Iona, Shield of Emeria MTG Card

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Boasting a powerful ability to lock opponents out of casting spells of a named color, Iona, Shield of Emeria can significantly tip the scales of card advantage in your favor. By preventing players from casting spells from their hand, this towering angel ensures that their cards remain unused and effectively increases your relative card advantage.

Resource Acceleration: Although Iona doesn’t directly accelerate resources, her mere presence on the battlefield can indirectly hasten your gameplay. By deterring opponents from playing spells, you buy time to further develop your mana base and play even more impactful spells in subsequent turns.

Instant Speed: While Iona herself cannot be cast at instant speed, her ability to control the tempo of the game is a form of proactive disruption that is similar in effect to an instant speed intervention. Once she’s in play, the strategic advantage she provides works continuously, akin to having an omnipresent force that acts on your behalf with each spell your opponent attempts to cast.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Iona, Shield of Emeria doesn’t directly make you discard cards, but its restrictive mana requirements can deplete your hand as you seek to obtain the right mana sources, leading to potential card disadvantage.

Specific Mana Cost: Iona demands a hefty dose of white mana, specifically W/W/W and six additional mana of any color. This specific mana cost often confines her to mono-white or bi-colored decks with a heavy white mana base, which could limit deck-building diversity.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a total cost of nine mana, Iona’s summoning demands a significant resource investment, making her a late-game play. As such, her presence on the battlefield may come too late against faster, more aggressive strategies that aim to win before she can impact the game.

Reasons to Include Iona, Shield of Emeria in Your Collection

Versatility: Iona, Shield of Emeria is not just a formidable creature; it’s a strategic piece that adapts to various playstyles. Its ability to shut down a single color can adapt to any game, protecting your board and stalling opponents’ plans efficiently.

Combo Potential: As a linchpin in combo decks, Iona can work seamlessly with reanimation tactics or cheat-into-play strategies. Pair it with cards like “Reanimate” or “Sneak Attack” to surprise your opponents and lock them out of the game unexpectedly. Its presence amplifies any setup aiming for a lockout victory.

Meta-Relevance: Iona’s place in the metagame is solidified as a powerful counter to mono-colored or heavily skewed color-centric decks. In formats where particular colors dominate, Iona can single-handedly transform the landscape of a game, making it a must-have for players looking to disrupt prevalent strategies.

How to beat

Iona, Shield of Emeria is a powerful card in the MTG universe, capable of locking out an entire color, which can be daunting for opponents who rely heavily on that hue for their strategies. Defeating this mighty angel requires a plan that goes beyond color-based tactics. Cards that don’t rely on a specific color to function are essential in this battle. Artifacts are excellent tools for this, as well as spells that involve sacrificing creatures, which aren’t hindered by Iona’s abilities.

Furthermore, having counter spells ready when your opponent attempts to summon Iona can prevent her from entering the battlefield entirely. Another strategy involves using cards that change a card’s color or turn Iona into a different type of permanent, reducing her impact. Colorless creatures, often found among the Eldrazi tribes, are also impervious to her color protection and can be formidable adversaries to her. In summary, maneuvering around Iona, Shield of Emeria calls for versatile deck construction and strategic gameplay to triumph over her restrictive influence.