Hey there! This may sound like a very stupid question, but I'm new to LoL from DotA, and I was wondering how to subscribe to view guide in-game. I can't really see a way to do so that's readily apparent, and I always found in helpful to have the tips and explanations right there in-game at my fingertips, since I'm rather forgetful. Is that possible to do, or is there one helluva lot of memorization in my immediate future?

Thanks for the explanation Pink Poro :)

Yo.

Few points;

I think locket as a second item gives away Maokai's strong mid game. Randuin's Omen
is better item most of the times and against double AP comp, you should get early
Negatron Cloak or even just go for the Spirit Visage.

I'd go for 9/21. You shouldn't be getting the blue buff more than once. I think you
can get away with getting the second one too but that's not ideal. So you'd have
the extra buff duration only once or if you manage to get blue randomly from someone.

I'd say Randuin's Omen > Frozen Heart as jungle Maokai because of the jungle
item passive which gives more hp.

Layout is ~ok-ish but could be much better with some time spent.

I hate the spoilers :/ Some of them are neat but I think you have overused them
a little when you could have just put the information there.

You're also missing couple of important chapters like jungle match-ups,
team fights and in-depth information overall.

Okay so the thing with Mao is that most times you are not usually the one engaging team fights. Since the 4.14 nerf to Vengeful Maelstrom you aren't nearly as tanky as you used to be. Nowadays you can't just pop ult and dive in, the timer is going to run out, and you will die.

Once you pick up your big tanky items ( Spirit Visage and Randuin's Omen/ Frozen Heart) then you can start thinking about face tanking the enemy carries. And you are right, Maokai is pretty damn slow without move quints/masteries (ala jungle tree) so you do have to rely on Flash initiates to be the one starting fights.

Good Guide. How would you engage into a teamfight? I feel like Mao is 2 slow and I end up using flash+w to catch the carry.
Much love

Shanks friend! ^_^

i can't wait to get Maokai so that i can try out this guide!!!

Okay so here's the thing about matchups in top lane right now. There really isn't a fully fleshed out "god-tier" of champions right now (also called the trinity) because 4.13 made the meta pretty volatile, and no one region has really settled down yet in terms of contested picks. There is a growing trend in NA/EUW/KR for people to play AP Bruisers (of which Maokai is king), as well as some perennial picks like Lulu, Jayce, and Irelia. What I'm trying to get at is that I can't really make a matchups section that matters because you can see pretty much anything at too lane these days. You're always going to see Maokai if he's open but that's like the only sure thing. The rest is pretty much a grab bag.

As far as items go Maokai is super versatile. As long as you build straight tank with 1 AP/tank hybrid item you're going to do well. The reason I go RoA into CDR/resist items is that Maokai's ult and innate let you abuse HP stacking about as much as Dr. Mundo and Alistar. I've seen people go Locket of the Iron Solari or Lich Bane in place of some of my items, but the ones I've picked are pretty standard at mid-high (plat+) MMR games. Other than the fact that these items make you super tanky and let you spam spells there's really not much to go into with the build. I could explain every situation that Frozen Heart is superior to Randuin's Omen and vice versa, but that would be like explaining fine grammar rules to a 12 year old. It's just part of the understanding you develop from playing a lot of games.

There is no cookie cutter explanation for why you build what you build, there are always viable alternatives to everything, your item choices are about what you're trying to do with the situation your in.

Anyhow I'm glad you enjoyed the guide.


-Cheers

Love the guide. I've only lost 1 game with Mao top so far. Can you add a matchup section and maybe some more details on item choices?

Thanks guys!

Great guide! Thanks a lot.

Dam good