The TREE belongs in the JUNGLE again.

I mained Maokai for about a year prior to his rework and subsequent shift into being a top laner (although he was actually stronger top lane before the changes, believe me, I tried). I still play him from time to time, and I know he can kind of still jungle, but he is nowhere near the quality he used to be or should be. As a laner, his current kit lends itself to passive laning and a role as a bland initiator, and he had to have his damage nerfed across the board because he was too strong for how safe he was. He is still an unhealthy laner after the nerfs, now he is just underpowered and unhealthy. Meanwhile, his jungling actually took the brunt of the effects of those nerfs.

He made a resurgence as a semi-viable jungler with Cinderhulk's arrival, but after that item also received several nerfs, he is back to being the same low grade jungler he was before it ever happened. The new preseason changes look like they will hit tanks even harder than ever, so I think it's high time Maokai was returned to his rightful place in the forest.

In order to buff him as a jungler without pushing him back into the limelight for top lane (because I don't think anyone particularly wants that), I have a few suggested buffs that should help him on his way without putting him over the top.

• Passive: Now only gains stacks off of his own and allied ability uses, not enemies. Heal increased to 7/8/9% max health from 5/6/7. This makes his heal less oppressive in lane, since it will take him longer to stack his passive than before, but in the jungle where he is relying on his own spell casts anyway this is a slight survivability buff to help him out in the early game.
• Q: No change. This is a healthy ability on its own and has proven to be the least offensive as a laner, while still being a staple ability for clearing the jungle.
• W: Damage nerfed to 8/9/10/11/12% (+2% AP%) max health from 9/10/11/12/13% (+3% AP%) max health, damage cap to minions and monsters unchanged. Range reverted to 650 from 525. This ability is what defined Maokai as a strong ganker on the level of Amumu, and while the damage is a strong tool for all-in-ing in the lane, it is not required for its use in the jungle. This allows him to have his gank patterns back without being oppressive in lane.
• E: Saplings deal 20% increased damage to jungle monsters. Helps his clear speed without boosting his laning. This change compensates for the major damage nerf they took for the fact that they were made more reliable at hitting enemy champions.
• R: The useability buffs this ability received were probably the only really redeeming part of his rework, however, he suffered a slew of nerfs to it because of its improved reliability. The majority of these nerfs were warranted, but I think some different changes are in order. With the major nerf to its cooldown and the addition of a maximum duration, the mana cost per second is too extreme and forces him into an excessively mana hungry play style. The mana cost per second should be reduced to 20, from 30.

These small changes are all Maokai requires to not be pathetic in the jungle anymore. They will not push him over the top, nor will they return him to top lane dominance, They'll just make an old time Maokai main happy that he can get away with using the Tree in the Jungle where he belongs.