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Maokai
Patch 16.2.1
SupportDifficulty
Easy
Strength
Early
Mid
Late
Win Condition
Vision and Objective Control. Use to secure brush control around Dragon/Baron 30 seconds before they spawn. Use to divide the enemy team, forcing them to either walk into you or give up the objective.
Playstyle
You are a zone-control specialist and peel god. Your job is to make the map a nightmare for the enemy to walk through and ensure your carry never gets touched by locking down anyone who dives them.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths
- +Elite point-and-click lockdown with that can't be missed
- +Free vision and high-damage zone control using in bushes
- +Extreme durability in long fights thanks to healing
- + provides massive AOE engage or disengage that covers entire lanes
Weaknesses
- -Very low natural mobility—if is on cooldown, you are easily kited
- - travels slowly, meaning enemies with dashes can easily reposition if they see it early
- -Extremely mana-hungry in the early game if you spam too often
- -Short range on requires you to be in melee range to provide primary disruption
Abilities
Every time you or an enemy casts a spell, cooldown drops. Use this to stay in lane forever. Always weave an auto-attack between spells to proc the heal, especially when you are low.
This is your main disruption tool. It knocks enemies back based on your position. Walk slightly past them after using so knocks them toward your team.
You become untargetable while traveling. Use to dodge key ultimates or skillshots while simultaneously locking down your target. It's your most reliable engage tool.
The damage and slow are doubled if the sapling is in a brush. Use to scout bushes before walking into them or to zone enemies away from objective pits like Dragon or Baron.
A massive wall of roots. The further it travels, the longer the root duration. Use from out of vision (like behind a wall) to give enemies less time to react to the slow-moving projectiles.
Teamfight Role
Primary Engager or Lead Protector
You either start the fight by flanking with or you stand directly on top of your strongest carry. Use and to keep any bruisers or assassins off your team's damage dealers.
If the enemy has a hyper-carry like Jinx or Kog'Maw, you must ignore peeling and use to dive and shut them down immediately.
Combos
Standard Lane Trade
→ walk behind target → toward your tower → auto-attack for
The bread and butter. W guarantees the hit, walking behind them ensures the Q knockback puts them in a worse position, and the auto procs your heal to win the trade.
The Bush Trap
into brush → wait for enemy → → into the sapling
Used when an enemy facechecks. The sapling deals max damage, and your CC chain ensures they take the full explosion while you stay healthy with .
The Ultimate Lockdown
from distance → as they are rooted → away from their escape path
Chain your CC so they can't move for 4+ seconds. Use R first to force their Flash or movement spells, then follow up with the guaranteed W.
Defensive Peel
to interrupt dash → target → auto-attack with → to clear the area
Use this when your ADC is being dove. Q interrupts things like Lee Sin Q or Leona E, and W ensures the threat stays still while your team kills them.
Power Spikes
| Spike | Why |
|---|---|
| Level 2 | Having the into combo allows you to set up easy kills for your ADC if the enemy steps up too far. |
| Level 3 | Full kit unlocked. You can now use to scout for the enemy jungler and prevent ganks while holding lane control. |
| Level 6 | makes you a monster in 2v2 or 3v3 skirmishes. It's almost impossible to lose a bot lane fight if you land a multi-man root. |
| Level 11 | Second rank in significantly reduces the cooldown, allowing you to use it for every objective contest. |
Tips & Tricks
- • makes you untargetable—use it to dodge Turret shots or predictable spells like Karthus R.
- •Always cast into a brush rather than open ground; the double damage and slow duration are too good to waste.
- •You can use to cancel dashes mid-air. Timing it against a Tristana W or Jax Q will leave them stunned and vulnerable.
- •The root duration on increases with distance. Using it from the fog of war is more effective than using it right in their face.
- •Check your bar. If it's almost up, don't use your auto-attack until the passive is ready to maximize your healing.
- •If you are being chased, throw in the brush you are running through. The enemy has to choose between taking the damage/slow or pathing around.
Common Mistakes
- ✕Spamming for poke in lane.→You will run out of mana in two minutes and have nothing left for a engage or escape.
- ✕Using on the first enemy you see in a teamfight.→You get pulled into the enemy team and die instantly while your carries are left unprotected.
- ✕Casting from too far away in an open lane.→The enemy team just walks away or uses one dash to dodge the slow-moving roots, wasting your most important cooldown.
- ✕Forgetting to auto-attack during a fight.→You miss out on procs, making you much squishier than you actually are.
- ✕Using randomly.→You lose your only way to knock enemies away from your carry, leading to your carry's death.
AI-generated guide • Patch 16.2.1 • Cached