How to win the jungle race as Xin Zhao against Maokai · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Read from Xin Zhao's seat: the race windows this plan plays for against Maokai.
| Stage | Read | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 Clear | Xin Zhao Dominant | Three Talon Strike's knock-up plus passive healing wins the first buff-pit duel. There is no version of this Maokai wins right now — Sapling Toss bush-bombs poke contests for free, and that folds at the first buff. Show on their side of the river and take a camp and a chunk of their health bar. |
| Level 2 Skirmish | Xin Zhao Dominant | Wind Becomes Lightning (W) challenge poke starts trades you finish for free. Later in the game this bites, because Twisted Advance's untargetable root locks you down for the counter-trade. But with one camp still up on both sides none of it is online, so take the level-2 skirmish and tax every camp Maokai concedes. |
| Level 3 Route | Xin Zhao Dominant | The full knock-up combo with W slow is among the top three level-3 duels, while Bramble Smash knock-back plus the W root is a solid pick kit, not a stat-check. Only one of those wins at the opening scuttle, so press it: take the level-3 river fight, then leave with the first scuttle and the gank window behind it. |
| Levels 4-5 Macro | Xin Zhao 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 | Crescent Guard Favoured | Crescent Guard makes the 1v1 literal — outside help is deleted from your duel. Nature's Grasp roots the whole river, so the margin is real but narrow: fight when your ultimate is up and Nature's Grasp is the one on cooldown. |
| First Item Spike | Sundered Sky / Eclipse Spike | Completing your core item triggers a massive damage, health, 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 | Respect Maokai Late — End Early | Maokai out-stats you from two items on — stop taking straight 1v1s, close through objectives and picks, and keep the game on a clock. |
Start your clear at the Red Buff camp utilizing your Q resets and passive to maximize early clear speed and health. 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 Xin Zhao's plans — the jungle race carries no win-rate sample.
The full Xin Zhao 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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Xin Zhao's race plan controls 6 of the 7 windows — Xin Zhao holds the tempo advantage in this jungle matchup.
Not exactly — Xin Zhao'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 Xin Zhao guide →
All Xin Zhao jungle matchups →
More Xin Zhao jungle matchups: vs Lee Sin · vs Lillia · vs Locke · vs Master Yi · vs Morgana · vs Naafiri