Champion Guide

Maokai Guide

By LoLSuggest

Support

Maokai is a versatile tank support with tons of crowd control, able to engage or peel, great vision control with his saplings and well suited to objective-focused games. With W and Q unlocked he has real kill pressure in lane.

Recommended Setup

Our recommended Maokai build

Our recommended runes, summoner spells and items. Compare build win rates on the stats page.

Items

Starting Items

Core Items

Situational Items

Aftershock with Font of Life, Bone Plating and Unflinching, plus Sorcery's Nimbus Cloak and Celerity for movement speed, is the standard page (Hextech Flashtraption and Cosmic Insight are the alternative). Take Flash and Ignite for kill pressure, or Exhaust with a specific threat in mind. Start World Atlas and choose Solstice Sleigh, Celestial Opposition or Bloodsong as the support upgrade. Boots of Swiftness are usually best. Rush Locket of the Iron Solari to protect a hypercarry or against dive, or Trailblazer to engage alongside utility carries. Finish with Kaenic Rookern, Randuin's Omen, Thornmail, Bandlepipes or Knight's Vow as needed.

Runes

Primary Tree

Secondary Tree

Summoner Spells

Strengths

Strong crowd control and utility that fit any team composition.
Great vision control and objective play thanks to his saplings.
Easy to execute, scales well and has few hard counters.

Weaknesses

Weak level 1, so some 2v2 lanes are hard early.
Low influence when his team is behind or lacks damage to follow his engages.
No damage mitigation in his kit, so engages in lane need more thought.

Laning Phase

Start Q (or W for level 1 brush plays) and level E third. Your core combo is W onto an enemy, then Q toward your ADC to separate them from their support, plus Ignite — with your ADC's help this kills most champions, especially ranged supports. Consider an all-in whenever the wave isn't near their tower and you aren't low. Buy Oracle Lens early to make engages from lane brush safer, and use saplings for vision against ganks.

Mid & Late Game

Buy boots on your first back to roam and rotate faster. From level 6, your ultimate and saplings make Maokai excellent at objective control, so secure early objectives with your jungler when your team isn't behind. Use saplings to check brush and place deep wards when you have time to roam, and play the role your team needs — engage or peel, using Q's knock-back like a warden.

Key Tips

Hextech Flashtraption from brush lets you engage from range while saving Flash.
Nimbus Cloak also triggers from Ignite or Exhaust, helping you catch up to targets.
Fake-hover jungle or top in champion select to hide your role, since Maokai flexes.

Matchups