In League of Legends, the champion Maokai is currently incredibly strong. However, he is not played in the top lane or jungle, but as a support. One reason for his strength lies in the new mythic items.
Why is Maokai so popular right now? According to the statistics, Maokai is currently one of the most successful support champions in the game, as shown by the website OP.gg:
- From January 6 to January 21, he had a win rate of 53.08% making him the most successful support champion in LoL.
- During that same period, he was played in an average of 15.47% of matches, making him the third most popular support.
- Recently, he has been banned more frequently, with a ban rate exceeding 20% in January.
The reason for this is the new legendary and mythic items in LoL.
However, he does not utilize the strong Moonstone Renewer, the support item that is even played in mid and top, but rather Imperial Mandate.
Maokai has a lot of CC and it benefits him
What does the mythic item do? Imperial Mandate ensures that enemies affected by CC take damage and are marked. When allies hit a marked target, they deal bonus damage and grant themselves and the supporter movement speed:
Why does this work so well with Maokai? The entire ability kit of Maokai relies on slowing or controlling enemies:
- His “Q” has a slow
- His “W” briefly holds the opponent
- His “E”, the sapling, slows on impact
- His ultimate immobilizes enemies
Each of these abilities thus deals bonus damage with Imperial Mandate and causes the mark. This is limited only by the 6-second cooldown per enemy.
That is also the reason why Maokai is so strong as a support but not in other lanes. He needs a teammate to activate the mark again.
Will this remain strong for long? Riot Games has already reacted and made changes. With patch 11.2, which was released on January 21, the mana for the saplings has been increased. However, there is currently no indication that further changes are planned.
Is the popularity really coming suddenly? Partially yes, as Maokai was not very popular in the West during the summer and autumn. In July, he was ranked 28th among all supports with a pick rate of just under 1.2%.
In Korea, however, Maokai has been played and successfully utilized as a support for a longer time.
This is how you play Maokai as a support
What should you consider? Maokai is indeed a strong champion, but especially in the initial laning phase he is rather weak because he is a melee champion. Only with Imperial Mandate will you become really challenging for your enemies.
A detailed guide on support Maokai can be found at OP.gg. We summarize the most important points for you.
For runes, you should choose Aftershock to withstand some damage. As a summoner spell, Hexflash is useful to surprise enemies with a combo of Hexflash and the ultimate.
You start with the saplings as your first ability because they grant you vision and still deal good damage. Afterwards, you unlock “Q” Thornlash. You buy the support item Relic Shield to secure last hits for you and your ADC.
After Imperial Mandate, build AP items like Demonic Embrace, Boots, and possible tank items. Depending on the situation, you should then see whether you are more responsible for dealing damage or prefer to tank.
With the latest patch 11.2, there were not only slight changes to Maokai but also the release of the new champion Viego:
LoL introduces 4 new champions for 2021 – Here’s what we already know about Viego
