Hello there.

I am Dezekration, now known as Nub Of Doom. I have been playing league since the end of Season 1, and have been in love with maokai's mechanics and pure savagery since right around the same time.

I will go as in depth as possible on why I choose the build paths and such that I do, This is however my first attempt at a guide, So bare with me.

Well, really it's my 2nd attempt, I had this entire guide written out and ready to publish already and it didn't save for some reason, so here I am starting from scratch.

Pros
- Tanky AF
- Solid damage almost full tank
- High mobility
- Solid CC
- Good engager
- Decent clear speeds
- He's a haunted tree bro...cmon.
- Amazing splitpusher with my Nashors build.

Cons
- Very team reliant
- Can sometimes get overconfident
- Enjoys taking naps next to dead enemies under their towers
- Sometimes doesn't know when enough is enough
- Tryhard AF

I typically try and start on whatever side of the map the ADC is on for a faster leash, But in all reality Maokai doesn't need a leash thanks to being able to lay down 4 saplings before the buff spawns. Try not to use smite on the first buff if you feel secure enough so that you can move on to either Krugs or Gromp and use your smite there, Then by the time you reach the next buff your smite should be back up and you will reach level 3 and be able to go for your first gank. When leaving your first buff, feel free to make an appearance mid lane if the lane is either dead center or slightly shoved in towards your tower, This will keep the mid laner honest, and possibly make him blow a flash all while giving your own mid laner a slight experience/cs lead if you successfully back the other laner off. After getting the second buff, I generally like to get the top side scuttle grab, then gauge wether I want to loop back around and gank mid, or if top is shoved enough, head up there for an easy summoner burn or first blood. Make sure that you are in communication with your teamates so they are aware when you are coming be it via pings or team chat, otherwise you're just wasting eachothers time. After your first gank, assess wether or not you can handle another jungle clear or not, if so, go ahead and do it so you can return back to your jungle more well equipped to get your teamates fed.

Always try and keep tabs on the other teams jungler, If you see him up top, or you see that the mid laner has backed, and you are in the position to do so, Make a move on dragon, But make sure your team is coming to help you secure it, Maokai is neither tanky enough nor does enough damage to safely take dragon by himself until 25-30 minutes in, it is just far too risky, unless you have immaculate ward coverage, even then, it takes entirely too long to solo.

Remain focoused on objectives, Once finished with dragon try and move on to the most shoved lane as a unit and snag yourself the first tower of the game. If the enemy team sends 4 people to hold that tower, then it is your time to split-off and take whatever lane has been left wide open, Maokai is a vicious split pusher with Nashors Tooth thanks to the cdr, extra ap, on hit dmg and attack speed. He is very underrated in this aspect, So take advantage and surprise the enemy team with this.

Your main job in team fights is going to be to protect your damage dealers, Maokai's kit is built specifically to lock down enemies and keep them off of your team, All while doing a fair amount of damage and offering his teamates a damage reduction shield at the same time. So please place priorities on your own carries, when they are safe, you are more then welcome to dive into their backline and raise hell.

Thank you for reading my first ever guide, I will make frequent updates including champion matchups, and adjusting the build and playstyle as new patches come out and such, But for now, Get your Splinter-Ridden Bark Booty out onto the rift and raise some hell!