How to win lane as Teemo against Maokai · 51.41% win rate (319 Emerald+ games, lolalytics, sampled July 2026) · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Build MR — shroom %HP-poke, dodge his root.
Track: Maokai's W — Twisted Advance (14–10s cooldown). His lock-on root. Dodge it.
Read from Teemo's seat: which stage windows this plan plays for against Maokai.
This is Teemo's own plan; across 319 pooled games the lane is leaning Teemo.
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Maokai | Sapling Toss reaches 1100 and is stronger in brush, so he touches you from outside every range you own and denies the bushes you want — take a neutral first wave rather than contesting it. |
| Level 2 | Teemo | Blinding Dart denies the Sap Magic heal, because that heal rides on his basic attack — but remember your spells landing on HIM speed the passive back up, so poke with attacks, not darts. |
| Level 3 | Teemo | Full kit online: Q blind into E poison into W retreat is impossible for Maokai to answer without burning Twisted Advance, and if he does he hands you a free all-in window when it comes back up. |
| Levels 4-5 | Teemo | Q is rank 3 at best here on a flat 7s cooldown — there is no 12-second blind window anywhere in this. What you actually own is range: he has to enter 525 to root you, and that is a long walk through poison. |
| Level 6 | Teemo | Noxious Trap at river entrance and tribush means any Twisted Advance approach lights him up with slow and poison, stripping the surprise from his only gap-close — Maokai's kill threat drops to near zero. |
| First item | Teemo | Liandry's Torment turns every mushroom tick into percent-health burn that overwhelms his passive healing, and your poison DoT now genuinely threatens a 40% HP Maokai even through Bramble Vest. |
| Two+ items | Even / skill | Maokai's full tank build absorbs your single-target damage faster than mushrooms can chunk him; neither side holds a decisive duel advantage, and the outcome is settled by side-wave control and vision, not trades. |
At level 1 Maokai wins the sustain race and out-ranges you doing it — Sapling Toss throws 1100 against your 680, and it is explicitly stronger in brush, so the bushes are his ground and not yours. Hold back, last-hit at range, and wait for level 2 rather than contesting anything. From there Blinding Dart earns its cooldown, because the Sap Magic heal rides on his basic attack and blind is what erases basic attacks. One caveat the old advice had exactly backwards: Sap Magic comes off cooldown FASTER when he is struck by an enemy spell, which means your darts and your mushrooms landing on him partly pay for his own sustain. Poke with attacks and poison, and spend Q on his step-up.
Pooled Emerald+ win rates from Teemo's side, sampled July 2026.
The full Teemo 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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Teemo, slightly — a 51.41% win rate edge over 319 games; execution can flip it.
Mostly — Teemo has a small statistical edge (51.41% win rate), but execution decides this lane far more than the pick does.
Not a hard counter — Teemo has a slight edge (51.41% win rate), and play quality decides the rest.
Teemo takes Press the Attack on the Precision tree with Triumph, Legend: Alacrity and Cut Down, and Inspiration secondary (Biscuit Delivery and Cosmic Insight) vs Maokai.
Start Doran's Ring + 2 Health Potions and back for Oblivion Orb (≈800g) — cuts his healing. Build Nashor's Tooth (on-hit poison) first, then Liandry's Torment, with Mercury's Treads.
Playing the other side? Maokai vs Teemo guide →
All Teemo top lane matchups →
More Teemo top lane matchups: vs Locke · vs Lucian · vs Malphite · vs Master Yi · vs Mel · vs Mordekaiser