For me, the best launcher for the Note 2 so far is my current combination of several. It's the first phone I've had that is powerful enough to do this without a drop in performance and still have all-day battery life.
The goal was to get rid of app icons and folders from my homescreens and leave the homescreens to act just as places to display information.
Lock Screen: WidgetLocker; swipe up = google now, left = camera, right = unlock; weather displayed via HD Widgets; email, messages, phone calls, agenda displayed via Executive assistant
Launchers: Nova Launcher + Wave Launcher + SwipePad
Special Settings: Hide notification bar, hide dock
Home Pages: 6
Home Page contents: Widgets only (clock & weather, agenda, reader/rss, evernote, tasks, family photos, etc; NO APPS)
I've only shown the lock screen and main home screen here, but there are no app icons or folders on any of the homescreens.
Access to apps is two-fold: Gestures, and Gesture-Based Launchers
A. Nova Launcher Gestures for the most frequently-used apps
-1 finger swipe down = notifications
-1 finger swipe up = AquaMail
-2 finger swipe down = Calendar
-2 finger swipe up = browser; stock browser has bezel gestures enabled (swipe in from edges to get page controls)
-double-tap = Google Now
-two finger ccw swipe = Android settings
-two finger clockwise swipe = Nova Launcher settings
B. Wave Launcher for all other apps
-accessible at all times, even when in another program
-set up to bring up the 'wave' of launchable apps when I swipe in from the lower right-hand corner of the screen. Includes individual apps as well as folders; long-press in that area brings up the app drawer.
C. SwipePad For Gesture-Based Speed-Dial
-accessible at all times, even when in another program or from the lock screen
-set up so that when I swipe in from the bottom-left corner of the screen I get a list of my favourite contacts (select a photo to speed-dial) as well as links to Google Talk, Facebook Messenger, Google+ Messenger, Phone and Contacts.
It's an interesting experiment. I'm still getting used to the setup. Much of it is the same as before (eg. gestures). Some, though, like accessing apps exclusively through Wave Launcher, is a big change. I enjoy no longer having the notification bar and the application dock dominating top and bottom of the screen, respectively.
Here are some photos of my setup.
Lock Screen (Slider Inactive then Activated)
Main Home Screen, Then With WaveLauncher Activated, Then Folders
WaveLauncher Activated While an App is Running
Speed Dial Screen
Notification Drop-Down Still Available if Needed