I disagree. They didn't change the potency or cast times or anything at all about Ifrit or Garuda. They changed the effective value of Contagion. The *actual* pet DPS between the two has not changed based on ANYTHING in the patch notes. So Ifrit wasn't being used because 1) no contagion, 2) less pet DPS and 3), less survivability in melee. 2.1 changes none of that besides the relative value of contagion, which is still far better in any situation where you can Bane.

Unless you have anything that refutes the above statement, then Kevee is correct.