Hey, So Maokai is now out and he is by far the most fun character to use! His attacks can range and be just plain annoying or he can just use very strong brute force. Maokai Is that type of player who can use his ultimate to help his teammates and to weaken his opponents. just an all around fun and useful character.

Pros-

Able to take damage
Great range with sapling toss
ultimate recharges fast
Amazing at pushing enemies back with teammate

Cons-

Sucks down mana
Not great at solo

These masteries are centered around the ability to kill and kill effectively without having to go back to the base over and over. with the mix of items these masteries can really help make the difference between a maokai who can attack and one who can actually kill.

Greater Seal of Clarity- Maokai needs all the help with mana he can get for the beginning

Greater Glyph of Strength-Later in the game this will be a lot more helpful then people give it credit for

Greater Mark of Insight- A nice bit of magic penetration so he can actually be effective

Greater Quintessence of Potency- Ability power will hugely effect the helpfulness of Maokai throughout a game

Suggested

- Heal is helpful in those sticky situations. In the beginning of the game you might find yourself to be the victim of a attempted gank a quick heal is extremely important in a team battle or in pushing or in a 1v1 battle/ Regardless having heal will always help your chances in a game

- Clarity is a ust have for Maokai! since its so easy to go through mana. Then when not paying full attention a opponent may come up and start fighting you when you attempt to use a ability you are out of mana!! luckily clarity can help with those type of problems.

Other options

Ghost- another an effective option with any slow character. This will help you run from a situation where death is probable. If ganked ghost can help you get away from the opponents range and get closer to a turret or a friendly.

exhaust- This helps with any fight and with any character. It would not be my first option when choosing a spell but its truly is not a bad choice. This spell keeps enemies from hitting and running. It can help get numerous kills and allow for pushing .

Rod of Ages

--+450 Health +525 Mana +60 Ability Power Passive: Your Champion gains 18 Health, 20 Mana, and 2 Ability Power every 1 min. Bonuses cap at +180 Health, +200 Mana, and +20 Ability Power

The Reason

Rod of Ages is a good start for maokai because it allows him to have more mana which a must because of his excessive amount of mana draining abilities. This also give more health and ability power which will help a lot during any fight. A big reason why i like this item is because after every minute maokai will gain health, mana, and ap.

Sorcerer's Shoes

-+20 Magic Penetration UNIQUE Passive: Enhanced Movement 2

The reason

I like the sorcerer's shoes as the next item for maokai because it first makes him move faster which is a must if you really need to get from point A to point B. Secondly it makes Maokai's abilities much stronger and more effective.

Deathfire Grasp

- +60 Ability Power +10 Mana Regen per 5 Sec UNIQUE Passive: Reduces ability cooldowns by 15%. UNIQUE Active: Deals magic damage to target champion equal to 30% of their current health (+3.5% per 100 Ability Power) with a miminum of 200 damage. 1 minute cooldown.

The Reason

This Item is just AWESOME i love that it makes my abilities cooldown much faster. It regens your mana which is a need for Maokai and my favorite thing about it is that if you start a fight you can pop it and deala nice chunk of damage before you even actually hit your enemy.

Mejai's Soulstealer

- +20 Ability Power UNIQUE Passive: Your champion gains 8 ability power per stack, receiving 2 stacks for a kill or 1 stack for an assist. This effect can stack 20 times; you lose a third of your stacks if you die. At 20 stacks, your champion's cooldowns are reduced by 15%.

The Reason

This Item is extremely helpful in a 5v5 match. i find myself getting huge amounts of kills and assist if i lane effectively. Near the end of the game Maokai is just a killing and assist machine so these stacks will get to 20 before you even know it. Then you'll cast abilities much faster than ever before.

The Black Cleaver

- +55 Attack Damage +30% Attack Speed UNIQUE Passive: Physical attacks reduce your target's Armor by 15 for 5 seconds (maximum 3 stacks).

The Reason

This Item may seem out of the Blue but i figured out how helpful this was when i was in a 5v5 battle and we were completely losing but since i was getting so much money from being one of the only people not dying i just spent it on something that looked cool. This thing that looked "cool" ended up being just amazing. i would get into team fights lay down my ulti and hack away at opponents killing them much faster then ever before! So yes, this item is actually very helpful

In the beginning of the game its a must to stick around by your teammates in 3v3 always try to gank the bottom and in 5v5 take top or bottom. When approaching the grass just launch your seedling into it and if there is a enemy nearby it will easily reveal them. This strategic maneuver allows you to stay away being overpowered by a stun and followed by a beating. Maokai is not an extremely difficult character to start with and if you find yourself having trouble don't be stupid and keep rushing, just hug the turret and launch your little seedlings out into the crowds of minions

During this phase maokai should not be running around like a chicken with its head cutoff. You're a tree not master yi. Keep to a lane and dont be afraid to click G and get allies to help. LOL is a team based game and even though its nice to act powerful its better to win. So if you stick to your goal and if your team is helping you, then its very easy to push back enemies. Use your twisted advance to rush a weaker enemy and lay down a couple of hits. While they are on the run launch a seedling at them and it will first hurt them on impact of it landing then it will explode. If this is done effectively many kills will come your way.

Late in the game you should head towards the middle in a 5v5 or wherever the weak spot may be in a 3v3. i would not suggest trying to take on the enemy team by yourself because if you do you can weaken them but most likely you'll die and not even get a kill. my suggestion at this point in the game is stick with a buddy or a stranger and launch numerous team attack moving towards a single turret. The best strategy i can think of at this point is to lay down your ultimate in a spot where most of your teammates are already standing., then just launch your seedling or rush the weakest enemy. The nicest part about your ulti is the fact that it stay there until you explode it which deals the absorbed damage to enemies inside it or it dissipates when you do not have the mana to sustain it.

Don't Be Greedy
Don't solo in the early game

You can use Twisted Advance to leap through a wall if enemy is close enough
Sapling Toss is very fun but you can actually just throw it in to the grass and see if there is any enemies
Sapling toss is also like a homing mine if you sit it down it will stay for a good bit of time then once something is close, The sapling will run towards the enemy and explode