How to win the jungle race as Volibear against Maokai · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Read from Volibear's seat: the race windows this plan plays for against Maokai.
| Stage | Read | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 Clear | Volibear Dominant | Frenzied Maul bite trades plus passive attack speed win the buff-pit brawl. 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 | Volibear Dominant | Sky Splitter's shield-plus-slow makes your short trades strictly better, 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 | Volibear Dominant | Q stun, W reset bite and E shield form a complete early brawling kit. 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 | Volibear 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 | Stormbringer Favoured | The Stormbringer drop plus bonus health wins any fight near a contested pit. 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 | Sundered Sky Spike | Completing your core item triggers a massive damage, health, and burst healing 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 | 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 Blue or Red Buff camp utilizing your E shield and nuke 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 Volibear's plans — the jungle race carries no win-rate sample.
The full Volibear 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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Volibear's race plan controls 6 of the 7 windows — Volibear holds the tempo advantage in this jungle matchup.
Not exactly — Volibear'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 Volibear guide →
All Volibear jungle matchups →
More Volibear jungle matchups: vs Lee Sin · vs Lillia · vs Locke · vs Master Yi · vs Morgana · vs Naafiri