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Maokai Build Guide by 1Indian

Tank BunnyFufu can't hop by this tree

Tank BunnyFufu can't hop by this tree

Updated on April 17, 2017
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League of Legends Build Guide Author 1Indian Build Guide By 1Indian 142,497 Views 8 Comments
142,497 Views 8 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author 1Indian Maokai Build Guide By 1Indian Updated on April 17, 2017
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Spells:

LoL Summoner Spell: Flash

Flash

LoL Summoner Spell: Teleport

Teleport

Threats & Synergies

Threats Synergies
Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny
Show All
None Low Ok Strong Ideal
Extreme Threats
Ideal Synergies
Synergies
Ideal Strong Ok Low None

Who are you?????

Hey whats up guys I'm 1indian and I am gold this season in NA. I love tanks and play them often. tanks are great champs which you can fool around with in norms or go crazy with in ranked. They usually never die, and provide alot in a team.

IM BACK GUYS!!! Sorry for the long break but I am back and updating this page. Welcome to season 7 where going 7-3 in placements=bronze 1, but its ok, I am on winter break so the climb begins. I have already climbed into silver! Right now tanks are looking to be in good spots. Ive also started to play mid and support more often as of recent so you might see guides on those as well! Well ok, not on mid, cuz im pretty bad at it but we'll see. My Maokai is doing awful this season T.T Just a heads up tho you don't play Maokai to carry, you play him for the team. Good luck in the new season guys!!

Am back once again! School started back up so I got a little busy, and I haven't played ranked as much either, but we got some interesting news: Maokai is getting a mid season update!!! I am really hyped and looking forward to see what they do with him. You can bet that I will be updating this guide just because of that!

As of update 7.9 Maokai will be getting a few updates, that will either make or break him, I don't know yet, however i don't know if he will still be a top lane power house. there are also item updates, so it was my time to make an appearance and update the guides again!
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Why Play Maokai?

Maokai is a fantastic champion and a great tank. He is fairly simple to use and adds alot to a team. Maokai is a fairly strongin lane but once he does a full combo on you he usually has to back off because cds are high early lvls. He is a great source of engage and can has hard cc Twisted Advance, and his whole kit offers alot of cc wich makes him great in teamfights.
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Pros and Cons


Pro's


-Loads of CC
-gets really tanky
-good source of engage
-great addition to many teams
-can get vision without wards



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The Lone Forest

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Cons


-weakish laning phase
-fairly low movement speed
-high CD's early lvls

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Masteries

:I take 5 points in this due to the fact that +2.0 health per second in lane can be huge, especially if you freeze the wave. This is more prioritized for the laning phase, since often times top laners go for a form of poke, like Darius q or Teemo q, or they go in for a quick trade and back off till their CDs are back up like Riven or Nautilus. This helps you recover faster from that and as an end result last longer in lane. Also it is a personal preference


:since in lane most of the time your opponents will be AD, it helps to reduce the dmg they do with AA(auto attacks) even if it is by 2 damage because it does stack up. Also reducing minion damage will save you in case winions are about to over power you. Explorer and Siegemaster aren't bad and they are viable choices, Tough Skin is just personal preference


:5 points in this means that shields, health regen, healing, life steal, is all 8% stronger. Thats actually huge. Most people would be like "oh ill go for Veteran's Scars and get a bonus 50 health. With Runic Armor Plus your passive( Sap Magic) PLus Recovery PLUs Spirit Visage PLUS Warmog's Armor the healing is actually stupid.


:I love this due to the initial bonus armor and magic resist that you get when you start off a trade, cuz you end up taking less damage


: If you choose to not get Mercury's Treads This makes up for it. Also helpful early game when the enemy jungler decides to camp and they have some form of hard cc.


: Wow this mastery is freaking broken. "get a shield when you apply hard cc"...... Maokai has 2 ways he can hard cc someone 1) arcane smash does a knock up within a certain distance and 2) Twisted Advance roots your enemy. So easy to proc, and it gives you a huge shield. Remember they can't damage you if they've got a shield to go through first.
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Abilities

Passive: Sap magic


Fancy details:

Maokai draws energy from spells cast in his vicinity, gaining a charge whenever a nearby champion, including himself, uses an ability, capping at 5. Upon reaching 5 charges, Maokai's next basic attack consumes all charges to heal him for a % maximum health.

How I read it

Q: Arcane smash


arcane smash

Fancy details:

Maokai releases an arcane shockwave that travels forth in a line, dealing magic damage to all enemies it passes through and slowing them for 1.5 seconds. Enemies near Maokai are also knocked back

How I read it

W: Tisted advance


Fancy Details:

Maokai dashes to the target enemy, becoming untargetable for the duration, deals them magic damage on arrival, capped at 300 against minions and monsters, and briefly roots them.

How I read it

E: Sapling toss


Fancy Details:

Maokai flings a sapling to the target location that deals magic damage on impact and remaining there, granting sight around it.
Upon spotting an enemy, the sapling chases them for up to 2.5 seconds, exploding upon impact or at the end of its duration, dealing magic damage to all nearby enemies upon detonation and slowing them by 50% for 1 second.

