Hello there and welcome to the first guide ever written anywhere by me. I've recently taken up the Mighty Tree again and have tasted the sweet succulent fruit of victory. In this guide everybody can try this fruit for themselves and see if it fits their tastes.

Alright so lets get down to business.

Oh, keep in mind that this guide isn't really about a sure fire build for the champion, but more a nudge in a generally good direction towards your ultimate victory. Games are always filled with uncertainty and are you have to adapt your items to the different situations.

As you can see I have flat armor runes on every slot except for the hp quints. Now these obviously aren't the most ideal runes ever, but they do get the job done and at the end of the day that's really all that matters. Also all this early armor just means I simply have to get some magic resist and health early.

Having my armor runes with my dorans shield gives me so much early bulk that no Attack Damage champion has yet to get me out of lane. Now I am vulnerable to magic very early, but not so much that i get stomped into the....dirt.

The masteries aren't really anything too special. It's just the standard set that a tank would take.

Going 21 down the defense tree is a bit obvious and helps you survive alot longer with the extra health, blocked damage, reduced damage, and Ability power oddly enough. The last 9 points are in the support tree for that extra experience, health and mana regen, and that 1 gold every 10 secs(IT DOES MATTER!!!).

Now here's where the magic happens (NO not the magic that turned him into a BOSS) and things get real.

Now you wanna start with the obvious choice, Dorans Shield, and get yourself that starting bulk. This will help you against certain pain in the butts like Gangplank, Vayne, Renekton, or Pantheon. Now if you feel that a caster is what you'll be put against, and a annoying one at that, then you might find starting with a Null-Magic Mantle or a Ruby Crystal to rush the Catalyst of the Protector to be a bit better.

After you've farmed up to 1050 gold it's ok to go back to base to get your Ionia Boots of Lucidity, unless something else is in higher calling. The cooldown will help you with using your snare faster to reach those kills that would almost have certainly gotten away.

Since the only bulk item you have at this point is the dorans shield you'll want to work harder on last hitting minions and getting those kills for you and your lane partner. Once you are able to you must B and get the catalyst to give yourself that extra tanklyness. Plus, the by level extra healing isn't gonna hurt your laning at all.....so yea.

Now depending on what's going on in the game you can either change that catalyst into the Rod of Ages or hold off on it and buy something to help with the situation. Negatron Cloak would be nice if there is alot of magic, but don't turn it into the Banshee's Veil with your catalyst(the Catalyst is for your Rod of Ages). All you want is the magic resist for your bulk. You could also grab the Glacial Shroud instead for the extra armor and cooldown to make ALOT more helpful.

In the long run you'll obviously want to upgrade the Glacial Shroud and Negatron Cloak in to the Frozen Heart and the Banshee's Veil respectively. At end game I would pick up a Archangel Staff to turn all that mana I have into some Ability Power or Lichbane to help synchronize with my spamming of spells. Either way you will contribute to damage output on your team.

In all honesty though by the time you get to late game and you have your Rod of Ages and other bulk items it comes down to you. Not my guide, but YOU. YOU must adapt to how the game unfolds and YOU must learn when the time arises to get the special item. Judge carefully and make sure you don't let yourself get burned to cinders out there.

The skills may seen a little weird to your regular Maokai, but I'm not here to be regular. I'm here to express my plan to happy success.

Step 1: Grab your snare(W). It maybe seem weird but having access to a snare for first blood is pretty awesome, in my opinion anyway. It helps deal with those people that love to carry flash and lock then into you and your partners onslaught for a second or so.

Step 2: Grab your slam(Q). With the 1-2 combo of W then Q you're kinda like a Blitzcrank in a small way. This will make getting a kill fairly easy at level 2.

Step 3: PROFIT!!! (E) Putting points into your little seed buddy saves money for from buying wards in those hectic games. Looking out for jungle never hurts....unless you don't do it.

Ok. So building your Snare most in game is what you want so you can keep people stuck longer and longer. From there on you want to go with what you think feels right. Put into your Q more than E if your enemy is constantly getting close. If the enemy is getting careful then you want the E higher than your Q for that ranged hassle.

So hopefully this guide has explained exactly what I wanted to. Things are relative to change, so I will update my ideas. TY for checking this out.

Don't get burned to cinders.