How to beat Maokai

Common role: Top / Support / Jungle

The best counter to Maokai in Support is Sylas: 58.9% win rate over 183 ranked games on patch 26.17.

A twisted treant whose saplings ambush and whose roots find everyone.

What makes Maokai dangerous

Maokai heals constantly off his passive, knocks back and slows (Q), dashes with a root (W), hurls sapling bombs that AMBUSH from brush with huge damage, and his ultimate is a creeping wall of roots that CCs your entire team at once.

How to play against Maokai

• 1Clear brush saplings — they hit for double from cover.
• 2Dodge or block the ult wall with distance — it's slow and telegraphed.
• 3His passive heal has a cooldown per proc — trade inside it.
• 4Grievous + %HP damage answer the tank-heal loop.

Weaknesses to exploit

• ✓Sapling zones are avoidable with map discipline.
• ✓The ult travels slowly — spread or step aside.
• ✓Low real damage vs armored bruisers.
• ✓Kited hard when W is on cooldown.

Abilities & how to counter them

What each of Maokai's abilities does — and how to play around it.

• P
  Sap Magic

  Maokai's basic attack also heals him and deals additional damage on a moderate cooldown. Each time Maokai casts a spell or is struck by an enemy's spell, this cooldown is reduced.

  Strong: periodic spell-vamp autos sustain his trades. Weak: per-proc cooldown — trade during the downtime.

• Q
  Bramble Smash

  Maokai knocks back nearby enemies with a shockwave, dealing magic damage and slowing them.

  Strong: a knockback slam that peels and pokes in one. Weak: short line — spacing beats the shove.

• W
  Twisted Advance

  Maokai contorts into a mass of moving roots, becoming untargetable and dashing to the target. Upon arrival, he roots the target.

  Strong: an untargetable dash-root onto your carry. Weak: fixed range — hold peel for the landing.

• E
  Sapling Toss

  Maokai flings a sapling to the target area to stand guard. More effective in brush.

  Strong: sapling bombs AMBUSH from brush with doubled damage. Weak: visible in the open — sweep brush and they're weak poke.

• R
  Nature's Grasp

  Maokai summons a colossal wall of brambles and thorns that slowly advances forwards, damaging and rooting any enemies in the path.

  Strong: a creeping root wall that CCs whole teams. Weak: slow crawl — walk out sideways before it locks.

Itemization

Sweep brush lines, sidestep the root wave, Grievous the sustain. He's CC, not damage — don't overrespect solo.

This guide covers Maokai's core kit and playstyle — advice that holds up across patches.