How to win lane as Malphite against Maokai · 52.71% win rate over 571 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Even / skill | Both of you are weak level 1, but his saplings out-poke your shield-less early health — just last-hit and don't trade. |
| Level 2 | Even / skill | His Q knockback and sapling stack still out-chip you before W/E — hold under tower and refresh Granite Shield. |
| Level 3 | Maokai | Maokai edges level 3: his W root into a sapling trade is real and you have no armor stack yet to answer it. |
| Levels 4-5 | Malphite | W Thunderclap and E Ground Slam come online — your empowered autos and armor let you farm through his poke and even the lane. |
| Level 6 | Malphite | Unstoppable Force gives you all-in and gank-setup pressure his reactive R can't match — your biggest spike. |
| First item | Malphite | Your first armor item makes W/E out-trade his sapling poke, and a low-damage tank can't punish your sustain. |
| Two+ items | Malphite | You out-scale him outright — no percent-HP or true damage on his kit, so your armor stack and R flank own every fight. |
Maokai is the rare lane where another tank can actually poke you early — his saplings and Q knockback chip your low base health before Granite Shield even matters, so levels 1-3 are his only real window. Don't walk into sapling clumps in brush or river, and respect his W root-dash: if he lands it he gets a free sapling-stacked trade. Just farm, let your shield refresh between his pokes, and accept you're behind through level 3. Neither of you has kill pressure here, so give up nothing by playing safe.
The full Malphite 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 Malphite guide →
All Malphite top lane matchups →