- Win Rate
- 51.7%
- Pick Rate
- 0.3%
- Ban Rate
- 0.3%
Maokai Jungle Counters & Lane Matchups
- Patch
- 26.20
- Games
- 549
- Lane
- Jungle
- Tier
- All Tiers
- Last Updated
- Oct 19, 2026 UTC
- Methodology
- Data Methodology
- Author
- Dakota Chinnick
The best Maokai counters in League of Legends patch 26.20 are Amumu, Lillia, LeeSin, Evelynn, Kayn. The best Maokai counter is Amumu, with Maokai having only a 20% win rate in this matchup. Secondary patch 26.20 Maokai counter choices are Vi, Graves, Ekko, Hecarim, MonkeyKing. Below are the top Maokai counters and matchups alongside their win rates.
- Jungle lanes won at 15
- 37.4%
Who Counters Maokai Jungle (Patch 26.20)
1 lane opponents · 34 games| Opponent | Their win rate | Gold @15 | CS @15 | XP @15 | Verdict | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Kayn | 41.2% | +72 | +1.4 | −6 | Leans your way | 34 |
Ranked solo and flex games where both champions played the same lane this patch. Win rate shown is the OPPONENT's. Lists rank by the 95% range of each win rate, so a handful of games cannot top the list; gold, CS and XP are the opponent's lead at 15:00.
From a champion selection perspective, the strongest Maokai counters are Amumu, Lillia, LeeSin, and Evelynn. These champions either out-trade Maokai in lane, have abilities that negate Maokai's core mechanics, or scale better into team fights. Amumu in particular exploits Maokai's weaknesses by providing consistent pressure while being difficult to punish.
Beyond item builds and counter picks, successful counter play against Maokai involves understanding Maokai's power spikes and cooldown windows. Engage on Maokai when key abilities are on cooldown, and coordinate with your team to focus Maokai in team fights before Maokai can output maximum damage. Vision control is also crucial when playing against Maokai to avoid getting caught out of position. By combining proper defensive itemization with smart champion selection and strategic gameplay, you can effectively neutralize Maokai's impact and secure victory.
When to Counter Maokai - Game Phase Strategy
Maokai may look for extended trades. Avoid long fights and kite with slows. Short trades favor you against sustained damage.
Maokai becomes increasingly tanky mid game. Focus on kiting and percent health damage. Avoid fighting in choke points.
Maokai is very durable late game. Use armor penetration or anti-tank items. Focus squishier targets first if Maokai is too tanky.
Tips for Playing Against Maokai
- Pick Amumu or similar champions with kits that exploit Maokai's weaknesses
- Build Mercury's Treads or Hexdrinker early to reduce Maokai's damage in lane
- Track Maokai's cooldowns and engage when key abilities are unavailable
- Ward Maokai's common roam paths and ping missing immediately
- Coordinate with your jungler to gank Maokai during vulnerable windows
- Avoid extended trades where Maokai can stack sustained damage
- Kite Maokai with slows and crowd control
Riot's tips for playing against Maokai
- Saplings will chase the first enemy that gets too close, but detonate after a few seconds or if they collide with other enemies. Be especially careful around brush sapling, as they are much more dange
- The cooldown on Maokai's self healing is heavily gated on how many time you hit him with spells. Careful about wasting abilities on him.
- Maokai will avoid taking damage while he's using Twisted Advance, so don't waste your spells.
Plan your Maokai draft in Draft Lab
Draft Lab lays out both teams lane by lane with live matchup win rates, damage profiles and game-phase lean, and suggests picks and bans from current meta data.
- Full 5v5 draft board
- Lane matchup win rates
- Pick and ban suggestions
Help us maintain accuracy! If you notice incorrect stats, missing data, or any issues, your feedback directly improves the quality of our data for the entire community.
Maokai Counters FAQ - Patch 26.20
Is Maokai a lane bully?
No. Maokai Jungle averages 367 less gold than the lane opponent at 15 minutes and is ahead at 15 in 37% of games — Maokai plays for later fights.