How to beat Maokai

Common role: Top / Support / Jungle

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
  Assorbi magia

  Inoltre gli attacchi base di Maokai lo curano e infliggono danni in più con una ricarica moderata. Ogni volta che Maokai lancia un'abilità o è colpito dall'abilità di un nemico, questa ricarica si riduce.

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

• Q
  Legnata

  Maokai respinge i nemici nelle vicinanze con un'onda d'urto, infliggendo danni magici e rallentando i nemici.

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

• W
  Avanzata turbinante

  Maokai si contorce in una massa di radici in movimento. Diventa non bersagliabile e scatta verso il bersaglio. All'arrivo, trattiene il bersaglio.

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

• E
  Lancio verde

  Maokai lancia un germoglio che sorveglia l'area bersaglio. Ha più effetto nell'erba alta.

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

• R
  Presa della natura

  Maokai evoca un enorme muro di rovi e spine che avanza lentamente, danneggiando e trattenendo i nemici che incontra.

  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.