Does a champion need to be hard in order to be good and competitive?

Lately on the topic of Sona being very strong (if not broken) right now, and while I'm not saying she isn't broken, people are constantly saying "Sona is a no skill champion." But here's my question, does a champion need to take skill to be good? Why can't a champion be easy and good?

Speaking for example and comparison, let's look at Kayle and Azir. Their kits are different, but they both do a lot of the same thing when it comes down to it. Magic DPS, a peel ult, a gap closer, and abusing Rylai's. Their passives are completely different and serve different purposes, however just with sheer feeling, Azir's feels quite powerful while Kayle's doesn't feel that powerful (As seen from my various times of attacking Garen a ton and barely increasing in damage per hit).

Skip the below if you don't wanna see math and explanation.

> As seen by pro play, Azir is quite powerful and popular, but also hard. Meanwhile Kayle on the other hand isn't as strong and isn't very popular either, and quite easy. Looking at the ults, Kayle's can seem more clutch and is true invulnerability, however Azir's does a lot more than just peel. Kayle can save 1 ally with her ult, pretty good. However Azir can ult enemies away from himself and an ally, putting them too far away to even get in their attack range to hit Azir, plus they can't get close enough to CC Azir, where you can CC Kayle during her ult. Kayle's ult being technically weaker on the peel side, however Azir's ult can also displace enemies and block dashes. Kayle's ult can definitely be better in a few situations, but overall Azir's does more and has more uses. > In other parts, Kayle has a speed while Azir has a very long dash, clearly Azir wins this too. Especially when Kayle's W needs a lot of AP to be useful while Azir's gap closer length is all base effects, no AP needed. Kayle has heal with her W, while Azir has no sustain. However Azir's natural ranged attack and longer ranged with soldiers does allow him to stay a lot more safe than Kayle can. > Kayle has the small amount of splash damage and her Q for poke, while Azir has his W AA Q AA combo, and yes Kayle's Q mana cost and damage is higher than Azir's Q. Kinda Azir wins this too. Kayle does have a stronger slow on her Q (Unless Azir uses Q with 2 Soldiers then it's about equal), but it's not like her auto attacks have a ton of damage and her range to poke is quite low compared to Azir's, thus Kayle can be fought against where as Azir isn't so much. > Then the 2 have their DPS and base stats. For base stats I'll be using their lv 6 base stats. Same base MR (And since Azir deals more magic where as kayle deals more hybrid, Azir wins 1v1 obviously), Kayle has about 10 more base armor. Kayle has 100 more HP, but Azir has 36 more mana. Base stats seem fine, but one thing with Azir. If you're in his attack range attacking him (Assuming you're Kayle), and he's hitting you with autos and 1 Soldier, Kayle should probably winning the trade for Azir not kiting, but Kayle actually loses that trade. Now for DPS. Kayle does 62 base AD and 40 from her E for about 102. Azir, assuming he's just attack with 2 soldiers, 75 + 19, for around 94. (Not counting Azir is basic attacking at all, otherwise he'd have 63 base AD added to his, clearly beating Kayle.) And while Kayle's is 8 higher, most of it is AD damage, plus Azir's damage scales a lot better than Kayle, basically Azir is better probably by level 9. But wait, you didn't factor in attack speed! Kayle's normal attack speed is higher, but Azir's W passive nearly nulls out Kayle's runes (which are usually 24-28% attack speed). But this allows Azir to run runes for attack speed or magic pen, which Kayle isn't outstating.

So clearly Azir is kinda a better Kayle in both utility and damage. (Did I forget to say Azir's soldier damage AP ratio was DOUBLE Kayle's E damage? Obligatory Kayle's E is AoE Azir's soldier auto is a pass through attack, a weaker kind of AoE but still AoE.) Now this isn't some Anti-Azir circlejerk, but Azir is clearly a harder champion than Kayle, but also better. However, is it wrong if Kayle's damage or utility or something was buffed up to Azir's level? Effectively, Kayle would be Azir but easier and equally as powerful. She'd be pretty pickban if she did, but Azir is that but harder, which shows why it's hard to balance a difficult champion because skillcap often hides power. Sona is kinda like that, imagine if we had a harder champion who excels at what Sona does, that champion wouldn't have a high winrate but Sona being easier has a higher winrate.

Which kinda brings us back to the main question: Does a champion need to be hard to be good and competitive?