How to win lane as Maokai against Sett · 54.33% win rate over 127 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Maokai | Level 1 I open E (Sapling Toss) to shove and brush-check; Sett has no ranged tool to contest the first wave so I set the lane on my terms. |
| Level 2 | Even / skill | Even stage — my W into Q root trade with a Sap Magic heal is real, but every point of poke I land feeds his W gauge, so neither of us owns it. |
| Level 3 | Sett | Sett's stored W returns as a true-damage smash that ignores my stacked resistances, and his passive double-punch out-grits me in any extended fist exchange. |
| Levels 4-5 | Sett | Through Levels 4-5 his W gauge and double-punch let him win repeated melee trades while my only sustain edge can't keep up with true damage. |
| Level 6 | Sett | His R suppress-slam plus a full W smash is a hard all-in; my own R is engage utility, not a duel tool, so I can't answer his Level 6 spike. |
| First item | Sett | His grit-bruiser first item out-trades my tank build in melee; I farm with saplings instead of contesting his strongest item window. |
| Two+ items | Even / skill | Late game evens out — neither of us scales in damage, but my R wall, W lockdown and Sap Magic tankiness turn teamfights my way. |
Level 1 is actually yours here — I open E (Sapling Toss) to shove the first wave and check brush, and Sett has nothing ranged to answer it, so I dictate the opening. Levels 2-3 stay close: once I have W (Twisted Advance) into Q (Bramble Smash) I can land one clean root-and-knockback trade and heal it back with Sap Magic, but every point of damage I throw also feeds his W gauge. Do not sit in extended fist range — his passive double-punch and stored W will out-grit a melee slugfest, so I trade in short bursts and step out.
The full Maokai vs Sett 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? Sett vs Maokai guide →
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