Well I am an Lavochkin dweeb and enjoy it....so I guess I have a vested interest to leave stuff as it is but with some 11,000 unused fighter perks (cos I never use them) it make no odds.
I know there are some players who consider the MA a place for "duelists" and really do not like it when their opponent (of lesser skill) can disengage rebuild his/her advantage and then re engage. The La7 allows this at a pretty basic level because the fight can have become quite close and protracted without the La7 pilot having had to fully commit to the do or die manouvre.
Once upon a time the La7 could dive away from combat at 12 to 17K and gain considerable separation. Now agin P51's, Spit16's, and any 109G6,14, K4 the La7 is out dived in a straight dive and whilst it can reach 500mph at that speed it has far less control authority than the above and so cannot out manouvre until it can slow the fight down to 250-300 and use its engine to gain angle and separation .
BTW a whole host of AC can now dive with (but not faster than) an La7 if Co E and both are at a high onset speed. (ie the dive acceleration is drag orienteted and not engine orientated).
Other than this its guns are not the best and its endurance is pretty poor.
BTW the best buff hunter IMO is the 109G14, upto 25K and the P47N above 25K.
However it does not meet the current perk criteria in the least.