Garen vs Maokai — Top Lane Matchup Guide

How to win lane as Garen against Maokai · 51.64% win rate over 1,464 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27

Verdict: Garen is favoured — Garen owns 5 of the 7 game windows to Maokai's 2. Garen wins 51.64% of games vs Maokai in top lane (1,464 Emerald+ games analysed).

Favour timeline — who owns each window

StageFavouredWhy
Level 1GarenLevel 1 your Q-E trade beats a low-resist Maokai's poke.
Level 2GarenLevel 2 you keep the trade lead before his sustain matters.
Level 3GarenLevel 3 your silence shuts his root and Sapling as you grind him.
Levels 4-5GarenLevels 4-5 your E out-damages his heal before he stacks tank stats.
Level 6MaokaiLevel 6 his R root and gank setup swing the phase to him.
First itemGarenFirst item your W resists let you re-take an all-in before he's tanky.
Two+ itemsMaokaiWith 2+ items his tankiness and roots fully counter your kit.

Early game (levels 1–5)

You control the early game: Maokai is slow to threaten and your Q silence shuts off his E root and Sapling, so walk him down with E and deny his passive-heal windows while he can only chip you.

Read the rest of this matchup

The full Garen 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 Garen guide →
All Garen top lane matchups →