Maokai·Support Guide
Win rate | 51.7% |
Pick rate | 2.5% |
Ban rate | 0.3% |
Matches | 21 454- |
A supertank who has a ton of CC built into his kit. He can act as a really good frontline for his team and can also peel targets from his carries.
His Ultimate R can allow him to set up engages from a great distance. This is extremely beneficial when used from out of vision, or when enemies are near a wall.
Provides a lot of vision with his E, which also makes way for brush control. Combine his E slow with his W, he can practically hand pick a target and CC them for some time while his team just follows up on him.
Very weak during the early game and can easily be killed, especially if the enemy he is facing happens to be ranged in nature.
Grievous Wounds are a must buy against him during the early game. It prevents him from healing a lot, especially when he uses his W, Q engage on a target.
Proper vision control from the enemy team will remove any form of flanking opportunity which Maokai can exploit in order to initiate an all-in. This will reduce Maokai’s effectiveness.
0 - 15 min
Try to place your saplings in the lane brushes and take control of them. This will help you a lot when trying to all-in enemies and picking them off in the enemy jungle.
You should start ganking at level 3. Your W and Q make up for some excellent lockdown and CC, while your E can dish out some damage to the target.
Getting your Ultimate R will be a massive spike in the game. This is important for the rest of the game, and you can easily catch out enemies and initiate team fights.
15 - 25 min
In the mid-game, your main goal will be to look for as many picks as you can. Work with your Jungler to help them invade while planting your E sapling in the Jungle brushes.
You should be really tanky during this phase of the game. Peeling for your carries should be your primary goal after you manage to initiate the team fights.
The river and choke points would be a great place to fight as your abilities will lock down multiple enemies. Just go in on the highest priority target and try to CC lock them.
25+ min
Your Ultimate R will be on a short cooldown during this phase of the game. Make sure you use it regularly to catch off enemies and get frequent kills on the enemy.
The fog of war is going to help you a lot during this phase of the game. Prepare some brushes with your E saplings and just all-in the enemy as soon as they come close to it.
You will be very powerful during this game phase, and your tankiness will be really high. Just make sure that you don't leave your backline unguarded, else you will have a hard time winning the game.
Maokai's level 2 is a decent powerspike as he can now look to all-in the enemy ADC or Support with a potent CC combo. The chances of success increase with the amount of poke Maokai can land on the enemies with his saplings.
Level 6 is a massive power spike for Maokai as it allows him to get an AoE CC ability which is really beneficial in clumped objective fights. It is most dangerous and effective when used from the fog of war.
Boots are a pretty solid early game purchase as it allows him to roam often and respond to Jungle skirmishes. He is mighty around lane brushes due to the sheer amount of damage that his saplings do.
2 points in his Ultimate R will be a decent power spike as he can use the ability frequently and use it effectively during objective fights. It also serves as a good pick ability.
Maokai is quite decent in late-game team fights. This is due to his Ultimate R and his all-in combo, which ensures that any champion he targets will die if his team follows up on the engagement.
Maokai's first ability will be maxed out at level 9. This is terrible news for the enemy team as they can expect to find high damage saplings or a Maokai with a super powerful all-in combo in the jungle brushes.
Getting 3 points in his Ultimate R will undoubtedly make Maokai spike really hard. He can use his Ultimate R quite frequently, making it hard for the enemy team to do anything.
His tankiness is out of the world during this part of the game. Combined with his Passive, he will be able to tank damage for days and peel for his carries.
Maokai's team fight efficiency skyrockets during this phase of the game. This is due to the utility and picks potential embedded in his kit.