How to win the jungle race as Maokai against Brand · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Read from Maokai's seat: the race windows this plan plays for against Brand.
| Stage | Read | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 Clear | Respect Brand | The window at the first buff belongs to Brand: the Sear into Conflagration point-click burst wins the level-1 stat check. Your own line is real — Sapling Toss bush-bombs poke contests for free — but it arrives second here. Spread off camp monsters so Conflagration can't bounce, and flinch the Q stun line, then skip the level-1 crossing. |
| Level 2 Skirmish | Respect Brand | At level 2 this window belongs to Brand: ablaze combo poke chunks half a health bar through a wall, and the E-Q ablaze stun rotation removes half your HP in a single combo. Spread off camp monsters so Conflagration can't bounce, and flinch the Q stun line. Refuse the level-2 skirmish and bank tempo on the opposite side of the map. |
| Level 3 Route | Respect Brand | The E-Q ablaze stun rotation removes half your HP in a single combo — Maokai has no answer to that at level 3. The full E-Q stun rotation is their burst window before sustain kits stabilize on their half of the map too, so give up the level-3 river fight and answer the pressure cross-map. |
| Levels 4-5 Macro | Respect Brand — Path Opposite | Do not trade windows with Brand here: he converts 4-5 into cross-map 2v2s where a Conflagration bounce off a laner does most of the damage. Path opposite, keep your entrances warded, and answer the map, not the champion. |
| Level 6 Breakpoint | Even Ult Window | Both sixes are real: Nature's Grasp roots the whole river — objective fights start on your terms, while Pyroclasm bounces win every 2v2. Whoever lands their ultimate first wins the window — track the level race and never be the one caught at five and a half. |
| First Item Spike | Sunfire Aegis Spike | Completing Sunfire Aegis gives you a constant area burn plus health, so camps melt while you stand in them and every extended fight with a brawler has free damage ticking on your side. Brand's first item makes the Sear-into-Conflagration rotation a full health bar on a squishy, with no auto-attacks needed. |
| 2+ Items Scaling | Respect Brand Late — End Early | The full-build comparison goes to Brand: he deletes a clumped fight with a Pyroclasm bounce and needs no auto-attacks to do it. Play for picks and objectives, and end before the fight has to be fair. |
Start your clear at the Raptors or Wolves camp utilizing your stacked E saplings to maximize early AoE clear speed without a leash. Brand clears with Pillar of Flame and Conflagration and is healthy at three, but the clear costs him most of his mana.
Ranked by the race windows in Maokai's plans — the jungle race carries no win-rate sample.
The full Maokai vs Brand report continues with scuttle & dragon rules, invade windows and safety boundaries, the top-side objective fight, macro rotations and the win condition — plus the live enemy-jungle tracker that shows their start, clear and gank timers in game.
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Brand pressures 5 of the 7 windows in this race — survive the early game and scale into your windows.
Not exactly — Brand pressures 5 of the 7 windows, so Maokai is playing catch-up and has to lean on the map.
Playing the other side? Brand vs Maokai guide →
All Maokai jungle matchups →
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