Team Synergy
Maokai wants teammates who can turn his first root into real damage. He can start fights, check brush, peel divers, and make narrow lanes painful to walk through, but he is not the whole damage plan by himself. His best teams give him three things: fast follow-up when he locks someone down, reliable ranged damage while he holds space, and a second layer of peel or disengage when the enemy refuses to walk into him.
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Miss Fortune - highest value wombo follow-up
Synergy mechanism: Maokai pins targets in place and forces enemies to bunch around choke points, which gives Miss Fortune a clean angle for her area damage. His engage also makes it harder for enemies to simply walk out before she commits.
Combo: Maokai throws saplings to mark safe bushes, then looks for a root on a frontliner or a caught carry. If multiple enemies step forward, he casts his wide engage to slow the fight down, and Miss Fortune channels from behind him. If the enemy dives her, Maokai holds his knockback and root for peel instead of chasing.
Best scenario: This pairing is strongest when your team controls the middle of the bridge and the enemy has to enter through one lane. Maokai can stand slightly ahead, threaten a point-and-click catch, and make every retreat path awkward for enemies eating Miss Fortune damage.
Enemy answer: The enemy should spread before Maokai starts, save interruption or displacement for Miss Fortune, and avoid fighting inside sapling-covered brush. Assassins can also wait until Maokai uses his root forward, then jump onto Miss Fortune during the punish window.
Failure risk and recovery: The combo fails if Maokai engages too deep before Miss Fortune is in range or if Miss Fortune channels into saved crowd control. Recover by playing slower: Maokai uses saplings and body positioning to deny brush, Miss Fortune pokes from safety, and the team only hard commits after one enemy mobility tool or interrupt is forced.
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Jinx - reset carry who loves Maokai’s peel
Synergy mechanism: Maokai gives Jinx the two things she needs most: time to hit and a safe first takedown setup. Roots, slows, and knockback create a stable front line, while saplings discourage flank angles that would normally force Jinx to back away.
Combo: Maokai plays near Jinx instead of always fishing forward. When an enemy tank or diver steps in, he roots them, knocks them back if they reach Jinx, and keeps saplings in side brushes so Jinx can keep firing without guessing where the engage will come from. If Maokai catches a squishy, Jinx follows immediately with long-range damage to start the reset chain.
Best scenario: This duo shines in extended fights where the enemy cannot instantly burst Jinx. Maokai absorbs the first wave, Jinx ramps through the frontline, and once one enemy falls, Maokai’s remaining control helps her chase without overstepping.
Enemy answer: The enemy should avoid feeding Maokai easy frontline roots and instead pressure Jinx from multiple angles. Long-range poke also works if it forces Maokai to spend his engage defensively before Jinx can commit damage.
Failure risk and recovery: The risk is Maokai leaving Jinx alone to chase a low-health target. That opens the backline to assassins and bruisers. Recover by resetting formation after each catch: Maokai returns to Jinx’s side, places saplings in the nearest brush, and waits for Jinx to finish targets already in range rather than dragging the fight too far forward.
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Orianna - layered engage and safe ball delivery
Synergy mechanism: Maokai is a reliable carrier for Orianna’s setup because he can enter the enemy team with a targeted root and stay in the middle long enough to make enemies choose between spreading, running, or burning mobility. Orianna adds burst and zone control that Maokai alone does not provide.
Combo: Orianna attaches the ball to Maokai before he walks up. Maokai threatens a root or a wide engage, then Orianna follows when enemies collapse around him or try to peel him off. If the enemy refuses to group, Maokai keeps zoning with saplings and lets Orianna poke until someone is low enough to force.
Best scenario: The best fights happen when the enemy team has short-range carries or melee champions that must move through Maokai to deal damage. Maokai makes the first contact, Orianna punishes the clump, and the rest of the team cleans up while enemies are displaced from their preferred formation.
Enemy answer: Enemies should track the ball and not stack on Maokai just because he is the tank. If they can bait his root onto a low-value target and then disengage, Orianna loses the clean timing and Maokai may be stuck in front without enough damage behind him.
Failure risk and recovery: This pairing fails when Maokai engages before Orianna is positioned or when Orianna uses her key damage to poke right before the fight starts. Recover by calling the fight around visible positioning: if Orianna is not ready, Maokai only threatens space and uses saplings defensively; once the ball is available and the enemy mobility is down, he can commit again.
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Brand - brutal choke control and anti-frontline damage
Synergy mechanism: Maokai makes enemies stand where Brand wants them. Roots and slows keep targets inside Brand’s damage zones, while saplings punish enemies who try to use brush to dodge skillshots or start from fog.
Combo: Maokai places saplings in the side brush, then waits for the enemy to step around minions or walk through a choke. Once he roots a target, Brand layers his spells on the locked enemy and nearby champions. If the enemy dives Brand, Maokai turns immediately and uses peel instead of continuing the engage.
Best scenario: This is strongest against teams with multiple melee champions or tanks that have to walk into the wave. Maokai holds them in Brand’s damage, Brand burns through grouped targets, and the enemy frontline becomes a liability instead of a shield.
Enemy answer: The enemy should avoid narrow fights, keep minion spacing clean, and force Brand to cast before Maokai has committed. Long-range picks can also pressure Brand so he cannot stand close enough to follow Maokai’s root.
Failure risk and recovery: The main failure is overloading damage into the enemy tank while their backline stays untouched. Recover by using the tank as a bridge, not the whole target: Maokai roots the first champion in range, Brand spreads damage through the clump, and the team backs up once enemy divers use their gap closers instead of chasing into fresh cooldowns.
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Lulu - turns Maokai from engage tank into unkillable bouncer
Synergy mechanism: Lulu strengthens Maokai’s defensive fights. Her protection lets him survive after starting, and her peel stacks with his root and knockback to keep a carry alive through dive attempts. This is less explosive than a full wombo combo, but it makes the team much harder to break.
Combo: Maokai holds the front edge of the fight while Lulu plays near the main damage carry. If Maokai finds a catch, Lulu can speed or protect him as he enters. If the enemy dives instead, Maokai saves his root for the first diver, Lulu shields and disrupts the second, and the carry gets enough room to keep attacking.
Best scenario: This pairing is best when your team has a hypercarry or strong sustained damage but lacks safety. Maokai covers the lane and brush, Lulu covers the carry, and the enemy is forced to burn several tools just to start a fight that still may not reach the backline.
Enemy answer: Enemies should not throw every engage tool into Maokai while Lulu is ready. They should poke first, force defensive resources, then re-engage when Maokai is separated from the carry or when Lulu has already used her key protection.
Failure risk and recovery: The risk is playing too passively and letting poke teams chip everyone down while Maokai waits for a perfect engage. Recover by using saplings to claim brush, stepping forward with Lulu support when the enemy wave is weak, and taking short trades where Maokai absorbs pressure without committing past his team’s damage range.
What Maokai needs most from a comp: bring real backline damage, preferably one sustained carry and one area-damage threat. Add at least one teammate who can punish rooted targets instantly, because Maokai’s catch loses value if enemies survive the first lock and walk away. He also appreciates shielding, speed, or a second disengage tool when facing heavy dive. If the team is all tanks or all poke with no follow-up, Maokai ends up starting fights that nobody can finish, so play him more as brush control and peel until an enemy oversteps.
