How to win lane as Nasus against Maokai · 49.83% win rate (291 Emerald+ games, lolalytics, sampled July 2026) · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Dodge his W root — farm stacks and out-scale.
Track: Maokai's W — Twisted Advance (14–10s cooldown). His lock-on root. Dodge it.
Read from Nasus's seat: which stage windows this plan plays for against Maokai.
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Even / skill | You're both weak level 1 — he has no sapling pressure yet and you just soak Q farm, so neither of you owns it. |
| Level 2 | Maokai | His Level 2 saplings out-poke you and you have no Wither to punish his W-root step-up. |
| Level 3 | Maokai | Maokai's W-root into Q-knockback bullies your last-hitting and you can't trade back without stacks. |
| Levels 4-5 | Maokai | Sapling Toss shoves you off Spirit Fire farm and Sap Magic heals through your only ranged poke. |
| Level 6 | Even / skill | Fury of the Sands plus Wither lets you survive his root all-in and contest — it's a coin-flip on who commits. |
| First item | Even / skill | Your Sheen-empowered Q starts to bite his HP bar but his tank items and saplings still trade you even. |
| Two+ items | Nasus | Your stacks plus ult plus Wither shred his tank HP through Spirit Fire's armor reduction — he has no true damage to answer your scaling. |
Maokai owns the first few levels — Sapling Toss (E) chips you while you last-hit with Siphoning Strike, and Twisted Advance (W) into Bramble Smash (Q) punishes any greedy step-up before you have Wither. He is untargetable during the W dash, so Wither cannot land on it. Don't trade autos into him; soak Q farm and let Soul Eater lifesteal heal the sapling poke.
Pooled Emerald+ win rates from Nasus's side, sampled July 2026.
The full Nasus 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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Nobody on paper — a 49.83% win rate over 291 games makes this a coin flip decided by play, not champion select.
Yes — Nasus vs Maokai is a genuine skill matchup: 49.83% win rate, and the favour swings window to window rather than being set at champion select.
No hard counter either way — the Nasus vs Maokai win rate is 49.83%, an even lane decided by execution.
Nasus takes Fleet Footwork on the Precision tree with Triumph, Legend: Haste and Last Stand, and Resolve secondary (Second Wind and Unflinching) vs Maokai.
Start Doran's Shield + Health Potion and back for Sheen (≈900g) — every Q after this hits twice as hard. Build Trinity Force (Iceborn Gauntlet if you need the slow + armor) first, then Spirit Visage (MR + heal amp), with Mercury's Treads.
Playing the other side? Maokai vs Nasus guide →
All Nasus top lane matchups →
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