Thoughts on New Maokai from a Maokai Main

I was skeptical. Honestly, his ult looked atrocious, and the reworked W (confirmed now to have been a bug) was disgusting from what footage I DID see of it. But, after playing him, I feel VERY differently.

Firstly, Maokai's new passive is better than his old by MILES. His sustain is much better, especially lategame, and now he doesn't just rely on everyone else to proc it for him.

W feels good still! This was great news.

E is AMAZING. The stickybomb sapling thing is honestly my favorite part about this rework. Now having saplings in brush (especially when I'm toplane Maokai) feels great! For those who aren't aware, they explode on their target once, then spread to all affect targets and explode two additional times over two seconds. It's honestly a fantastic change.

The ult range is underwhelming, especially when you factor in its REALLY slow speed, but it really is a great zoning tool. Also, flash+R for a whole-team root isn't a BAD idea by any means. I do miss the damage reduction but this is by far much more interactive.

The main worry I had with this rework was that Maokai lost a large part of his tankiness from his ult, but the passive update filled in that gap almost perfectly. Sure, he doesn't provide that team-wide zone of damage reduction anymore, but he feels so much better to play, and literally all four of his active abilities provide CC. That is awesome.

I'm REALLY happy with the Maokai rework. Thanks Rito.

EDIT: And what I forgot to mention, is that the VO sounds even better than it did before.