I just crushed a max 9 with my mid 9 in our current war with lalloon. 3 starred my other opponent with Gohog. I have 15/14 heros.
My point being that lalloon is still very effective against the right base. Other bases might need a different strategy. In my opinion, which is just that, you should be proficient in at least 3-4 strategies at TH9. If you're a one trick pony you will struggle more often than not.
Learn Gohog or Govaho, witch slap, BW/QW, etc and you'll be fine. Also, there are dozens of variations on lalloon. Based on the layout you're facing, some are much more effective than others. In the war attack I mentioned above, I did a 2x zap/quake on the 2 ADs closest to the AQ, drew out the CC with my BK and killed it with 4 drags and my AQ then attacked from the other side with 3 hounds and 16 loons. No rage or haste spells. Got 3 in 2:15. I did that specific strategy because the defending AQ and CC were on the edge of the base and I could just barely sneak my BK inside the CC circle. I don't do that one often but if the base meets those conditions it's an easy 3 most of the time.
