2013 4:05:21 PM)
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.
Posted By:
gollygeegod
(10/7/2013 5:54:03 AM)
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.
Posted By:
MechaKraken
(4/10/2014 1:18:49 AM)
Well is the game wan't already decided by then it will be after she drops
Posted By:
OutlawD1
(9/26/2009 10:17:57 AM)
Executioner's Capsule = GG if you can keep it there :P
Posted By:
bigschwang
(9/28/2009 7:51:10 PM)
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
Posted By:
Luvs2Spoog
(9/29/2009 4:15:34 PM)
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.
Posted By:
hail_squishface
(9/30/2009 3:23:20 PM)
First turn:
-Dark Ritual
-Entomb
-Exhume: Iona
*Opponent scoops*
Posted By:
redwinedrummer
(10/5/2009 8:22:44 AM)