How to win the jungle race as Trundle against Maokai · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Read from Trundle's seat: the race windows this plan plays for against Maokai.
| Stage | Read | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 Clear | Trundle Dominant | Chomp (Q) steals AD on hit, so your level-1 trade is rigged in your favor. Later in the game this bites, because Twisted Advance's untargetable root locks you down for the counter-trade. But before either of you has a second camp down none of it is online, so take the level-1 crossing and tax every camp Maokai concedes. |
| Level 2 Skirmish | Trundle Dominant | Frozen Domain (W) attack speed makes your buff-pit duel one of the best in the game, while Twisted Advance root trades keep skirmishes on their schedule. Only one of those wins on the second camp, so press it: take the level-2 skirmish, then leave with the second buff and the tempo that comes with it. |
| Level 3 Route | Trundle Dominant | Pillar (E) cuts the escape; with Q AD-steal and W haste the duel is yours. Bramble Smash knock-back plus the W root is a solid pick kit, not a stat-check, and as the first scuttle timer lands that is not an answer. Take the level-3 river fight and make Maokai path away from the camps you want. |
| Levels 4-5 Macro | Trundle Dominant — Keep Fighting | Levels 4-5 change nothing: you still win every straight duel vs Maokai, and he plays 4-5 through sapling vision and root ganks into lanes that already hold the wave. Sit in their river, take both scuttles, and tax the camps they concede. |
| Level 6 Breakpoint | Subjugate Favoured | Subjugate drains max health and resists, rigging any extended duel in your favor. 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 | Ravenous Hydra Spike | Completing your core item triggers a massive damage, wave clear, and sustain 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 | Even Scaling — Prep Decides | Both kits pay off at 2+ items — late fights vs Maokai come down to who enters with cooldowns, vision, and numbers. Win with setup, not stats. |
Start your clear at the Red Buff camp utilizing your Chomp AD steal 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 Trundle's plans — the jungle race carries no win-rate sample.
The full Trundle 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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Trundle's race plan controls 6 of the 7 windows — Trundle holds the tempo advantage in this jungle matchup.
Not exactly — Trundle'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 Trundle guide →
All Trundle jungle matchups →
More Trundle jungle matchups: vs Lee Sin · vs Lillia · vs Locke · vs Master Yi · vs Morgana · vs Naafiri