How to win the jungle race as Nunu & Willump against Maokai · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Read from Nunu & Willump's seat: the race windows this plan plays for against Maokai.
| Stage | Read | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 Clear | Respect Maokai | Sapling Toss bush-bombs poke contests for free, and Nunu & Willump has no clean answer to it at the first buff — Twisted Advance's untargetable root locks you down for the counter-trade. His damage is front-loaded CC, not DPS — dodge saplings and out-trade after the root, and give up your opening camps rather than the kill. |
| Level 2 Skirmish | Respect Maokai | The window on the second camp belongs to Maokai: Twisted Advance root trades keep skirmishes on their schedule. Your own line is real — the snowball is gank pressure, not duel pressure; keep avoiding the 1v1 — but it arrives second here. His damage is front-loaded CC, not DPS — dodge saplings and out-trade after the root, then refuse the level-2 skirmish. |
| Level 3 Route | Respect Maokai | At level 3 this window belongs to Maokai: Bramble Smash knock-back plus the W root is a solid pick kit, not a stat-check, and Twisted Advance's untargetable root locks you down for the counter-trade. His damage is front-loaded CC, not DPS — dodge saplings and out-trade after the root. Give up the level-3 river fight and bank tempo on the opposite side of the map. |
| Levels 4-5 Macro | Respect Maokai — Path Opposite | Do not trade windows with Maokai here: he plays 4-5 through sapling vision and root ganks into lanes that already hold the wave. Path opposite, keep your entrances warded, and answer the map, not the champion. |
| Level 6 Breakpoint | Respect Maokai's R | Maokai wins the breakpoint outright — Nature's Grasp roots the whole river, and a forest of roots arrives ahead of every objective contest. Flank around the root wave — it is slow and dodgeable from the side, then trade objectives cross-map until your items land. |
| First Item Spike | Liandry's Spike | Completing Liandry's Torment puts a max-health burn on every Consume (Q), Biggest Snowball Ever! (W) and Snowball Barrage (E) hit, so camps and waves melt and brawlers who try to out-sustain you lose a chunk of health every trade. Maokai's first item mostly buys health and cooldowns — his spike is durability, not damage, and it arrives early. |
| 2+ Items Scaling | Respect Maokai Late — End Early | The full-build comparison goes to Maokai: he is a root wall with a health bar — hard to kill, and the whole river is his zone. Play for picks and objectives, and end before the fight has to be fair. |
Start your clear at the Red or Blue Buff camp utilizing your Consume true damage to maximize early clear speed without needing a heavy leash. 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 Nunu & Willump's plans — the jungle race carries no win-rate sample.
The full Nunu & Willump 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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Maokai pressures 6 of the 7 windows in this race — survive the early game and scale into your windows.
Not exactly — Maokai pressures 6 of the 7 windows, so Nunu & Willump is playing catch-up and has to lean on the map.
Playing the other side? Maokai vs Nunu & Willump guide →
All Nunu & Willump jungle matchups →
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