How to win lane as Tahm Kench against Maokai · 48.75% win rate (1,280 Emerald+ games, lolalytics, sampled July 2026) · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
His chain meets a stomach — devour the diver mid-chain and spit the apology at his team.
Track: Maokai's W — Twisted Advance (14–10s cooldown). Point-and-click root — count its cooldown before stepping up.
Read from Tahm Kench's seat: which stage windows this plan plays for against Maokai.
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Even / skill | Level 1 is even because both of you lack the range to threaten before abilities scale. |
| Level 2 | Even / skill | Level 2 stays a skill matchup since your Q-slow trade and his W-root trade cancel out. |
| Level 3 | Maokai | Level 3 favours Maokai as sapling poke plus W root give him lane initiative. |
| Levels 4-5 | Maokai | Levels 4-5 favour Maokai because his root-and-poke pattern chunks your ADC repeatedly. |
| Level 6 | Maokai | Level 6 favours Maokai since Nature's Grasp adds objective zoning you can't match. |
| First item | Even / skill | First item is even as your Thick Skin healing catches you back up to his poke. |
| Two+ items | Tahm Kench | Two items in favours Tahm Kench because Devour and grey-health outscale his single-target engage. |
Levels 1-2 are a skill dance: Maokai wants to land his W root to start a trade while you want to bait it and answer with Q slow, and neither of you deletes the other, so play around cooldowns. His dash-root arrives before your count finishes, so start it while his cooldowns are up. Grey health covers the sapling chip, and once his root has already been spent, the tongue plus two autos ends the exchange before he can do anything about it.
Pooled Emerald+ win rates from Tahm Kench's side, sampled July 2026.
The full Tahm Kench 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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Maokai, slightly — Tahm Kench wins 48.75% of 1,280 games; winnable with the right plan.
Mostly — Maokai has a small statistical edge (51.25% win rate), but execution decides this lane far more than the pick does.
No — if anything Maokai has the slight edge (Tahm Kench wins 48.75%), though it stays close.
Tahm Kench takes Grasp of the Undying on the Resolve tree with Font of Life, Second Wind and Overgrowth, and Inspiration secondary (Biscuit Delivery and Cosmic Insight) vs Maokai.
Start World Atlas + potions and back for Bramble piece vs sustain. Build Locket / Heartsteel piece first, then Knight's Vow path, with Mercury's.
Playing the other side? Maokai vs Tahm Kench guide →
All Tahm Kench support matchups →
More Tahm Kench support matchups: vs Leona · vs Lulu · vs Lux · vs Milio · vs Morgana · vs Nami
Also played in: Top Lane