How to win the jungle race as Rek'Sai against Maokai · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Read from Rek'Sai's seat: the race windows this plan plays for against Maokai.
| Stage | Read | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 Clear | Rek'Sai Dominant | Fury-fueled Q autos clear fast and win the first raptor fight. Sapling Toss bush-bombs poke contests for free, and before either of you has a second camp down that is not an answer. Take the level-1 crossing and make Maokai path away from the camps you want. |
| Level 2 Skirmish | Rek'Sai Dominant | The Unburrow knock-up gives a free engage on anyone walking your tunnels. There is no version of this Maokai wins right now — Twisted Advance root trades keep skirmishes on their schedule, and that folds on the second camp. Show on their side of the river and take the second buff and the tempo that comes with it. |
| Level 3 Route | Rek'Sai Dominant | The full tunnel network plus knock-up means you dictate where every fight starts. Later in the game this bites, because Twisted Advance's untargetable root locks you down for the counter-trade. But as the first scuttle timer lands none of it is online, so take the level-3 river fight and tax every camp Maokai concedes. |
| Levels 4-5 Macro | Rek'Sai Dominant — Keep Fighting | Nothing about 4-5 helps Maokai here: he plays 4-5 through sapling vision and root ganks into lanes that already hold the wave, while you can take any duel you can reach. Invade on the clear-timer, not on a whim. |
| Level 6 Breakpoint | Void Rush Favoured | Void Rush executes anyone you have prey-marked — chunk first, then commit, while Nature's Grasp roots the whole river. You win the breakpoint against Maokai, not the whole game — cash it on the first objective after both sides hit six. |
| First Item Spike | Stridebreaker Spike | Completing your core item triggers a massive damage, health, and sticking power multiplier that completely overpowers traditional brawlers. 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 | You do not want the late 1v1 here. He is a root wall with a health bar — hard to kill, and the whole river is his zone — so trade the map instead, and keep every fight a numbers fight. |
Start your clear at the Red Buff camp utilizing your Queen's Wrath AoE to maximize early clear speed. 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 Rek'Sai's plans — the jungle race carries no win-rate sample.
The full Rek'Sai 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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Rek'Sai's race plan controls 6 of the 7 windows — Rek'Sai holds the tempo advantage in this jungle matchup.
Not exactly — Rek'Sai's race plan controls 6 of the 7 windows, so Maokai is playing catch-up and has to lean on the map.
Playing the other side? Maokai vs Rek'Sai guide →
All Rek'Sai jungle matchups →
More Rek'Sai jungle matchups: vs Lee Sin · vs Lillia · vs Locke · vs Master Yi · vs Morgana · vs Naafiri