How to win the jungle race as Master Yi against Maokai · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Read from Master Yi's seat: the race windows this plan plays for against Maokai.
| Stage | Read | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 Clear | Even Skirmish | Sapling Toss bush-bombs poke contests for free, and that is worth exactly what you bring: Alpha Strike speeds your clear, but raw duels are losers — farm, don't fight. Contest your opening camps when your health bar is the higher one and not before. |
| Level 2 Skirmish | Even Skirmish | Even on the second camp, for a concrete reason — Twisted Advance root trades keep skirmishes on their schedule, while Wuju Style helps the clear more than the duel; keep choosing camps over combat. His damage is front-loaded CC, not DPS — dodge saplings and out-trade after the root, and let the camp timers choose the fight for you. |
| Level 3 Route | Even Skirmish | Dead-even at the opening scuttle: Meditate buys time but wins nothing — your game starts at level six, not three, while Bramble Smash knock-back plus the W root is a solid pick kit, not a stat-check. Whoever arrives with more HP and cooldowns wins, so track their clear and pick the moment. |
| Levels 4-5 Macro | Master Yi Favoured — Take Duels | Through levels 4-5 you remain the stronger duelist — keep taking short, decisive trades vs Maokai, but only with the HP and cooldown lead. |
| Level 6 Breakpoint | Highlander Favoured | Highlander's slow immunity plus Alpha resets snowball any post-6 cleanup. Maokai's six is not empty — a forest of roots arrives ahead of every objective contest. Take the duel from even health rather than from behind, and flank around the root wave — it is slow and dodgeable from the side. |
| First Item Spike | Kraken Slayer Spike | Completing your core item triggers a massive physical damage, attack speed, and on-hit multiplier that completely overpowers traditional brawlers or isolated targets. Maokai's first item mostly buys health and cooldowns — his spike is durability, not damage, and it arrives early. |
| 2+ Items Scaling | Master Yi Favoured — Wins Late | Maokai falls off relative to you — from two items on you win the raw stat check, even though he is a root wall with a health bar — hard to kill, and the whole river is his zone. Drag the game long and force the 1v1s. |
Start your clear at the Red Buff camp to maximize early health sustain and red buff true damage. Maokai clears comfortably with Sap Magic sustain and saplings, and he is close to full health at every crossing.
Ranked by the race windows in Master Yi's plans — the jungle race carries no win-rate sample.
The full Master Yi vs Maokai 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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Master Yi's race plan controls 4 of the 7 windows — Master Yi holds the tempo advantage in this jungle matchup.
Not exactly — Master Yi's race plan controls 4 of the 7 windows, so Maokai is playing catch-up and has to lean on the map.
Playing the other side? Maokai vs Master Yi guide →
All Master Yi jungle matchups →
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