How to win lane as Maokai against Yorick · 54.08% win rate over 98 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Even / skill | Level 1 I have only a single ability and no combo, so I concede the opener — but so does a slow-starting Yorick, so just deny his ghoul-stacked last-hits and set the wave up. |
| Level 2 | Maokai | My W (Twisted Advance) root into Q (Bramble Smash) comes online and Sap Magic heals the trade, so any step-up Yorick makes to farm gets punished before Maiden exists. |
| Level 3 | Maokai | Adding E (Sapling Toss) gives me root-poke plus waveclear that denies his ghouls and Maiden, and Sap Magic out-sustains his early mist chip. |
| Levels 4-5 | Maokai | My root and Q cooldowns let me repeat the favourable trade while my E clears ghouls, so I grind down an immobile Yorick who can't punish my step-up. |
| Level 6 | Maokai | R (Nature's Grasp) only modestly helps the duel, but W-root into the bramble wall sets up a jungle dive that wins this window for me. |
| First item | Maokai | Around my Bami/sustain item I'm durable and lane-stable — I hold even-to-favoured and deny Maiden free farm while my Sap Magic eats his poke. |
| Two+ items | Yorick | Yorick out-scales hard: a 2-item Maiden-and-ghoul swarm with E cage zones me off the wave and out-splits me, so I group and teamfight instead of dueling him. |
Yorick is weakest exactly where I spike — Level 1 I only have one ability so I concede the very start, but the moment I have W into Q at Levels 2-3 I own this lane. I walk up, W-root him onto me, Q-knockback to extend the trade, and proc Sap Magic on the next auto to heal the chip right back, which beats his slow ghoul-poke before Maiden is up. Don't stand in his E mist-cage when he drops it — that slow is how he holds you for a ghoul swarm — and clear his early ghouls and graves with a Sapling Toss so they never stack on me.
The full Maokai vs Yorick 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? Yorick vs Maokai guide →
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