Soraka and Item based Countering (How EC and Swiftness Boots will destroy her)

( [Tl;Dr] Grevious Wounds on EC and Swifty Boots will allow you to completely negate Soraka in 6.9. )

Alright, this is too little too late, but I'll say my peace anyways. With the advent of changes to counter-items like and its component , now more than ever is a time to extrapolate on item-based counters and what they mean for champion health. While many of you may be shuddering at the thought of a world where you can't do anything to stop those or ultimates, there's a lot coming this patch, and with it, the potential destruction of a champion very near and dear to my heart, .

Now I've expressed my view on Soraka many times before, with a mostly level head about finding the right ways to hit her, without outright destroying what she's suppose to do for her players. But for those of you who might be out of the loop, Riot has finally conceded to give Grevious Wounds its power back. Now why is this a big thing? Because as Healing is core to Soraka's playstyle, so too can her entire attrition based combat be undone by a simple 800g . Why wasn't EC a problem before? Because GW was weak and outside of incredibly niche compositions there was no reason to buy it, but now League's titular healer is merit enough for a marksmen to potentially invest in the GW line, and overall This I think is a good thing, bar a few minor concerns.

First off, Let me just say that I feel like has the most brutalizing GW application method, and is by far superior to every other application method (All three of them). The reason why Riot originally decided to change GW with the reintroduction of this item was likely to try and stop Soraka from being crushed by it, since Its not only highly effective against her, but applies GW with every auto, which makes it a factor that Soraka can't counter. Now admittedly this is currently a fringe-case, relying on players to itemize properly, but the potential shut-down it causes for Soraka, Especially with its 3s application timer per auto, makes this one item that really could use some tuning to keep our healers, and especially, in a place where they can still do their jobs somewhat.

Now do I think that making GW work against Soraka is a bad thing? Hell no, this is something Riot should never have changed in the first place, especially with the introduction of Windspeaker's at a time when Soraka was already strong. But the potential shut-down that this can cause to her entire identity as a healer with EC, is just too rough if I'm perfectly honest. Now Riot has expressed they might give her back her GW cleanse on her Ult, but as of yet, none of those changes have hit the PBE, and in fact Soraka has been Nerfed, in response to the introduction of her biggest counterplay option being made relevant again.....

The nerf is simple, they want to cut down on how slippery Soraka is by lowering the slow value on her Q to a measly 30% at all ranks. But the problem is here, that now Soraka effectively has 2 different items that counter her, because if you've never heard of , then you should. The unique passive of these boots reduces the effectiveness of slows by 25%. This means that if you buy swifty boots, you will face a WHOPPING 5% slow, on Soraka's only proper peeling move. Take for instance a popular ADC pick in , who can effectively buy both and , and you have one really sad unicorn with no reason to exist on a team.

Riot, Listen, If you want to make Soraka easier to handle in lane, then please, for the love of god give her back her sweetspotting mechanic. Because not only could you DODGE the sweetspot to negate her slow, but it rewarded Soraka players for being GOOD at hitting their skillshots. Increase the cooldown again if you have too, Only bring back the slow portion if you have too, but Make it so that Starcall is easier to play around, don't just make it some super-bland 1-trick health engine. a 30% slow is laughable on a champion whose identity is designed around Delayed CC and healing. I'm already packing my bags and Brushing up on my , because you will Kill Soraka if these changes go through.