Maokai is more than just a Tank/Mage/Support. He is Oak.On top of that, he have little Acorn. Played in the right hands and with the right team, you will be best Tank out there.You dont wanna be Maokai that will go pure AP or Pure tank, and just EAT damage and make none, or make damage and die in seconds.YOU ARE OAK who duty is support you team members, root dangerous enemy,harras with Acorn,push back enemies with you Right Hand(we all know why that hand is so big, and other one is so small-Dont try this at home) and most important USE YOUR ULTIMATE IN RIGHT TIME RIGHT PLACE.

PROS
YOU ARE OAK
Can do preey good damage as a tank
Great Farmer
Amazing support with ulti for you team


CONS
Slow
Team dependant
Mana dependant if not playing right
Slow Start if you dont have good lane-mate

Sap Magic- (Innate): Each time a champion near Maokai casts a spell, he gains a charge of Magical Sap. When he has 5 charges, his next melee attack drains energy from his target, healing Maokai for 7% of his maximum health.
Cause of this spell you can lane very well-7% after any 5spells landed by your teamates/enemy or you.So if you lane with anyone who dont have mana(Renekton,Garen,Katarina etc.Ask them to use their skill as much as possible if they got chance-then you can get your hp faster.Keep in mind that sometimes they have better ways to use them not only for you Passive so dont get to rude)

Arcane SmashArcane Smash- (Active):Maokai slams the ground, the force of which knocks nearby enemies back and sends an arcane shockwave forward, damaging and slowing his enemies for 2 seconds.
Great for keep you enemies from your teamates, or just interupt spellcasting.
E>W>Q-combo with you will use alot.(Dont use Q instantly after W,wait second or two, it will give you and your teammates more time to kill him)

- Maokai transforms into a cloud of arcane energy, quickly traveling to a target enemy. The target takes damage and is rooted in place.
Flash + Twisted Advance is amazing ganking tool, thats why i max it after my acorn, and if you taken exhaust and you teammate got stun-well you can easily get kills in lane.And later in game i use this to help my teamates in Hurricane of Battle.(W>Q>E)

- Maokai hurls a sapling, dealing damage on impact. The sapling becomes implanted in the ground, warding a nearby area for 25 seconds. When enemies approach, the sapling attacks, exploding in an arcane blast that damages enemies.
Your Harrasment/Farming/Scouting Tool with great damage.Be carefull at begging you dont have so much mana(and your mana regen even with ruens are poorly) for spaming it.Use it wisely and remember they do damage 2times first when their land second when they run to the target and explode.
If you doing Baron,Dragon and no one warded area around them, dont be stupid and put 1/2 saplings near common paths-trust me it could safe your team.

(ULTIMATE)-(Toggle): Maokai shields his allies by drawing power from hostile spells and attacks, reducing non-tower damage done to allied champions in the area by 20%. Maokai can prolong the effect as long as he has mana to spend on it. When the effect ends, Maokai unleashes the absorbed energy to deal damage to enemies within the vortex.
Amazing thing in TeamFights dont be stupid and dont waste it before fight start it.Be patience and dont use it every times you see enemie-you can go oom preet fast(if you got blue buff, its CDR and Mana Regen so go and use it as much as possible-but use it WISELY).
FEW TIPS-
1.if enemy have tons of AOE(Kenen/Annie/Nasus(utlimate)/Anivia- its better to hold your ulti longer and risk to get oom, but have 20% damage reduction.
2.If enemie melee champions in the range of your ulti and you dont have Treat from other champions(and your teamates-mostly 65%hp or more) you may toggle of and do preety good amount of damage to him and may get a kill.
3.Use it on Baron/Dragon-but dont get oom you other spells will be more usefull then autoattacks when you get oom.

