Is a mao + blitz bot kill lane viable, if so when?

7ha7guy777·Jun 3, 2015·2 votes·953 views

I've somewhat recently been doing some maokai (echaust flash) and blitz (clarity flash) bot lane kill lanes with at least one friend (the blitz). So far a decent number of the games have ended with the enemy team surrendering and the enemy bot being extremely underfed.

When is maocrank a good idea? (Probably need an ad champ top, jungle, and/or mid)

Can this work at higher elos?

Can you still win if the enemy team doesn't surrender?

Is it really that annoying to play against? Hook, root, knock up, knockback, silence

I'd post builds but icons are a pain to use on the phone

If you know of any other botlane combos feel free to post your opinions about them

12 Comments

CodeJun 3, 20152 votes

You have 0 poke. If you're against a really weak adc to start with an engage (trist/leo) then it might work, but even then blitz relies on a skillshot unless you wanna run right into their minion wave, and so does mao. So early levels its manageable even if you somewhat counter them, and as the adc gets item all they need to do is peel while she puts out superior damage. Even with mao root, the support can bodyblock and peel with whatever they have. The only way I can see this working in high elo is against a troll (no cc or sustain) support, with a reliant adc.

coeurloyalJun 3, 20151 votes

Pretty much what I was going to say. The only way that works is if your Blitz consistently gets really good grabs on the ADC before eating too much poke. You could try to rush Thornmail to mitigate the poke, but that would put you behind in nearly every other aspect of the game.

I hate myself for even entertaining the idea of a troll-ish kill lane like this, but I think a Pantheon / Blitzcrank or a Nidalee / pairing would serve a very similar function while still retaining some of the aspects that Maokai / lacks. Besides, I don't think you'd want both of them tied to AP. It's too easy for the support to rush an item 3105 , which would really hurt your kill potential with that combo.

7ha7guy777Jun 3, 20151 votes

We've been doing RoA into sheen based items (iceborn and lichbane for Mao and blitz respectively. We're probably playing at a low enough elo where the support either doesn't think to build aegis or can't stay in lane long enough to get the gold needed to buy it. We had one game where the adc didn't get bf sword until 11 minutes in. There are definite downsides, but pulling an enemy from under their turret into the jungle and killing them before the cc combo ends is amusing. The combo is probably one of those things that works better the worse your opponent is

coeurloyalJun 4, 20151 votes

Well, it may still work in higher elos because it can be really hard to escape chained cc like that without flashing or using another escape mechanism. I just think that particular combo would fall off in higher elos because the peel tends to be better and carries tend to position themselves safely enough to not fall into traps like that without having a reliable escape. I only mention Pantheon because he has much higher burst than Mao and an engage that serves a very similar function to Twisted Advance. I think his ranged poke and higher damage would effectively replace the need for RoA/Iceborn that Mao provides because you won't need as much time to chunk them down. He also gets free invulnerability to some of the ADC's autos, making him more capable of surviving that type of duo lane.

Regardless of the pairing you choose, I think it's a pretty cheesy duo but still viable. Your team might hate you for it if it doesn't succeed, but as far as I'm concerned a win is a win as long as you play the game fairly (meaning no DDOS/ disconnects, etc.). It's not your fault if other players are unable to adapt to an off-meta pick. If you can make it work and your team is ok with it, I say go for it. Maybe somebody will appreciate you for it because they'll be able to pick a carry top or jungler, and your comp might even come out somewhat even if you have a Kog/Ez/Corki in the mid lane.

TMITJun 3, 20151 votes

I like the idea of swapping ADC and a mid burst mage more, because the latter can still last hit and if it's one of those "skill shot for damage" mages blitz can set it up something nasty. Your mid ADC would have to have a reasonable matchup. Something like Sivir vs Ziggs would work, something like Ashe versus Kat would be a tall order.

Regardless, I like a comp bottom that can still CS reasonably, with mao/blitz I'd worry a bit about them chipping at your duo enough where they're all-inning you rather than the other way around (such as Leona + Graves or Draven or Sivir which after some ranged harass you'd be vulnerable). Really heavy-handed poke bottom lanes could give you problems too if they're good enough not to get caught.

junglerboy16Jun 3, 20151 votes

not as viable as Shaco+Blitz ever since Mao's rework nerfed his Sapling damage, but it can work decently well. If both you and the blitz go for a pretty AP heavy bruiser build, you can have a lot of kill pressure in a Sapling stack bush grab.

It's a pretty gimmicky/cheesy kill lane, but it can work.

7ha7guy777Jun 4, 20151 votes

On a somewhat related note, would doing a botlane combo like this be considered enjoying the game at the expense of others (specifically the enemy botlane)?

GundayMondayJun 4, 20151 votes

Anything can work if you're good enough. The meta is just a general term that is the optimal strategy most of the time. Let me explain:

ADCs exist to take objectives as quickly as possible. Their main job is to be alive at the end of a team fight to optimize dps on towers/inhibitors/nexuses.

Your strat removes an ADC from your team's comp. So you would need something to compensate. Maybe item 3512 item 3060 ? Also running item 3302 would be amazing since you're both melee. As long as you can consistently win team fights and then have some form of DPS for towers, it makes a lot of sense.

BUT you will be raged at in every single game of solo queue, so be prepared to mute your teammates and watch them afk in base for no reason.

BakedLotionJun 4, 20151 votes

Alicrank or Leona IV l0l

NTCDevoJun 4, 20151 votes

Doing this combo with 7ha7guy is really fun and really cheesy and every game has been a surrender by the opponents lol. The opponents ADC rages XD. The reason our lanes typically work so well is because we chose 2 people that are not reliant on the other person to be the engager. Either of us can be the one to engage to do our silly combos. Blitzcrank Maokai