As for this guide as a whole, it should be fairly straight forward in the material. Each section will be properly headed and have corresponding writings and reasons for the statements made. The guide will start with an overview of the hero and their role in the team and will then move into more specific aspects of the decisions made when playing. It should be fairly encompassing and very lengthy as a whole, but please enjoy reading and good luck with the guide.

Runes:
Honestly, runes aren't really my thing. They give that extra edge to put your hero over the top, but for a tank, the things that we need are too broad for me to get a hold on. You can build your runes however you like, but most people will get flat HP runes or armor. In early game for competitive players, these runes shine the best. They'll give you the small boost for a few extra hits, allowing you to survive and stay in your lane. Casually though, runes aren't that big a deal.

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Masteries:

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Summoner Spells:

• Ghost: Since you already have Twisted Advance as an initiating skill, Flash is not exactly the best choice. Ghost tends to offer longer benefits for mobility than Flash, which is why I prefer it.

I would always start by getting each of Maokai's skills, but I'll focus on Twisted Advance if your lane partner for ganks or Sapling Toss if you need the extra creep kills

Don't get ( Vengeful Maelstrom) right away because the cost is way too high and it doesn't help that much.

Because of his ult and other spells, Maokai is extremely mana dependent, so you'll need either MP or MP regen. Since we're building him like a tank, we need general tanking stuff also. It's a lot of things, so I'll cover the bases: Armor, Magic Res, HP/MP regen, Aura, MP. Boots are in there, of course, and we can even get cooldown reduction.



Since you've probably noticed that the item sequence above is convoluted, I'll explain the sequence while I'm explaining the choices. It starts off with the small items because you might be poor and it finishes quickly later towards the end of the game.


Start with the Regrowth Pendant for regeneration while you lane and then build into your other regeneration/support items.





Shurelya's Battlesong is an excellent support item to grab for mid-game when you start ganking.

Boots of Swiftness are my preferred choice, but any of the other armor ( Ninja Tabi or Mercury's Treads) boots are okay too.

Glacial Shroud is cheap and works perfectly at this point where you'll be needing the armor and MP. I wouldn't get the Frozen Heart this early because of the price.

The order between Warmog's Armor and Force of Nature is also up to you, depending on if you need magic res more than HP. If you value Armor over HP, you could swap out Warmog's Armor for Randuin's Omen.



You can finish off your build by buying the Glacial Shroud into the Frozen Heart and if you want to sell your Chalice of Harmony for the Abyssal Mask or a Banshee's Veil.

So by the end of the game, your build should look like this:

OR:




Other Stuff:
In highly situational events, other items you would consider are the Thornmail in case of heavy DPS heroes or even a Guardian Angel to round off the defenses as well as its nice reincarnation. If you're looking for a good time, Atma's Impaler is an excellent item with your Warmog's Armor.

This section will look at his skills and the different situations you'll find yourself in.

Laning:

• Get a partner, preferably ranged.
• If you're killing the enemy, get Twisted Advance, if not, then stick with Sapling Toss

Creeping:

• Sapling Toss and hit as many creeps as possible
• arcane smash to finish them off
• Keep an eye on your MP and use Sap Magic if you need life

Down-time:

• Try to find empty lanes
• Jungle
• Don't spend too much time moving

Hero Killing (Alone):

• Sapling Toss onto enemy
• Twisted Advance to ensure sapling explodes on enemy
• arcane smash after Twisted Advance root duration ends to slow
• Shurelya's Battlesong or summoner spells if necessary

Team Situations:

• Don't be afraid to die. Initiate against the closest target with Twisted Advance
• Place Vengeful Maelstrom on yourself (enemies will crowd around you when you initiate) or on the enemy team (your team will swarm the enemies in the field)
• Spam the rest of your abilities and active Shurelya's Battlesong as well
• Use summoner spells as necessary to chase/escape

In all of these things, make sure your build accommodates whichever aspect of gameplay is the most important.

That's basically about it for Maokai. All of the things are there, read and repeat until it starts to make sense.

Thanks to:
jhoijhoi for an excellent guide on how to code a guide

Anyway, feel free to comment and question, I'll try to help out, but Maokai isn't my strongest hero. If you'd like to see other guides or anything, send a message and I'll try to get to it if I can.