What's the best gold item to take with Maokai support?

Lapis·Feb 15, 2017·2 votes·730 views

I'm having trouble deciding between relic shield, for the passive procs, or spellthiefs for the mana regen. Thoughts?

9 Comments

RookPusherFeb 15, 20173 votes

I Main Mao and Support and there's never a reason to go Spell thief. For what my 2 cents is worth, until 6 do this:

Play safe
make sure your relic charges are always used. Aim for Siege.
on your first back, get a Tear

Since the "Buy a SS first!" folks are going to scream bloody murder, I'll remind you (and them) that being in lane and defending the tower/getting gold makes for a quicker second item.

ParoeFeb 15, 20172 votes

item 3069 is the best gold item for a champion like maokai in the support role. It doesnt have the raw HP, but it has very good gold generation and sustain over time.

EndlessSorcererFeb 15, 20171 votes

Relic Shield.

warpenguin555Feb 15, 20171 votes

Relic shield.

Ethan AllenFeb 15, 20171 votes

Spell thiefs is very ineffective for gold gen unless you are able to constantly harass with a champ like Brand or MF

Tyrone LannisterFeb 15, 20171 votes

Targons

Professor WardFeb 15, 20171 votes

relic all day

ValyrianBladeFeb 15, 20171 votes

I came here expecting to compare relic shield to ancient coin. I see no ancient coin - so answer is trivial - relic shield.

To now elaborate: Maokai could use relic shield to keep his adc healed, which he'll need given that he has no poke - his adc will fall behind otherwise. Healing from relic shield will help his laning phase a lot.

HOWEVER ancient coin generates more gold, reliably, and gives a good active at the end which will let maokai engage more easily.

HOWEVER again, as maokai is a tank he'll also make good use of the active on Targon's. Maokai is also better at peeling than engaging, so if you have alternative engage I'd still go relic. I'd only consider coin if your team lacks engage and needs it (at which point you could build righteous glory if you went targons).

If you desperately need mana Regen you may consider runes or masteries. Once you build a frozen heart (or maybe even glacial shroud) i doubt you'd have too many mana issues. I also think this would probably be a good early item on maokai as people won't focus a tank on the back line (i think support maokai should be peeling - i could be wrong though).