Is Maokai more viable as a Top laner or as a Jungler?

Hello everyone!

I would like to open up a discussion about our beloved tree Maokai. Due to recent changes in the jungle, we've seen alot of Maokai players in the top lane on Summoner's Rift. This may be because his clear times in the Jungle are.. mediocre (compared to other tanky junglers like Sejuani or Nautilus).

Its still noteworthy to say that Maokai's ganks are pretty decent, since he has a gap closer, root + cc with slow. Also, his ultimate brings incredible damage mitigation for his team, and therefore will always be a valuable member on his team regardless of how fed the enemy team may be.

Now concerning Maokai's role in the top lane, his first core item is essentially a Rod of Ages. I will rarely say that Maokai is a lane bully (unless very fed) in the early laning phase since his damage output is not great and is relatively dependent on cooldowns. He has his counters such as Darius, Riven, Renekton etc.. that can all in him at lvl 2-3. However, because his passive allows him to sustain in the laning phase, he does have the potential to be a decent top laner (depends on the matchup of course.)

So i will ask you guys, do you think maokai is better suited in the Jungle or in the Top lane? If so, would you go 9-21 masteries or 21-9? How about your runes? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

One love fellas ^^