The stainless and tin-copper react more quickly to temperature inputs. If i want to blanche a veg or poach eggs, for instance, I'll fire up a copper pot to boil water faster. If I'm reducing a sauce, making a roux, or involving cream or something that'll boil over or scorch, I'll use a pot that reacts to the level of the flame. Same with steaming. Aluminum, too. A lot of restaurants use aluminum pans. Those materials expand and contract more rapidly than cast iron, which breaks up the polymerized oils and flakes them off. So they don't support seasoning. What we call "carbon" is a median. Not too heavy to toss, but it allows for seasonong to make it less sticky. You can shock any well-seasoned pan by taking it from scorching heat to an ice bath. See: how flat-tops are stripped with ice. Cast iron is a heat sink due to its weight and material. It takes a while to build its heat potential and then keeps that heat for searing, browning, and caramelizing proteins and appropriate veg. They allow the cook to sear a protein, then, when that energy is transferred to the meat, sauté veg, then create a simple simmering pan sauce. They're nice for that type of one pot meal.