How to win the jungle race as Nocturne against Maokai · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Read from Nocturne's seat: the race windows this plan plays for against Maokai.
| Stage | Read | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 Clear | Nocturne Favoured | Umbra Blades' AoE sustain clears fast and wins the raptor-pit brawl. Maokai can make it awkward — Twisted Advance's untargetable root locks you down for the counter-trade — but not before either of you has a second camp down. Trade, then walk away with a camp and a chunk of their health bar. |
| Level 2 Skirmish | Nocturne Favoured | Duskbringer's trail damage plus speed wins straight-line trades. The margin is thin: Twisted Advance root trades keep skirmishes on their schedule, and one slow camp on your side hands the window straight back, so keep the trade short. His damage is front-loaded CC, not DPS — dodge saplings and out-trade after the root. |
| Level 3 Route | Nocturne Favoured | The fear-tether threat tilts every river skirmish in your favor. Bramble Smash knock-back plus the W root is a solid pick kit, not a stat-check, so this is an edge and not a blowout — take the level-3 river fight only with the HP and cooldown lead. |
| Levels 4-5 Macro | Nocturne Favoured — Take Duels | You hold the edge at 4-5, not a blowout. He plays 4-5 through sapling vision and root ganks into lanes that already hold the wave, so meet them where the camps are, not where their laners are. |
| Level 6 Breakpoint | Paranoia Favoured | Paranoia removes their map and delivers you to any duel you have already chunked. 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 | Eclipse / Hexplate Spike | Completing your core item triggers a massive physical damage and burst multiplier that completely overpowers traditional brawlers or assassin targets. Maokai's first item mostly buys health and cooldowns — his spike is durability, not damage, and it arrives early. |
| 2+ Items Scaling | Nocturne Favoured at Full Build | You are the better full-build side, narrowly. He is a root wall with a health bar — hard to kill, and the whole river is his zone, so take the duel with cooldowns up and never mid-rotation. |
Start your clear at the Red Buff camp to maximize early health retention via passive lifesteal loops before executing a fast full clear straight into an aggressive scuttle crab contest. 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 Nocturne's plans — the jungle race carries no win-rate sample.
The full Nocturne 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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Nocturne's race plan controls 7 of the 7 windows — Nocturne holds the tempo advantage in this jungle matchup.
Not exactly — Nocturne's race plan controls 7 of the 7 windows, so Maokai is playing catch-up and has to lean on the map.
Playing the other side? Maokai vs Nocturne guide →
All Nocturne jungle matchups →
More Nocturne jungle matchups: vs Lee Sin · vs Lillia · vs Locke · vs Master Yi · vs Morgana · vs Naafiri