Hello summoners, the seaninator11 here!
Ive been playing some Maokai throughout normals and solo que and have been very successfull with him, so I though I would consider making a guide.

Maokai excells at his ganking and tanking the enemy team in the team fights, along with having a fast clear time makes him a very good jungler.

Start hunters machete+5 hp pots, as you would on most junglers now in S3. I would recommend starting blue buff, with the new jungle time patch coming out the wolves will no longer be spawning at 1:40, but now at 1:55. But with the New Patch the blue and red buffs now give more exp. for killing it.

After you have doublebuff, you should be level 3 and ready to gank. I would recommend ganking mid first unless your mid is pushing too far. Its good to get your midlaner and early advantage. After ganking mid I would somewhat camp botlane to try to get your ADC far ahead as well as putting their ADC much farther away from being able to hyper-carry. After you hit level 6 gank top as well as considering asking your midlaner to come and do a 2 man gank. Feel free to gank top if your toplane is having a lot of trouble.

In teamfights, Maokai is a very strong tank for his team. Maokai pairs very well with champions such as Rumble, Miss Fortune, and Varus, because of their ultimates. Be sure to place your Vengeful Maelstrom where you think the most damage is going to occur against your team. Also consider putting it around your ADC, especially if they are hyper-carrying your team and have all your team's kills.

Maokai serves best on his team engaging teamfights and getting into the backline to snare down their ADC. When engaging a teamfight with Maokai, throw your sapling where you expect your target to run/flash to, then use your W and snare your target down. **Be sure to use your Q to knock your target back towards your team, not the other way (trust me, it doesnt help at all).**

When you realize the other team is getting ready to take baron (whether you have it warded or see them going there), use your saplings to aggro the baron and scare them off from taking it. If not, be prepared to start a fight or go for the flash/smite steal.

Remember Maokai's roles on the team. Make fellow summoners happy to have a big tree on their side of the jungle, and SHOW them how good of a jungle Maokai is. With his fast clear time, exceptional ganking capability, and being a strong tank in the teamfight I find Maokai to be one of the greatest junglers you can have on summoner rift.

Good luck in the fields of justice!!

- the seaninator11