How to win lane as Maokai against Gragas · 54.1% win rate over 61 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Maokai | At Level 1 you both have one ability, but his Q pool only sustains — you have no combo to fear yet, so deny his last-hits and set up your level 2 spike. |
| Level 2 | Even / skill | Hitting Level 2 gives you W into Q, but Gragas can answer with his own early E poke, so it's a genuine skill trade over who lands their engage first. |
| Level 3 | Even / skill | Your full W-Q-E root combo is online, yet his body-slam E and barrel sustain let him trade back — even hands here decide the window. |
| Levels 4-5 | Gragas | Gragas takes over at 4-5: his E body-slam plus Q pool lets him pick the trade and sustain through your Sap Magic when your W is down. |
| Level 6 | Gragas | His R is the swing at 6 — the knockback peels you off your W dash or interrupts your all-in, and his E-Q-AA-R burst beats one Sap Magic proc. |
| First item | Gragas | First item is his peak: Lost Chapter / catalyst sustain plus W damage reduction lets his AP brawl out-trade your durability before your tank items matter. |
| Two+ items | Even / skill | Late game flattens back to even — your R bramble wall and chain CC win the 5v5 even though his single-target burst edges the 1v1. |
Levels 1-3 are mine. At 1 I only have one ability and no combo, so I respect his Q pool poke and just farm — but the second I hit 2 and 3 I have W into Q, and that's a real root-and-knockback trade his barrel sustain can't fully out-heal. Walk up, W onto him before his E body-slam is available, Q to knock him back, and my next attack procs Sap Magic to heal the trade right back. Don't dump E early — save saplings to deny his body-slam landing or zone the brush he wants to pool in.
The full Maokai vs Gragas 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? Gragas vs Maokai guide →
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