I've been a Lulu main since Season 2. And I feel like Lulu is in need of a nerf. Badly.
TL;DR on bottom.
There was a point when I thought that Lulu was at her strongest when she was dominating every role that wasn't ADC and Jungle (arguably ADC too), before her Glitterlance got hit.
But now? Honestly I feel that Lulu is currently at her most strongest point. Ever. To the point where it actually doesn't feel fun to play her anymore. And this is why.
Right now, Lulu has everything that other supports have but arguably better. Lulu currently is a, nuking, CCing, peeling, pick giving, sustained harass dealing, ranged, low mana resources, disengaging, engaging mage support that ALSO can what I can true-heal a target. Meaning that because she just throws a flat number of HP on a target, it doesn't matter if they're under the influence of grievous wounds, because it actually doesn't count as a heal, therefore bypassing the whole reason of having grievous wounds on a target, which means that she's actually more viable as a late game clutch healer than a Soraka. (Emphasis on clutch)
For example:
Late game hits, Lulu is playing support with Ardent and/or Redemption with a ton of AP items afterwards.
Zed gets a pick on the ADC and ults and combos them while igniting to prevent any clutch heals. Lulu Ults the ADC, giving them a rough number of about maybe 900-1200hp depending on how much AP she has and if she's running Windspeakers ALONG with a shield that gives them about another 300-500 health (maybe more) at the same time, ether whimsying the ADC so they can outrun Zed's damage so his ult won't kill, or polymorphing the Zed making him waste his ult and summoners. And the ADC will still have roughly half HP to still keep fighting.
Soraka can drop the blue silence circle, but the biggest issue is that grievous wounds from the ignite (or executioner's calling) will pretty much nullify her healing, and ult, meaning that chances are, the ADC is going to still take a ton of damage after Zed ults, then will ether die to the ult altogether, or will be too weak to fight afterwards.
Janna can ult and drop a shield and tornado, but if the Zed is skilled enough, he can easily warp back onto the ADC and continue his onslaught while Janna is flailing around waiting for her cooldowns.
Both Soraka and Janna can be counterplayed if the assassin is skilled enough. Lulu. Cannot.
Zed has quicksilver's sash so he can't be polymorphed long enough to stop his combo. Good. Too bad Lulu still has a knock up, a slow, a shield and a bunch of Hp to drop on the ADC... oh and don't forget... SHE CAN STILL KILL ZED. Yes. On top of being able to mess up the assassin's ability to kill, she still deals a ton of damage with her auto attack passive and her Q and thunderlord's.
Lulu is a combination of all the supports that did all the things that made them amazing at one point. But all the really good supports at the time, got nerfed. Zyra, Malzahar both got hit. And Brand is too reliant on skillshots to be effective anymore. Meaning now, you have a support that does everything that they did, if not better with lower cooldowns.
You miss the early game harass and damage that Malzahar had? Pick Lulu and auto attack with E and Q and thunderlord's. You want the sustained damage that Zyra had? Pick Lulu and see above. You want burst that Brand has, without needing to land a ton of skillshots and being screwed over by super mobile ADCs? Pick Lulu and see freaking above.
Often times ADCs need to build attack speed so they can increase their DPS. Which is why you normally see them running Infinity edge with Phantom Dancer, maybe a Bork, something else with zeal and a Bloodthirster with maybe another attack speed item.
With Lulu however, they can bypass this problem and rush a ton of AD with maybe 1 attack speed item and still have the attack speed to beat out most other ADCs.
With her maxing her W first and rushing Ardent Censer, she gives the ADC (or whoever else she wants to turn into God for 5 seconds) a massive attack speed and movement speed boost, along with the 20-35 damage on top of the Help Pix passive that adds even more damage to their auto attacks.
There's a huge reason why Lulu is pretty much pick or ban in pro matches right now. In all the pro games I saw the past few weeks, I didn't see one (that I remember) where Lulu was ether not banned or not picked. She's that good and that's a problem.
No one champion should command that much pressure and presence in a bottom lane. The only other champion that can match her in lane presence is Blitzcrank who might I add Lulu is strong against.
She doesn't have 1 bad lane. She has lanes that are harder than others. She has lanes that she probably would rather not face. But none of them are considered hard counters.
In conclusion. I adore Lulu. I love her kit and I think she's one of my favorite champions around to play. That being said, I still can say this with great certainty. Lulu needs a nerf to lower her need for pick or ban as a support and arguably as a champion as a whole.
TL;DR Purple too strong. Much pressure. Need Nerfs. Wow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXt_ioJ7D2k I leave you with this.
