Maokai, the Twisted Treant, was once a peaceful nature spirit dwelling in the forests of the Shadow Isles. However, when the Shadow Isles fell to corruption, Maokai was twisted by dark magic into a vengeful force of nature. Now, he seeks to restore balance to the world by eradicating the darkness that threatens it. When you embark on your journey, mmowow items can lend a helping hand when you need help.

Champion Positioning:

Maokai is a tanky champion who excels at soaking up damage and disrupting enemy teams with crowd control. He is typically played in the top lane or as a support, where he can provide frontline presence and peel for his team.

Skill Breakdown and Skill Order:

Passive: Sap Magic: Maokai's basic attacks and abilities generate stacks of Sap Magic. Once enough stacks are accumulated, his next basic attack heals him based on his maximum health.

Q: Bramble Smash: Maokai smashes the ground with his fist, dealing damage to enemies in a small area and knocking them back slightly.

W: Twisted Advance: Maokai dashes to a target enemy, rooting them in place and dealing damage. Maokai is untargetable during the dash.

E: Sapling Toss: Maokai hurls a sapling that explodes upon impact, dealing damage to enemies in the area and slowing them. The sapling then becomes a ward that grants vision.

R: Nature's Grasp: Maokai summons a wall of thorns in a target direction, damaging and rooting enemies hit by the wall.

Ability Maxing Order:

Q - for increased damage and poke in the lane.
E - for increased damage and utility with sapling toss.
W - as it provides good crowd control but doesn't scale as well with levels.
Runes:

Primary Tree: Resolve

Keystone: Aftershock for increased tankiness and damage after immobilizing an enemy.
Secondary: Demolish for tower-pushing power, Bone Plating for added survivability in trades, and Unflinching for tenacity.
Secondary Tree: Inspiration

Biscuit Delivery: Provides sustain in lane.
Time Warp Tonic: Grants bonus movement speed and enhances the effects of health potions and biscuits.
Item Build:

Starting Items: Doran's Shield and Health Potions for sustain in lane.

Core Items:

Sunfire Aegis: Provides tankiness, area-of-effect damage, and scaling health based on immolate.
Mercury's Treads: Offers magic resistance and reduces the duration of crowd control effects.
Thornmail: Against AD-heavy teams, provides armor and inflicts grievous wounds on attackers.
Situational Items:

Abyssal Mask: Against heavy magic damage teams, provides magic resist and increases magic damage dealt.
Gargoyle Stoneplate: Offers additional tackiness and can be activated to increase Maokai's durability in team fights.
Gameplay Tips:

Early Game: Focus on farming and trading with your opponent using your Q and E abilities. Use saplings to provide vision and control brushes.

Mid Game: Start looking for opportunities to teleport to other lanes or participate in skirmishes. Use your crowd control to peel for your carries and engage on priority targets.

Late Game: Position yourself as the frontline in team fights, using your ultimate to engage or disengage. Prioritize protecting your carries and disrupting the enemy team with your crowd control.

Combos:

Standard Combo: Q to knock back enemies -> E to slow them down -> W to root a priority target -> R to engage or disengage.
Recommended Team Compositions:

Engage Composition: Maokai fits well into compositions with strong engage tools like Malphite or Leona, providing additional crowd control and frontline presence.

Protect the Carry Composition: Pair Maokai with hyper-carriers like Jinx or Vayne, using his crowd control to peel for them and keep them safe during team fights.

Poke Composition: Maokai can also work in Poke compositions with champions like Ezreal or Xerath, providing frontline presence and crowd control to protect your Poke champions.

Against Gragas:

Early Game:
Against Gragas, Maokai should focus on farming safely and avoiding his Barrel Roll poke. Use Maokai's saplings to provide vision and control bushes, and look for opportunities to trade when Gragas's abilities are on cooldown. Be cautious of Gragas's explosive engagement potential with Body Slam and Explosive Cask.

Mid Game:
As the game progresses, Maokai should look to roam and make plays around the map. Gragas is a strong ganker and can impact other lanes with his crowd control and burst damage. Maokai should be ready to counter-gank or teleport to help his team when Gragas tries to make plays.

Late Game:
In team fights, Maokai should focus on disrupting Gragas's engagement and peeling for his team's carries. Gragas's Explosive Cask can be devastating if it knocks Maokai's team out of position, so Maokai should position himself to absorb the impact and prevent the enemy team from capitalizing on Gragas's engagement.

General Strategies:
Maokai's role in team fights against different champions can vary. Against engage-heavy champions like Malphite or Amumu, Maokai should focus on peeling for his team and disrupting their engagement. Against poke champions like Xerath or Lux, Maokai should shield his team and look for engages to capitalize on their immobility.

Why Maokai is Beginner-Friendly:

Straightforward Kit: Maokai's abilities are relatively simple to understand, making him easy for beginners to pick up and play.

Tankiness: Maokai's high base stats and crowd control abilities make him forgive for mistakes and allow him to soak up damage for his team.

Engage Potential: Maokai's Twisted Advance provides him with reliable engage potential, allowing players to make plays and set up kills for their team. However, when some players choose to further explore and become familiar with a certain hero, some players pay more attention to the appearance of the hero and choose League of Legends skins.

Playing Maokai:

Early Game: Focus on farming and trading with your opponent using your Q and E abilities. Use saplings to provide vision and control brushes.

Mid Game: Start looking for opportunities to teleport to other lanes or participate in skirmishes. Use your crowd control to peel for your carries and engage on priority targets.

Late Game: Position yourself as the frontline in team fights, using your ultimate to engage or disengage. Prioritize protecting your carries and disrupting the enemy team with your crowd control.

Strengths and Weaknesses:

Strengths:

Strong crowd control and engagement potential.
Tanky frontline presence.
Scales well into the late game with an impactful team fight presence.

Weaknesses:

Relatively low damage output compared to other champions.
Mana-hungry early game if abilities are spammed excessively.
Vulnerable to kiting and disengage if crowd control is not properly timed.

Conclusion:
Maokai is a strong pick for beginner players due to his straightforward kit, tackiness, and engagement potential. By mastering their abilities and understanding their roles in different team compositions, players can have a significant impact on the game and climb the ranks with ease. With practice and dedication, Maokai can become a staple pick in any player's champion pool.