How to win lane as Leona against Maokai · 51.11% win rate (3,518 Emerald+ games, lolalytics, sampled July 2026) · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
An engage mirror at high noon — whoever chains second chains a stunned target.
Track: Maokai's W — Twisted Advance (14–10s cooldown). Point-and-click root — count its cooldown before stepping up.
Read from Leona's seat: which stage windows this plan plays for against Maokai.
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Even / skill | Level 1 both are engage tanks fishing for CC, so it's an even skill matchup. |
| Level 2 | Leona | At 2 your E-Q wins the engage race over his single Twisted Advance root. |
| Level 3 | Leona | Level 3 you bring two CC tools to his one, taking control. |
| Levels 4-5 | Leona | Through 4-5 your faster engage and durability dominate his poke. |
| Level 6 | Leona | At 6 Solar Flare out-values his dodgeable Nature's Grasp ult. |
| First item | Leona | First item your Mercs and tankiness win the CC war. |
| Two+ items | Leona | With 2+ items your cleaner lockdown chain still beats his root-and-poke. |
Level 1 is a skill matchup - both of you are melee engage tanks fishing for the first hard-CC, so whoever lands their initiation cleanly wins the exchange. Respect his Twisted Advance root and Sapling poke, but your kit is comparable and neither of you has a decisive edge before level 2. Two melee engage supports means the lane goes to whoever lands the first piece of crowd control, so hold the brush and make him step first. Keep Eclipse for the root rather than the sapling chip. Ward the river and let your ADC follow the stun rather than lead the exchange.
Pooled Emerald+ win rates from Leona's side, sampled July 2026.
The full Leona 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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Leona, slightly — a 51.11% win rate edge over 3,518 games; execution can flip it.
Mostly — Leona has a small statistical edge (51.11% win rate), but execution decides this lane far more than the pick does.
Not a hard counter — Leona has a slight edge (51.11% win rate), and play quality decides the rest.
Leona takes Aftershock on the Resolve tree with Font of Life, Bone Plating and Unflinching, and Inspiration secondary (Biscuit Delivery and Cosmic Insight) vs Maokai.
Start World Atlas + potions and back for Bramble piece vs sustain. Build Locket / Zeke's first, then Knight's Vow path, with Mercury's.
Playing the other side? Maokai vs Leona guide →
All Leona support matchups →
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