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***UPDATED PATCH 4.20*** Diana Jungle | @Aliasear | #SoloQS

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Maokai Build Guide by

(S3) Alias: Jungle Maokai (SoloQ & Ranked5's)

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18 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author Aliasear

Maokai Build Guide By Updated on

Guide Discussion (18) More Maokai Guides

Spells:

Smite

Flash

Items

(Standard) Start

Checkpoint #1

Checkpoint #2

Checkpoint #3

Extra Gold? - 145G,195G

Ranked 5's Core

Solo Queue Core

Against 4 AD?

Against 3/4 AP?

Against Balanced AD/AP?

Today's META Item

Balanced (Full-Build)

Ability Order

Maokai Passive Ability

TODAY, I AM

MAOKAI THE TWISTED TREANT

Whenever I'm jungling...

Spoiler: Click to view

My Pros/Cons

Pros

My Arcane Smash knocksback and slows those annoying creatures. SOFT CC
My tangles their feet, preventing them from moving. HARD CC
My sends my minions to search and destroy the enemy. FREE WARD
My Protects my allies and uses the enemies' energy against themselves. SUPPORT/NUKE
My Keeps me alive longer to survive battle after battle. SUSTAIN

Cons

If I get caught, I can only Arcane Smash them away.
I need the first to clear camps fast and have mana to gank early.
When I to gank, sometimes I get ed to turret.

My Summoner Spells

Smite is a must have for any jungler, like me.
With Summoner's Resolve , I get 10G when you use it.
Smite gives me extra "insurance" on last hitting objectives like Dragon and Baron Nashor .

Flash is the most powerful utility spell available.
I can use it offensively to gank ( Flash+ Twisted Advance) or defensively to escape.
It allows me to Flash + Smite Dragon or Baron Nashor if I get the opportunity.

My Runes

Runes

Domination

Electrocute

Predator

Fleet Footwork

Dark Harvest

Marks

I use runes to give myself an extra 15% attack speed. Since I, , am spell dependent for clearing creep camps fast, I find attack speed makes killing the and Big easier. It also helps when I try to 1 v 1 the enemy jungler.

Seals

I use both and runes. I utilize the runes so the creeps don't scratch my bark early game, and I use the runes to reinforce my wood so it can be harder than ~~rock~~ .

Glyphs

I use both and runes. No creeps do magic damage, so I focus on to protect my pinecones during mid/late game team fights. I use the to safeguard my saplings when I an AP like .

Quintessences

I use because it lets me travel across the map faster, increases my survivability, and increases the chance of a successful gank.

My Masteries

My Spells/Skill Sequence

Ability Sequence
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18

Arcane Smash

(Passive) keeps me alive during team battles. It makes me feel like a .

Arcane Smash

Arcane Smash damages all enemies who are knocked back or hit by the missile. Any enemies hit by the missile are slowed. Enemies are knocked back if they are "next to" me, even behind me. I make sure to walk behind the opponent after I before I Arcane Smash so that I knock the enemy champion into my team.

ROOTS the enemy. Even though the enemy can't move, they can still spell/auto-attack. This is my ganking spell; Sometimes I + if I want to surprise my victims.

sends out one of my minions to do my bidding. He could be a Sight Ward or a homing missile. If I'm ganking a lane, I make sure to right after I but before I position myself to Arcane Smash.

Arcane Smash V. Sapling

Arcane Smash

Arcane smash

Spoiler: Click to view

Sapling Toss

Spoiler: Click to view

My Items

(Standard) Start

Machete + 5 Pots

The gives me 10% boost in damage to creeps/minions + 10 true damage every time I whack them with my arm; The Hunter's Machete also has good synergy with my runes. The five s are for sustain.

Checkpoint #1

Spirit Stone + Boots

gives me better clear time, decent HP Regen, and decent Mana Regen so I can give mid without running into mana problems. give me more mobility around the map, increasing the chances of a successful gank or escape.
Gold Benchmark: 750G

Checkpoint #2

Boots of Mobility; Homeguard + Crystalline Flask (Luxury)

gives me the speed necessary to gank even if I pass through a Sight Ward. gives me instant full HP and full Mana when I recall in addition to a speed boost when I leave the fountain. is a luxury item; It is a nice item, but not important enough to delay my "core" build.
Gold Benchmarks: 1125G / 1470G

Checkpoint #3

Locket of the Iron Solari

gives me HP, Armor, and Cooldown Reduction which makes jungling faster and helps me summon my minions sooner. Also 's active gives me the ability to cast a shield on myself and my allies. Taking into account I may need to recall before I bank 2000G, I adjusted the Gold Benchmarks.
Gold Benchmarks: 850G / 1330G / 2000G

Ranked 5'S VS Solo Queue

OR

My fourth item depends on my team. gives me free Sight Wards but if my team does not watch the minimap, what good are those Sight Wards? A would be more efficient. If I can trust my team, like in Ranked 5's, I would buy a . If I can't trust my team, like in Solo Queue, I would buy a .
Gold Benchmark: 1300G

How I Decide What to Buy After My Core

Sunfire Cape

I only build if I buy or . The 's DPS removes the extra Movement Speed from .

