Is there a secret to playing Maokai?

Lapis·Mar 26, 2017·1 votes·1,015 views

I've been trying to play him, mostly because his Meowkai skin is adorable, but I am not good. I think I must be missing something? Because when I play him all I get is death threats,

14 Comments

dominusxMar 26, 20175 votes

you cant be bad at mao. if you are bad at mao just quit the game. all you gotta do with that braindead piece of meat is press W and Q after you pop up.

LapisMar 26, 20174 votes

{quoted}

you cant be bad at mao. if you are bad at mao just quit the game. all you gotta do with that braindead piece of meat is press W and Q after you pop up.

You know, after all the times I've been told to quit the game, I'm thinking you people might be on to something.

dominusxMar 26, 20172 votes

give me that summoner icon and call it quits.

TyrekGoldenspearMar 26, 20172 votes

all you gotta do with that braindead piece of meat is press W and Q after you pop up.

*Wood. If you're going to complain at least do it right.

ShadòwMar 26, 20173 votes

you're a tree.

trees don't move.

so what you want to do is basically standing in jungle all game without moving at all.

LapisMar 26, 20171 votes

{quoted}

you're a tree.

trees don't move.

so what you want to do is basically standing in jungle all game without moving at all.

You know what, I like this strategy

Mecha MaIphiteMar 26, 20173 votes

Spam Q 5 times before leaving fountain. Free healing on your first AA.

Asayake 5150glowMar 26, 20171 votes

[{quoted}](name=Mecha MaIphite,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=PGaVELXz,comment-id=0002,timestamp=2017-03-26T12:12:04.010+0000)

Spam Q 5 times before leaving fountain. Free healing on your first AA.

But you're gonna be full health at your first auto...

Mecha MaIphiteMar 26, 20171 votes

It doesn't proc until you lose hp. So I guess it isn't really the first auto then.

lilpokflufMar 26, 20172 votes

You're not meant to win early as a tank so play safe. While mao does do a lot of damage early it's best to cs and if you can poke every once in a while with Q/E. if you are losing you're probably taking bad trades so depending on the match up you can easily win a trade against many top laners at level 3 using your passive heal. But again remember just because you have W doesn't mean you should use it. W is maos only way to outplay and using it to dodge an important skill can easily win you a trade.

Just remember you're a tank, you need items else you aren't tanky, focus on CS, save W for ganks or good trades and you will win many mid game team fights through his utility

KewlaydMar 26, 20171 votes

It depends on who you are playing against, how you build and how you play in those situations. Give me an example of one of your games where you lost the lane and the game.

LapisMar 26, 20171 votes

{quoted}

It depends on who you are playing against, how you build and how you play in those situations. Give me an example of one of your games where you lost the lane and the game.

Here's my last game http://matchhistory.oce.leagueoflegends.com/en/#match-details/OC1/168328119/201657599?tab=overview Please be kind

KewlaydMar 26, 20171 votes

just from that game, there are a couple of things that stand out immediately. Kayle is a tough lane to begin with and making a mistake will cause him to punish you very bad as Mao.

First, change your Runes, no need for MS Quints. I use 2 AP Quints, 1 Heath Quint. 9 MP Marks, 5 Armor Seals, 4 Health Seals, 5 MR Glyphs, 4 AP Glyphs. These are what work for my play style, an AP Tank. Yours can vary, just try new Rune builds and find what work best for you.

Next is your Masteries. This is what I use [IMG]http://i67.tinypic.com/34oqxps.png[/IMG] Once again, these work for my play style. Attack speed is not really useful for Mao, the increased spell dmg is. The spell vamp is personal preference. I don't use it along with RA because I feel it does not give more than the other choices in those brackets. I also just Battle Stance over DES because my goal is to reduce dmg. I would also rather have increased health regen instead of summ spell cooldown. (Ask yourself, do you TP whenever it is up, or do you horde it and use it only when need be)

Lastly is the lane itself, play to you enemies weakness. In that game, you build no MR until 32 minutes into it. A Spectre's Cowl should have been your first item in that lane against Kayle. You should have been MR heavy in lane and been able to over power him by mid game.

Against him, I would have played passive until around lv 3. Then started baiting his E. Two things will happen, either he will chase and auto you, which if you drag him into your minions, that is a lot of dmg he is going to take.Then depending on your health, E,W,Q him and that should lead to a kill.(Always E Behind the target) Or he will not follow and be forced to push the lane with his E active, then farming under tower.

In that game I would have rushed a SV and Merc Treads. It would have made the laning phase a lot easier.

When playing Mao, you are a tank. Use that to your advantage, get beefy from the start of the game. In that game, you had no real health or MR until late game.

LapisMar 26, 20171 votes

{quoted}

just from that game, there are a couple of things that stand out immediately. Kayle is a tough lane to begin with and making a mistake will cause him to punish you very bad as Mao.

First, change your Runes, no need for MS Quints. I use 2 AP Quints, 1 Heath Quint. 9 MP Marks, 5 Armor Seals, 4 Health Seals, 5 MR Glyphs, 4 AP Glyphs. These are what work for my play style, an AP Tank. Yours can vary, just try new Rune builds and find what work best for you.

Next is your Masteries. This is what I use [IMG]http://i67.tinypic.com/34oqxps.png[/IMG] Once again, these work for my play style. Attack speed is not really useful for Mao, the increased spell dmg is. The spell vamp is personal preference. I don't use it along with RA because I feel it does not give more than the other choices in those brackets. I also just Battle Stance over DES because my goal is to reduce dmg. I would also rather have increased health regen instead of summ spell cooldown. (Ask yourself, do you TP whenever it is up, or do you horde it and use it only when need be)

Lastly is the lane itself, play to you enemies weakness. In that game, you build no MR until 32 minutes into it. A Spectre's Cowl should have been your first item in that lane against Kayle. You should have been MR heavy in lane and been able to over power him by mid game.

Against him, I would have played passive until around lv 3. Then started baiting his E. Two things will happen, either he will chase and auto you, which if you drag him into your minions, that is a lot of dmg he is going to take.Then depending on your health, E,W,Q him and that should lead to a kill.(Always E Behind the target) Or he will not follow and be forced to push the lane with his E active, then farming under tower.

In that game I would have rushed a SV and Merc Treads. It would have made the laning phase a lot easier.

When playing Mao, you are a tank. Use that to your advantage, get beefy from the start of the game. In that game, you had no real health or MR until late game.

Hey, thanks! That's a lot of useful info! I'm still saving for runes, I've only really got what you see, so changing those is gonna take a bit. i'll definitely keep it in mind though. And after playing another game, yeah, I realise Kayle was a hard matchup. I played against a Lulu and did a lot better, haha. Thanks for the item advice, too! That's something I struggle with across the board, building according to matchup. I'll try to put more thought into it.