E is for damage and you just need to CC people in a gank, so you should max Q first, it got very low cd and can be used atleast twice when you gank

Umm I m playin Maokai as a Support/Tank. And yea, I m considering the Q maxing after that
E-Q-E-W, that slow could be more effective in gangs and teamfights.

you should consider adding some AP items instead of tank items if you're going for the damage or else consider a better ganking skill sequence like E-Q-E-W- max Q after that

myslim si ze ekd tam nemas full attack speed runy a mana potky tak to nedas -1 :/