Randiuin's Omen

I build if I feel the enemy team is AD heavy. I can into the enemy team to position myself for 's active.

Spirit Visage

I build if I feel the enemy team is slightly AP heavy. 's passive increase my 's heal to 8.4% from 7% of my Maximum Health and increases 's Heal from 150 HP to 180HP.

Abyssal Scepter

I build if MY team is AP Heavy. The 's Magic Resist Reduction Aura has good synergy with my Arcane Smash and and increases my spell damage.

Warmog's Armor

I build if the enemy team does NOT have , , , , , or since their damage scales off %HP. 's does becomes a problem if I build but that's why I build or .

Runic Bulwark

I only build if the support is not building it. It's too good not to have, but for the role I play, I'm better off building , , or .

Iceborn Gauntlet

is a fun, SITUATIONAL, item. _{Replaces Locket of the Iron Solari}[/center]

When I Gank or Initiate Fights

Ganking

arcane smash

I onto the enemy...

Then I immediately above the enemy...
arcane smash
Before the sapling lands, I walk behind the enemy and Arcane smash them towards the sapling

Things I avoid:

Flash + Twisted Advance near enemy turret.
Flash + Twisted Advance on "blink" champions. ( Ezreal, Kassadin,)
Taking the kill when ganking. _{First Blood is acceptable}
(In Solo Queue) Ganking without pinging the minimap ahead of time.

Initiating Teamfights

arcane smash

I into blind spots (like the brush) so my team doesn't get flanked...

Then I onto a "priority" target like the enemy AD Carry or AP Carry. If I have [Randuin's Omen] I could to position myself in the middle of the enemy team...
arcane smash
Then I make sure to walk behind the champion I used on then use Arcane Smash. I make sure the aim Arcane Smash towards the enemy AD Carry or AP Carry so that they are slowed by Arcane Smash's missile...

I delay casting until I can predict where the most damage to my team will be dealt, since the absorbs 20% damage. I particularly watch for AOE damage that come from champions like , , , and .

Things I avoid:

Flashing + Twisted Advance into the enemy team because I put myself out position if my team doesn't react simultaneously.
Vengeful Maelstrom too late (after nuke damage).
Not deactivating Vengeful Maelstrom when fully charged and 3-5 enemy champions are inside.

Thanks for Reading

Thank you for reading my guide on jungle...

If you find my build useful and effective, please upvote so as to make my guide more visible to others. If you downvote, please leave a reason why in the guide discussion.

I plan to keep my guide(s) up-to-date, so expect no less than the best.

Yours,

Alias

My Other Jungle Guides

If you enjoyed this guide, check out my other jungle guides:

Shyvana
Nautilus
Amumu

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Why do you start with Arcane Smash instead of Sapling Toss?

I start with Q, Arcane Smash, instead of E, , for a couple of reasons:

1) 0 Start-up time.

You need to start tossing saplings and stack them which takes some time. If you start too late, you slightly delay your clearing time. Start too early, you waste mana. If you start Arcane Smash you can be anywhere on the map and still start at any camp.

2) If the enemy invades, you are in trouble.

If you start saplings, you can't invade nor can you defend from an organized invade. If they decide on a delayed invade and you set-up your saplings before hand, they will push you out and you are left with a mana-dependent spell, little to no mana, with red buff, which means you will have a difficult time ganking early AND clearing camps efficiently. If you started Arcane Smash you can fight off an invade because of Arcane Smash's sustained damage and CC. If you decide to let the enemy team take your blue buff, you have a spammable, low-cost, AoE spell, decent starting mana pool, and Red buff. If you decide to farm you can grab Sapling Toss OR you can gank a lane with 3 CC @ lvl 2: ( Flash +) Twisted Advance + Arcane Smash + Red Buff . Scary.

3) More (Passive) procs.

Arcane Smash has a 6sec Cooldown. Sapling Toss has a 12sec Cooldown.

So in short, I feel that Arcane Smash is more stable. reliable, and versatile compared to at Lvl 1.

Change Log

January 30, 2013

Guide completed

January 31, 2013

Added "Arcane Smash" V. "Sapling Toss" to the "My Spells/Skill Sequence" section

February 1, 2013

Changed the all the Rune Names and Icons to their "Greater" counterparts in the "My Runes" section
Added a "Quintessences" to the "My Runes" section
Added Icons to the "Initiating Teamfights" subsection in the "When I Gank or Initiate Fights" section
Updated Gold Benchmarks to Season 3 prices
Added a "Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)" section
February 5, 2013
- Added a "My Other Jungle Guides" section
  February 13, 2013
  - Changed some wording
  - Removed explanation of Masteries
  - Added Picture Breaks