How to win lane as Alistar against Maokai · 50.9% win rate over 1,061 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Maokai | Level 1 Maokai's point-click W root and Q poke beat Alistar's telegraphed walk-up. |
| Level 2 | Even / skill | Level 2 trades stay a coinflip on who lands CC first (Skill). |
| Level 3 | Even / skill | Level 3 both tanky supports trade evenly, decided by execution (Skill). |
| Levels 4-5 | Even / skill | First-item exchanges hinge on engage timing rather than raw kit (Skill). |
| Level 6 | Even / skill | Even at 6 single trades don't snowball; outcome is execution-dependent (Skill). |
| First item | Alistar | 2-item Alistar's R durability outlasts Maokai's shorter CC windows. |
| Two+ items | Alistar | Late game Alistar's sustained AoE engage out-fights Maokai's shorter-range CC. |
Maokai contests the early levels well: his W is a point-click root that can lock Alistar or his ADC before the walk-up W-Q lands, and his Q sapling poke chips Alistar as he approaches. In the level 1-2 window Maokai's reliable CC and self-sustain give him the edge over Alistar's telegraphed, mana-hungry engage.
The full Alistar vs Maokai report continues with the mid-game plan, the late-game and teamfight plan, every power spike to play around, and the win conditions for both sides — plus cooldown tracking and the live enemy-jungle tracker inside the app.
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Playing the other side? Maokai vs Alistar guide →
All Alistar support matchups →