Maokai's new ult is going to be insane counterengage, zoning and for displacing teamfights

without the 20% damage reduction hes more killable than ever.

the duration of the root is a justified half second, which is hardly workable.

overall hes outclassed as a tank/frontline for the team, and hes more item dependent than ever. unless he gets some gross base stat buffs hes going to be crushed by any axe wielder.

im not opposed to the aoe root, but its just so terrible in an initiation capacity, thats now removed from maokai, basically he will W in, and R to secure 1 kill at a time, and if he gets anyone else its a bonus. you wont see any flash R plays or any miracle saves with it. its going to be W then R. maokai used to be reliable. R change killed that.

goodbye tank maokai, hello cheesy support maokai. (dont worry well see inevitable buffs to the champ to force the kit to work)

I see you speak for the trees.

You can outrun the ult from ~100 units in front of Maokai. It's an example of a spell with virtually no use cases, at best You'll see Maokai's W-Ring to extend the snare a little.

his ult isn't going to be the biggest thing, imagine the interaction between his passive and gargoyles stone plate, he will be litterally unkillable once a fight starts