Thank you for the effort you put into this detailed and thorough guide. You have done a great job here.

Yeah good suggestion! I'll get onto that when I have some free time, pretty busy these days. Apologies to anyone hoping for more videos!

This is really good, great build, well thought out and descriptive guide, and nice vid ;)

This is really good, great build, well thought out and descriptive guide, and nice vid ;)

Just want to say that you may want to add the actual full ideal build, maybe make 2, 1 against magic 1 physical, since a lot of people will look at your build order and be like wtf 3 items? Some people don't think to look at the "Items" section...lol.

Yes, building situationally is the wisest. Just like with items you have to gauge what the other team is all about. Your guide has definitely helped me in my strategy.

Yeah a lot of this is theorycrafting. In 90% of matches it doesn't matter which skill you max first, the situations where AS > TA or TA > AS are so specific that you often can't plan for it anyway. They're both good skills and are both equally effect most of the time.

I've tried an alternating build and didn't notice much difference with that either! Alternating builds are pretty inefficient though (high level usually has the best cost:product ratio), so I think it is best to pick one. Nice to know that you can switch to maxing the other if you're in desperate need of single target rooting (TA) or AoE slow (AS). Many other champions will be screwed if they skill wrong!

Yeah although RoA offers a decent amount of AP, health and mana. . . it just costs too damn much for what it does. The stacks aren't even that good either so you'd be better off with something else.

Your guide has shed some light on the whole AS and TA thing. I thought about it and I figured that early on the extra damage your TA offers compared to AS is pretty insignificant since your AP will be low. Sapling will be the real damage early on so TA really just gets you up in people's faces so you can get them damaged by the sapling.

If you look at it the way you say it makes total sense. In general AS helps more since it has CC. I have played both ways (leveling one more than the other), but I didn't see much of a difference in the tide of the game. I'll have to play AS dominant again and compare it to TA dominant.

Thanks for the comment!

RE: TA over AS
The more and more I start to think "Maybe Twisted Advance IS better", the more I start to think that it's too situational compared to Arcane Smash. When you think about it...

- Twisted Advance is a 2 second 100% slow on a single target
- Arcane Smash is a 0.5 second AoE stun followed by a 2.5 second 40% AoE slow

When you look at it like this, from a utility standpoint, I think the extra slow of Arcane Smash on multiple targets is much more useful than the increased duration on a single target with Twisted Advance. Arcane Smash is an AoE 0.5 second stun (since a knockback is basically 100% slow, and it interrupts.. which TA doesn't!), which is then followed by 2.5 seconds of slow.

If you manage to hit more than one enemy with Arcane Smash, with a 40% slow, you have been 100% more effective than hitting a single enemy with Twisted Advance and rooting. The 2 second root is better for initiating against stupid enemies (i.e. Ashe who stands in front of her tank). The 40% AoE slow is better during a team fight, protecting your carry against multiple attackers (how many times has their Shen and Master Yi charged at your Ashe and you can only stop one?). In 99% of situations, a 40% slow is going to be enough to get a melee attacker away from your Corki. It's available more often (4 seconds or so) too.

To summarize, I believe that a constant 40% AoE slow is more valuable than a single target 2 second root

This is the trade off you make between TA and AS. TA is good in certain situations, but if you're capable with AS it's going to be much more effective. If you suck with AS, then get TA first... but anyone who can hit more than 1 opponent with AS is going to be more effective skilling it first. Overall though, it's a debate that no-one ever really seems to understand... it's like there's an automatic OMG YOU HAVE TO TAKE A BLINK ROOT mentality, people just aren't thinking it through imo. There's stigma with Arcane Smash because it does look very ****py! I used to dismiss it as one of the worst abilities in the game!

RE: Ardor instead of Dodge
You could take this, I suppose. I play Maokai as a main tank, so dodge masteries = 2% damage reduction against auto attacks. Their auto-attack carries (Ashe, Corki, MF etc.) are going to be the main enemies you want to be resistant against, so it's too good to pass up. Attack speed is pointless on Maokai (you'll never get 5 stacks of Sap Magic in between every auto attack... that's the only reason Maokai needs to punch) and the Ability Power is just a luxury. 2% survivability is better I think, especially when added to your Frozen Heart, Ultimate and 21 Def Mastery.

25% (Frozen Heart) + 4% (Def Mastery) + 20% (Ultimate) + 2% (Dodge Masteries) = 50% damage reduction against auto attacks. This isn't even taking into account armour.

RE: Flash over Clarity
You could, I suppose. I find Clarity saves my *** (and my allies' ***es) much more than Flash ever could. Having it early game = more kills (way more than Flash could ever afford you). Having it mid game = great backup for your ultimate or when you need TA to save someone's life. Late game, it does start to lose effectiveness. I agree it would be nicer to have Flash then, but all the way up until the 45 minute mark, I'd rather have Clarity in my toolbox.

In your build, you end up with a Tear of the Goddess and Shurelya's Reverie. Much more mana and regen than my build, so perhaps you do not need it as much as I do when I play Maokai.

...

Thanks again for the comment, I'll send one back to you when I get a bit of time to sit down and digest your guide. You're already getting thumbs up for skipping Rod of f***ing Ages!

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It can be hard being mana starved early game, but I pull it off with Maokai and still get kills. I find that Flash has saved my *** many many times. Clarity is good of course, but I'm not convinced about trading it for my Flash.

As far as skill sequences go I think leveling Twisted Advance more than Arcane Smash is a good idea. The slow on Arcane Smash will help no matter what, so a longer stun seems more useful to me. Also, TA does an additional 80% damage in AP as opposed to AS 40%.

Another thing I have to disagree on is the dodge in your masteries. Maokai can utilize the attack speed and AP percent increase much better than dodge I think.

Overall this is a good guide. Very descriptive and well thought out.

Thanks for the comment and vote!

RE: Frozen Heart vs Magic Damage. When I state "you might as well get it anyway", I generally mean very very late game.. when you'll already have your Glacial Shroud. You can't sell your shroud (you need the mana) and you'll never face a team that's 100% magic damage (they'll auto attack at some point), so you might as well pay 1150g late game to get 5% cooldown reduction, the attack speed reduction aura and a bit of armor and mana.

RE: Banshee's Veil. I completely agree, this is why it's on the late-game list too. It's not a core item and you'd already be level 18 by the time you got the catalyst (which is why you get Negatron Cloak first). If you follow the build, you'll generally have Force of Nature and Mercury Treads before you even consider Banshee's Veil. Personally, I prefer Quicksilver Sash, but Banshee's Veil is applicable, late-game, in certain situations (same with QSS and Abyssal Scepter, build depending on the situation).

RE: Health. I actually had a max HP guide to Maokai, with an early Warmogs and a bunch of HP items, which I tested extensively. It does work but in the end it doesn't matter. 7% of your max HP is still effective HP (after resistances). Getting 50 HP from Sap Magic, with 300 AR/MR is better than getting 100 HP with 0 AR/MR. Spirit Visage does work, but it's only a 1% increase to the heal, and takes up a valuable slot with only minor health and MR. I wouldn't substitute a Negatron Cloak for it!

RE: Ghost. Yes, Ghost is a great summoner spell but Maokai NEEDS Clarity (unless you want to spend even more cash on +mana items). I find Exhaust is much more useful in a team fight, especially when I have my allies around me (who can slow for me to W). Your job is as a protector of squishies, Exhaust has saved my carries on countless occasions. It's the only way Maokai can deal with an Olaf for example.

Once again, thanks for the comment!

Already commented up on top ^