Maokai in ARAM in Season 12 – Strengths and Weaknesses

Welcome to our guide on how to play Maokai in ARAM! Here we will lay out for you the best build for Maokai in ARAM in season 12, as well as some additional tips and things to do every game. Maokai doesn’t have a very strict build path, but he does need some items more than others. 

Being primarily a tank, Maokai benefits the most from the defensive items, such as Spirit Visage or Thornmail. However, he is also an AP based champion, and his abilities can be quite devastating if you put a bit of power into them. So you’ll be wise to also consider getting offensive items as well.

Maokai’s main strength comes from his ability to crowd control his enemies while healing a significant portion of the damage he is taking and peeling for his teammates. He is one of the easiest champions to maneuver, and his abilities are fairly easy to set up. 

The only underwhelming feeling you can get when playing Maokai is the lack of damage. However, we will show you how to eliminate this problem by purchasing a bit of ability power and then stomping your enemies. And with that said, let’s jump into the best build for Maokai in ARAM in season 12!

Best Build for Maokai in ARAM in Season 12

Best Runes for Maokai in ARAM in Season 12

Aftershock

Aftershock is the standard keystone choice for Maokai in ARAM. The rune has a powerful offensive and defensive effect that activates when you CC an enemy champion. So when you root someone as Moakai, Aftershock will give you bonus armor and magic resist, but it will also explode after 2.5 seconds and deal massive amounts of damage. This is very helpful in all situations!

Font of Life

Font of Life can be an incredible source of healing for your whole team. The rune works like this: when you root an enemy champion, that champion gets marked for 4 seconds. During these 4 seconds, any ally that attacks the marked champion will heal himself for up to 4.5% of their maximum HP, which is pretty handy.

Conditioning

Conditioning is a lovely safe card for Maokai in case he falls behind during the game. After 12 minutes, the rune grants you bonus armor and magic resist, equal to almost one complete item. This is an extremely useful rune, so make sure to prioritize it!

Revitalize

Maokai is very good at self-healing. Revitalize boosts this strength and also grants you bonus healing from additional sources, such as ally champions. It is a very helpful rune overall and considered a must for Maokai in League of Legends’ game modes.

Triumph

Moving over to the Precision tree, Triumph is the first rune to pick up! It is one more healing source for Maokai that activates every time he scores a kill or an assist. And because fights are constantly going on in ARAM, you can get a lot of value out of this rune.

Legend: Tenacity

And Legend: Tenacity is the last rune you’ll need as Maokai. It helps you tremendously with moving freely because it removes your enemies’ ability to control you. It builds up as you gather kills and assists, so it’s very easy to stack up.

Bonuses

As for the bonuses, Moakai’s mostly favors this combination: two Adaptive Forces and an Armor rune.

Best Items for Maokai in ARAM in Season 12

Sunfire Aegis

By now, it’s no secret that Sunfire Aegis is seriously broken in League of Legends. Maokai benefits a lot from the basic stats it brings to the table, but the passive is where all the true strength lies. You see, Sunfire Aegis burns down enemies around you whenever you deal or take damage. This effect stacks multiple times, and it’s very OP. And since it’s very easy for Maokai to get in range with the enemy carries, it makes Sunfire Aegis the strongest mythic item for him!

Mercury’s Treads

Mercury’s Treads are the single-best boots upgrades for Maokai. They give additional resistance to crowd control effects, and combined with Legend: Tenacity, you’ll completely nullify your enemies’ CC potential.

Demonic Embrace

Demonic Embrace is the first offensive purchase for Maokai in ARAM. This item synergizes with Sunfire aegis by adding one more source of burning down enemies. Combined, they can drain any champion in just a few seconds, and they work super well on Maokai!

Spirit Visage

Spirit Visage is a core item to Maokai’s defensiveness. It’s not only good against a heavy AP team, but all around. The passive increases your healing from all sources by 25%, which is really high! And even with Grievous Wounds against you, you’ll still do a tremendous amount of healing.

Thornmail

Thornmail is one of the best tank items in League of Legends and a must-have for Maokai too. The primary reason for purchasing it is to increase your base armor, but the Thorns passive is incredible as well. It damages people when they auto attack you, so you should always try to purchase it, especially against multiple marksman champions.

Morellonomicon

And Morellonomicon is a great item to finish the game with. Being able to sustain nearly all damage while giving the enemy no option to do the same is a recipe for victory in ARAM.