How I read it

R: Vengeful maelstrom


Fancy Details:

Maokai creates a magical vortex around himself for up to 10 seconds, reducing non-turret damage dealt to himself and allies in the vortex by 20% for the duration and storing double the amount absorbed, capping at Vengeful Maelstrom's base damage.
At the end of its duration or upon reactivating Vengeful Maelstrom, Maokai detonates the vortex, dealing magic damage to all nearby enemies.

How I read it
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Items

Starters


: This is good for Maokai because it give you the early mana regen which is really helpful and it also gives you some health




: I personally like the dorans shield start because of the health regen and it gives you better sustain in lane




: This is a good start for any laner that uses mana. If timed correctly the burn is useful and it restores health and mana.




Boots


: gives you better mobility, and helps you go fast




: bonus tenacity, and magic resist are really nice for ap teams or teams with alot of cc




Core


: This gives you health, armor and better waveclear/ split potentail. Also damages opponents that are within a certain radius of you which is good for long duels. As of 7.8




: Spirit Visage works fantastic with your passive Sap Magic. Spirit Visage increases the healing you do as well as giving you health. This synchronizes so well with your kit, it is a must get item for when your opponents have strong ap champions




Other items


: This item is good on Maokai but you need to get it relatively quickly to get its impact. the movement speed is great, plus your first auto once you hit max stacks slows your opponent. This makes it easier for Maokai to stick to his target




: this item is great especially because it makes you immune to one ability, and it's not a bad buy for Maokai but make sure you have Spirit Visage first because Spirit Visage works better for Maokai. With the 7.8 patch update you will get some bonus ap from this item




: This is a really good item, and I think it works well on Maokai however the passive auras were removed, so you still get the active shield, but no passive magic resist for allies, only get if the opponents team is virtually full ap




: I love to get this item when I am ahead. This paired with Dead Man's Plate makes it virtually impossible to run away from you. weaving your spells in with autos will be so incredibly useful with Maokai as well because you will be able to stick to them and do whatever damage you can.




: This is really good since it reduces attack speed of your enemies usually a support will pick up this item, but you can pick it up as well and it is good against attack speed champions such as Irelia and Yasuo




: The health and health regen given from this item are phenomenal and a great pick up for any Maokai




: This is good on any champion if you are dying to quickly in fights




: This is a good item to get when you are behind because it helps with your split potential and allows you to push waves better. Place this top lane, and then go teamfight somewhere else and you get a free push where you either get a tower or a 4v5




: against a team thats full ad or ad heavy rush this after you get a Bami's Cinder this will make you virtually unkillable and with your ulti. Vengeful Maelstrom you won't die and it'll be hilarious




: always a good last item since the active will allow you to catch up to people and be a super speedy tree. Really useful for get aways or catching up to someone


NEW ITEMS

Spoiler: Click to view
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Laning and Lane matchups

LANING PHASE


During the laning phase its important to keep up in farm, and do your best not to die. you have high CD's early game so use your abilities to help with wave clear. Don't get too mana hungry early tho because then you will be a dead tree. Avoiding ganks are usually easy because your opponents won't walk single file, they should try to pince you. When they do this you want to use your Twisted Advance onto the enemy that is closer middle lane the reason for this is so you don't get easily pinned under turret, and its easier to walk away because one opponent will be rooted in place and the other will have to move towards middle lane. You also have greater movement possibilities here rather if you go onto the person closer to the edge of the map then you will a harder time escaping because there are less places to escape to. When running use your Sapling Toss and arcane smash to help you kite away from your opponent. When trading use Twisted Advance as an initiation, then put Sapling Toss on them for the first proc of damage. arcane smash then start moving into your minion wave, the second proc of Sapling Toss will activate and slow your opponent and if the start autoing you then they will get targetted by minions because you are in the middle of your wave. Winion damage op.

LANE MATCHUPS


*to be updated with time*
EASY: Generally speaking you should win these matchups

Spoiler: Click to view

MEDIUM: Generally speaking these matchups are more skill dependent
Spoiler: Click to view

HARD: Generally speaking you should LOSE these matchups
Spoiler: Click to view

TILT: I HATE THESE CHAMPIONS
Spoiler: Click to view
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The horse you can always stop

Hecarim is your favorite enemy jungler as a Maokai. But now you are probably thinking "horsey goes fast, horsey run me over" now answer me this, when was the last time you saw a horse knock over a sturdy tree? Heres the thing you can root to hecarim during his Devastating Charge with your Twisted Advance. This doesnt knock you back and it roots him, so if he wants his gank to be effective he'll either have to blow Ghost or his ulti and if you die from that your team should try to fighthim since he either :
a) no longer has a summoner
b) no longer has his ulti
c) all of the above
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Teamfights

So it mostly depends on the situation and how your team is fairing.

Situation 1: Your team is ahead and you have a mobile adc

Situation 2: Your team is ahead but you have an immobile adc/your team is behind but your adc is ahead


Situation 3: Your team is behind
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League of Legends Champions:

Teamfight Tactics Guide