How to win the jungle race as Maokai against Ivern · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Read from Maokai's seat: the race windows this plan plays for against Ivern.
| Stage | Read | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 Clear | Maokai Favoured | Sapling Toss bush-bombs poke contests for free. Friend of the Forest farms without fighting, so this is an edge and not a blowout — take the level-1 crossing only with the HP and cooldown lead. |
| Level 2 Skirmish | Maokai Favoured | Twisted Advance root trades keep skirmishes on your schedule, but Brushmaker poke from their own brush is their only legal trade. You still win the straight exchange on the second camp; keep it short, keep it decisive, and keep the scuttle line yours. |
| Level 3 Route | Maokai Favoured | Bramble Smash knock-back plus the W root is a solid pick kit, not a stat-check. Ivern can make it awkward — he won't fight you — but a Triggerseed root into his laner's follow-up will — but not as the first scuttle timer lands. Trade, then walk away with the first scuttle and the gank window behind it. |
| Levels 4-5 Macro | Maokai Favoured — Take Duels | Through levels 4-5 you remain the stronger duelist — keep taking short, decisive trades vs Ivern, but only with the HP and cooldown lead. |
| Level 6 Breakpoint | Nature's Grasp Favoured | Nature's Grasp roots the whole river — objective fights start on your terms, while Daisy! adds a knock-up frontline to their poke-and-root game. You win the breakpoint against Ivern, not the whole game — cash it on the first objective after both sides hit six. |
| First Item Spike | Sunfire Aegis Spike | Completing Sunfire Aegis gives you a persistent area burn plus health that speeds up your clear and adds free damage in any skirmish. Ivern still contributes no personal damage to a fight, so this priority mainly lets you out-farm his freed camps and contest neutral objectives before his empowered allies can punish you. Ivern's first item mostly buys shield strength and cooldowns — his spike is what his carry does, not what he does. |
| 2+ Items Scaling | Maokai Favoured at Full Build | Full-build math leans your way: extended fights and side-lane duels favor you over Ivern — make late fights about 1v1s, not coin-flips. |
Start your clear at the Raptors or Wolves camp utilizing your stacked E saplings to maximize early AoE clear speed without a leash. Ivern clears without fighting at all — Friend of the Forest frees camps on a timer, so his level and gold are always on schedule.
Ranked by the race windows in Maokai's plans — the jungle race carries no win-rate sample.
The full Maokai vs Ivern 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.
Read the full guide — plans from $1.99/month →🔒 Secure checkout · 💰 7-day money-back guarantee on your first payment · ✋ Cancel anytime
Lane Pass $1.99/mo · All Lanes $3.99/mo · Annual $24.99/yr. Renews automatically — cancel anytime.
Maokai's race plan controls 7 of the 7 windows — Maokai holds the tempo advantage in this jungle matchup.
Not exactly — Maokai's race plan controls 7 of the 7 windows, so Ivern is playing catch-up and has to lean on the map.
Playing the other side? Ivern vs Maokai guide →
All Maokai jungle matchups →
More Maokai jungle matchups: vs Gragas · vs Graves · vs Hecarim · vs Jarvan IV · vs Jax · vs Karthus