Maokai Build Guide by Tarek

Chapter 1

Herro everybody, welcome to my first guide, on the champion Maokai.This champion has been my main almost since i first started playing league of legends and now that I've tried almost every single champion in the game i consider him one of the funnest tank\bruiser champions in League of Legends.
I hope this guide will be clear and appealing for everybody to read so everyone can get an understanding of how i play Maokai...So without further ado, let's begin.

What are Maokai's roles
and when should i pick him?

There are many different ways to build the tree, and he can play many different roles too. The main role he plays is solo top tank. He can also jungle or go bottom with a ranged carry.

Maokai should be picked when...

• Your team needs an initiate
• Your team lacks crowd control
• The enemy team has lots of high damage champions

Table of Contents

I. Pros & Cons
II. Summoner Spells
III. Skill Explanations
IV. Summoner Spell Explanations
-- Considerable Summoner Spells
V. Rune Explanations
VI. Mastery Explanations
-- Utility Tree
-- Offense Tree
VII. Core Item Build Sequence
-- Situational Items
VIII. Laning & Play Style
-- Early Game Phase
-- Mid Game Phase
-- Late Game Phase
-- Late Game Summarized
IX. Tricks & Strategies
X. Closing
XI. FAQs
XII. Changelog

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_____________-Pros Amazing lane sustain/control Amazing damage for a tank Amazing ganks Amazing zone control LOTS of crowd control One of the best initiators in the game

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_____________-Cons Mana starved early game Not a very mobile champion Lacks reliable escapes Twisted Advance can be iffy Tends to take kills from carries (lol)

In my point of view, Maokai has a lot of strong points but he has his limits and you still need to be careful and be well aware of his weaknesses If you want to play him to his full potential.

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_____________Support Maokai _________ _____________

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_____________Solo Top Maokai _________ _____________

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SPACE ___________________________________________Jungle Maokai __________________________________________ ______ Reasoning: The reason i get Flash is pretty simple. Maokai lacks any reliable escape mechanics and getting Ghost wouldn't give you the element of suprise of a Flash initiate.. ______________________ This summoner spell is pretty straight forward on any support champion. The vision granted can be used to check bushes, ward, spot an incoming gank, helping your jungler to counter jungle. This should be used every time it's up(not foolishly of-course). Every standard comp should have a Clairvoyance and as a support it's your job to get it. ______________________ As solo top Maokai, your job is to farm and split push as hard as you can.Teleport helps you with that alot. Teleport enables you to push as hard as you can while at the same time being present to your team. ______________________ I shouldn't really need to explain why Maokai needs Smite to jungle... but yeah, if you plan on jungling.. don't forget ______________________ Other options: You can pull off some pretty easy kills with this one as solo top Maokai, i'd still rather get Teleport because of it's general usefulness later game. _____________________ It's not your job to get this but if your willing to give up your Teleport as solo top Maokai, you can go ahead.The truth is,there should be at least 1 Exhaust on your team. III. Skill sequence & explanations Back to Table of Contents Support Maokai Ability Sequence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 __________________________________ Solo top Maokai Ability Sequence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 __________________________________ Jungle Maokai Ability Sequence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 ___________________________________ Skill Sequence --> --> --> arcane smash Reasoning: It's all basically the same sequence except,while your jungling make sure to spec in arcane smash at level 2! Also, i like to spec twice more into arcane smash after level 11 because the slow can be really helpful, and the extra damage is also nice. Skill explanations: arcane smash This passive is one of the best passives in the game imo.It's the reason why Maokai has so much lane sustain.In team fights, this passive will proc alot more then you think and you should take advantage of that and keep an eye on it.It WILL save your life and maybe even net you a kill at the same time.It can also be huge bait for fools willing to tower dive you.( Maokai does extremely well under his own towers).This passive is also why building hp on him is not a bad idea at all. __________________________________ arcane smash This ability is pretty straight forward.The slow isn't that great and the whole spell is the knock back in my opinion but if you know you cant get in range , use it for the slow. I always chain this ability after Twisted Advance .. UNLESS i used it to initiate into a pile of enemies, in that case i will use it immediately after Twisted Advance. This is also a great ability to keep high damage opponents in your Vengeful Maelstrom along with your Twisted Advance.