So how does any of this invalidate that smn has imbalances like Bane being underpowered and Blizzard II being a clone of TriDisaster?

When they originally nerfd summoner and limited bane as well as replaced lightning with blizzard ii, they did smn dirty. There's no getting around that. The reality is when they nerfd smn mobs generally had less defense and HP, simple trash mobs in dungeons eat dots for breakfast. Now that smn remains nerfd it just causes unneeded limitations in how quickly hi geared players can down trash. There's no logical reason why we need bane nerfd and a two tridisaster!

Not to mention the pet issues: forcing use of Garuda with Contagion, and Ifrits crappy wasted Radiant Shield slot.

Its still my personal opinion that titan is too papery and needs better aggro aoe range and threat generation in case picking up a group of adds in a decent sized pack is needed regardless of the enkindle cool down.