Thoughts on Maokai jungle?
I remember him being a good jungler. I'm not sure how is he now, though... Is he good? Will he be another jungler i'll play a few games with then never pick again?...
8 Comments
He's pretty good, but other champions get the tanking job done better.
There's no reason to pick him if Sejuani, Zac, Nunu, Volibear, or Gragas are open.
The enemy would never see a jungle maokai coming because he's a tree.
Slow, clunky, dies to minions. Not good. He was a very meh jungler even in his "prime" jungle time at s2. Nope just don't.
He is just a way better top laner atm. I wouldn't pick him atm.
The Tree belongs in the forest.
so make sure to teamfight in the jungle when you play top Maokai.
Maybe as a last resort, his sustain is not too amazing and he is kind of gimmicky. If you find a really good build he might be a decent option.
I like him in general. I still think he's a great counter to champions like 
or 
, who like to get in close and assassinate your team's squishies.
With jungle 
, 
gives him some awesome tank capacity. His mana sucks early; you'll probably need your second blue buff, and you'll probably have to plan a little more carefully about ganks than some champions. First clear is punishing, but your sustain passive helps, and it only gets easier after that. Usually you want to get a 
second to help with engage and also mana problems.
His ganks are pretty solid, though I recommend taking some MS Quints, since his lockdown (very strong) depends entirely on whether or not you can catch up to your opponent.
loves jungle skirmishes. Drop a couple saprolings and wards around the bushes and get your toplane 
or midlane 
to join you for an ambush. Easy kills easy life.
In teamfights, particularly when the enemy team has strong engage/assassination potential, I like to hang around my ADC, since you have awesome counterengage and AOE damage reduction for your carry with . Sometimes you get fed, though, and it makes more sense for you to be on the frontline engaging; just make sure your carries aren't going to explode without you.
I used to like rushing 
on him, but MS quints really do help with map movement, and he really does shine more as a counterengager than an engager (imo), so tank stats tend to be more valuable.
My final build usually looks something like 
. I don't variate too much from full tank unless I'm super strong, in which case I may go 
or (VERY early lead) 
. He actually is a fun AP champion, but he really, really needs health.
Hope that helps!