You may use different Runes
But these i prefer most
Mark-Mpen is always nice for champions who deal Magic damage
Seal-You really need mana/5 cause you go oom preety fast at beggining without Mana Items
Glyph-it will give little tankinies vs Magic damage users
Quintessence-You may choose anything you like most of them are good.(hp/mpen/armor-i prefer most)

Preey Standart choice you may go 9/0/21 if you dont like these.But as most of tank you SHOULD GO 21in Defense (i go 9/21/0 cause of extre mpen in offense and damage reduction/Hp regen in defense

Start with Doran Ring'sDoran Ring or Doran Shield'sShield.Both are good ring gives you 15AP a little mana regen which you really need and 100health.Shield little bit of armor hp regen and little mroe health than ring.
Most i build Mercury Treads, great vs CC team and magic damage users.You may found or better in other Scenarios.
Next depend on enemy i try to Get Glacial Shroud(if enemy have more AD champs) or Catalyst the Protector / . Later you build these to Banshee's Veil or Frozen Heart -depend on enemy comp.(Most of times i got both of them)
Then if enemy have more AP i go with Abyssal Scepter.If AD Giant's Belt follow by Blasting Wand and in the end building both into Rylai's Crystal Scepter-which gives us 500hp and good amount of AP.
If you still are playing i get all of the Items named above.And as 6items i go any of these followed (depend on enemy)
DEFENSIVE
f u face champs who deal tons magic damage,it's the right item for you.It adds a lot of magic resist.+8% movement speed is also really great, cause you are one of the slowest champion in the battlefield.

One of my favorites item, its gives you Armor and Health, i rarely get this items over omen, but if you face alot AD champion you can take this item instead of Abyssal Scepter.-It will hurt you damage alot but Will make you way more tanky'er.
It has everything you need.More hp,more hp,more armor,plus reducing nearby targets' attack speed.A must have item if you face targets like WW,master yi,tryn.PLUS USE it if you see champion in you ultimate circle it could be devastating to melee,they wont run from it as fast as they could you can toggle off your ulti to make them pay.
-Preey good item if you die to fast, it will give you solid amount of Armor and Magic Ressit+ Revive every 5minutes(Remember its not a godmode, you wont revive with full hp and you arent invincible so play SMART.
AGGRESIVE
Amazing item it gives you AP and Armor +his active could save your life, or ignore enemie burst damage for few seconds.
The HUGe AP Bonus you will wreck squishys as the tank, and they dont stand a chance.
If they get Magic Ressist, Void Staf plus Abysall Scepter and Sorc boots put their hopes to bottom of the sea.-This 3item combo is give you more damage but use it when you got another tank in your team.(or you are really know what you are doing)
Morello's Evil Tome <--dont know when he is better option then above mentioned but if you think its need thake it.



BUT Remember You can NEVER use the exact same build in every match. As a tank, you have to adapt to the enemy team's damage, you need to adapt you may change the cores of items, so be ready and dont take it as STONE

Maokai is really good Mid/Late game farmer. Most of games you should end with 150+ minions on your scoreboard.

Short Text
When you reach lvl5 of E and got a little of AP you can clear entire wave of minions(expect those big one-you may need to hit them with autoattack or other spells)
Sometimes they left with Little bit of hp, then Use your Q.

I used and -these two let me get kills early game,make fiddle at ulti time(exhaust),get away from ganks(flash) and do really impressive things with Flash+W combo
Spells You may want to use
-Very viable cause you are very SLOW champion
-I saw so many champions get a away with 10-100hp that this spell make me happy that these things wont happen anymore, its sometimes give FB to my and my partner cause they flashed out with verry little amount of HP-And BAM!They dead and they waste their flash-Easy kills next time.
-it may synchronise well with Ghost
-Very good thing if you think you team are to squishy and needs heal at the critical time when you activate ulti.But there are better choices outthere.-But take it if you want it
-This thing let you get back in lane after shoping, in matter of seconds, let you surprise gank when you teleport to the ward in brush or enemy jungle and steal their blue or kill their jungler.It will let you swap lanes fast from bot to top or mid.
-Very good spell at the beggining of the game, its provide more Spell Spam/more harrasment/and mana for you lanemate.
I dont think you can choose other spells but if you like other one, get it i wont hold you to only these one,-but i think these are the best Choices

You may dont play like i do, but i think you will get most succes with this build then going PURE TANK OR PURE AP


This will get more Advanced in Future.
Thanks for Reading




TheGreenTea-
Comment,Rate,Suggest what i can do differently and Drink some nice hot Tea