How to win lane as Maokai against Karma · 49.54% win rate (218 Emerald+ games, lolalytics, sampled July 2026) · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Weather the poke — root her on the Focused Resolve cooldown and grind her with saplings.
Track: Karma's W — Focused Resolve (12s cooldown). Her root tether — breaks if you LoS / outrange it.
Read from Maokai's seat: which stage windows this plan plays for against Karma.
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Karma | Karma has Q (Inner Flame) poke from level 1 and you have only one ability with no W-Q combo yet, so you concede this stage and just farm. |
| Level 2 | Even / skill | Even — your W (Twisted Advance) root is online but her Q poke and E disengage make the first real trade a coin-flip on whether you land it. |
| Level 3 | Maokai | Your full W-into-Q (Bramble Smash) root-and-knockback trade comes online and Sap Magic heals it back before her Q can punish — you own the overstep. |
| Levels 4-5 | Maokai | Your W root and Sap Magic cooldowns let you repeat favorable trades faster than her single-target Q poke can answer. |
| Level 6 | Maokai | Her R (Mantra) adds RQ range-root and RE shields but barely moves the 1v1 — you still point-and-click W onto her and out-trade with healing. |
| First item | Even / skill | Her first AP item lets her kite your W cooldown with E move speed and RQ-tether from range — even, since she out-pokes but you out-last. |
| Two+ items | Maokai | With your Hollow Radiance and tank item, Sap Magic and resists make you unkillable in the 1v1 and a W-Q lockdown still threatens her — you own any fight she's forced to take. |
Level 1 is Karma's — she has Q (Inner Flame) poke immediately and I only have one ability and no combo, so I just farm and eat a little chip rather than walk into her Q for free. The lane swings the moment I complete W (Twisted Advance) into Q (Bramble Smash) at 2-3: that's a point-and-click root I dash onto her with, knock her back, and then proc Sap Magic on the follow-up auto to heal the poke right back. Don't throw W on cooldown into nothing — hold it until she steps up to last-hit or wastes her E, because if I miss it she just Q-pokes me while it's down.
Pooled Emerald+ win rates from Maokai's side, sampled July 2026.
The full Maokai vs Karma 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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Nobody on paper — a 49.54% win rate over 218 games makes this a coin flip decided by play, not champion select.
Yes — Maokai vs Karma is a genuine skill matchup: 49.54% win rate, and the favour swings window to window rather than being set at champion select.
No hard counter either way — the Maokai vs Karma win rate is 49.54%, an even lane decided by execution.
Maokai takes Grasp of the Undying on the Resolve tree with Demolish, Second Wind and Overgrowth, and Precision secondary (Triumph and Legend: Haste) vs Karma.
Start Doran's Shield + Health Potion and back for Core component + boots (≈1300g). Build Heartsteel (the HP engine) first, then Thornmail / Spirit Visage, with Mercury's Treads.
Playing the other side? Karma vs Maokai guide →
All Maokai top lane matchups →
More Maokai top lane matchups: vs Jax · vs Jayce · vs K'Sante · vs Kassadin · vs Kayle · vs Kennen
Also played in: Support