Opinions on maokai update

I am searching for opinions regarding the success/failure of maokais new kit.

I personally like the changes to saplings a lot, and the passive changes have added a bit more to his jungling capability. But honestly, i really dislike his ult. It seems that no matter what i do, i cannot find a good use for it. If you use it to peel, the duration is rather short so it doesn't do much. If you use it to initiate, it takes too long and their team just runs or hides behind the tank to avoid it. Trying to combo it with the w+e combo has frequently left me with the impression of " i knocked them back far enough that they can just walk away". Trying to use it in teamfights, either it turns into a .6 sec snare on one or two guys or it just arrives so late it doesn't really effect the outcome. The only times ive seen it used successfully is if it can blindside a team over a wall or follow up on another initiate. But the amount of time that passes between firing it and the actual effect basically mean its largely down to luck or perfect timing from your allies to actually make it worthwhile. With the amount of time it takes on the approach, the roots just need to be far more effective than they are, it really feels like a kinda mid-tier cc with VERY low reliability and a long cooldown. It needs to have either a higher base snare duration so it can peel effectively, have a larger reward for hitting (stun instead of snare, more damage, etc) or simply be faster.

Almost every game i have played with him sense the update has consisted of me having a great time until i try to use my ult, at which point the enemy disengages and walks away. It almost feels like a liability, more of a red flag that i am going all in than an actual aid to my kit.