Soraka is not viable at all, yet you're trying to prove yourself that she is

58304318_DEL·11/28/2014, 9:47:35 AM·5 votes·1,932 views

Even though her difficulty is marked as 3, she has spells that are really hard to effectively proc. and time well, and we (fans of Soraka) go game after game trying to prove ourselves that she is still viable, even though she's not. At all.

Let's look at her abilities and do a little breakdown of what they can actually do:

  • Her Q is the strongest source of her damage, where she can damage multiple enemies once per 5 seconds, dealing 230 (+35% AP) damage. Altough, when you think about it, this spell is most likely good only for lane poking. Once the midgame starts, this spell is absolute garbage for teamfights. It requires extremely precise aiming and even if you manage to hit enemy with every Q you use (which only few people will manage to do), the damage you will deal is negligible.

  • Now her W is a really strong heal, where Soraka as a walking blood-bank is donating 10% of her HP every 2 seconds to heal for 240 (+60% AP). In most cases she either needs to heal her ally 1 or 2 times to turn the battle around or she can spam the heal over 6 times and yet the ally will still die, and then she will die too. Also, this spell makes her the prime target in team battles and since she has no escape, she will most likely die first.

  • E is her second and last possible source of her spell damage, where she can damage, silence and possibly root enemies once per 16 seconds, dealing 230 (+40% AP) damage. I'm going to be quick here: the damage is absolute garbage, cooldown allows you to cast the spell once per a teamfight, silence is only good to cancel enemy channel spells, and root will never happen, unless your enemy is AFK. You can't also touch minions with that spell, because why the hell should you?

  • Now praise her R, which is the only good thing about her, where she can first remove grievous wounds and then globally heal her entire team, once per 130 seconds. She heals for 350HP (+55% AP) or for 150% if they're under 40% HP. This spell really feels like it's doing something in the game, where if you time it right, it can turn around whole battles! Feels good, works well, easy to learn but difficult to master.

After reading this and being completely honest to yourself, you can't claim that she's a good design, that's fun to play and is viable for battles of Summone's Rift. There's no way, unless until they do something about her...

Edit: Hey, you guys are bunch of hypocrites that talk about how great and effective Soraka is now after the rework, yet you didn't even notice her in the champion select. And when the even newer rework arrives, you will be doing the same - praising the new Soraka and criticizing the past one without even trying out the mechanics in the actual gameplay. I am done arguing with you, because you know half the s#*% about this game and the proper champion mechanics that actually work and are enjoyable.

23 Comments

Jamaree11/28/2014, 9:51:22 AM3 votes

Sees tourney play and high elo play not viable though somehow?

The problem with Soraka is that she is either incredibly good and unfun to play against as a support, or bad at supporting but good elsewhere. Morello had it right, afk healing really isn't an enjoyable mechanic. I personally like her right now, because she feels more like a battle medic though.

Deep Terror Nami11/28/2014, 10:06:02 AM3 votes

root will never happen

You know you don't simply cast it right on top of them if you want to root, right? Q can slow, making it harder for them to get out of the radius of Equinox, and you also place it in their intended path to force them to go around or stop; even if you don't root them, making them stop in their tracks can be far more effective. She's not bad, you just don't like her, and those are not the same things.

FiendOfOne11/28/2014, 10:49:11 AM3 votes

I actually completely agree with Jamaree. Because, quite frankly, effectively used Soarak means the other bot lane has a terrible lane, and I have personally used her E to ensure kills for the team. No, they didn't walk into it. They aren't dumb. But they tried to walk around it.

Soraka is great for zone control, and she's about predicting her target's movement (see also: Thresh, or any other skillshot champ). If you can learn to read your opponents, or hell, just be in a teamfight in the jungle, her aoe and sustain is outstanding.

Basically, I have to say, it seems like you just don't like her, OP. The stats don't lie; her winrate and playrate have both went up substantially. She's doing much better than 'spam Q for days and push lane'. She's my first support, and I love her dearly. And I think her rework is outstanding.

Duke Anax11/28/2014, 11:25:48 AM3 votes

I hate to be rude, but in this cae it probably fits: Learn to play.

It's a skillshot, it needs practise, but it is not that hard to hit. During laning I can actually bully a lot of other bots out of farm. During teamfights it's no longer about damage, it's about self healing.

ALso don't kill yourself, only heal when it is save and/or you think it's gonna make a difference. Otherwise get out and don't risk anything. It should be hard fot the enemy to kill you. And don't facechek ever, Starcall is a vision spell!

CaRTeLKiLLa11/28/2014, 11:16:49 AM2 votes

Ive stopped playing her entirely. She was one of my favorite supports back in S3 due to how unique her abilities were. I loved picking her into team comps with lots of magic damage and letting the MR shred on her Q go to work. I loved picking her against AD assassins or with divers such as Rammus or Malphite due to the huge armor bonus on her W. I loved laning with Varus, Sivir, Caitlyn and Graves and pushing all day with all the free Qs her E would provide then hittting R and getting an assist for helping Jax turn the tide against Renekton. New Raka is trash, why would I play her when I could play Nami who has a similar skillshot yet is far superior in terms of peeling?

Kuroi8611/28/2014, 12:07:34 PM2 votes

After reading this and being completely honest to yourself, you can't claim that she's a good design, that's fun to play and is viable for battles of Summone's Rift.

Actually, I think she's wonderfully designed.

For Poking and Sieging.

Not, I repeat, NOT for jumping into a team fight and trying to burst people down.