How to win lane as Trundle against Maokai · 50.43% win rate (117 Emerald+ games, lolalytics, sampled July 2026) · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Dodge his W root — bite him and out-duel in your W.
Track: Maokai's W — Twisted Advance (14–10s cooldown). His lock-on root. Dodge it.
Read from Trundle's seat: which stage windows this plan plays for against Maokai.
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Even / skill | Chomp's flat damage and AD sap trade with Sap Magic's empowered heal, and neither kit has a decisive level-1 tool — bite once per cycle and learn his Twisted Advance timer. |
| Level 2 | Maokai | Twisted Advance is a targeted 14s dash, untargetable in flight, that roots you — then Bramble Smash knocks you clean out of Frozen Domain and its healing. |
| Level 3 | Maokai | Full kit online for Maokai — a 14s targeted root into a 7s knockback is a genuine kill threat if your Frozen Domain is placed poorly, and Sap Magic erases the chip you paid for. |
| Levels 4-5 | Maokai | Saplings and Sap Magic erase your Chomp chip between trades — and every spell you land on him shortens that passive's cooldown, so chipping him actively funds his sustain. |
| Level 6 | Maokai | Nature's Grasp is 130/110/90 against your 120/100/80, so Subjugate is back first at every rank — but his tank items are stacking and the root anchors any window he takes. |
| First item | Maokai | Heartsteel makes Maokai a wall: durability plus a healing passive that speeds up every time you touch him, so a full-HP Maokai with Twisted Advance up still wins. |
| Two+ items | Trundle | Two items of Maokai's stacked armor and MR are Subjugate fuel — open every team-fight with R so the doubled theft covers the whole exchange, and keep Grievous Wounds on Sap Magic's heal. |
Level 1 is a coin flip — Chomp saps his AD every 3.5s and King's Tribute heals you off dying minions, and neither of you has a decisive tool yet. Don't overcommit: Sap Magic heals him on an empowered attack whose cooldown falls each time he casts a spell or is struck by one of yours, so patient chip is paying for his sustain. At level 2 Twisted Advance changes the equation. It is a targeted 525-range dash, untargetable in flight, and it cannot be sidestepped — then he roots you and Bramble Smash knocks you out of your own Frozen Domain. Its 14s at rank 1 is the counterplay, not your footwork. By level 3 he has his full kit and his first kill window.
Pooled Emerald+ win rates from Trundle's side, sampled July 2026.
The full Trundle 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 50.43% win rate over 117 games makes this a coin flip decided by play, not champion select.
Yes — Trundle vs Maokai is a genuine skill matchup: 50.43% win rate, and the favour swings window to window rather than being set at champion select.
No hard counter either way — the Trundle vs Maokai win rate is 50.43%, an even lane decided by execution.
Trundle takes Conqueror on the Precision tree with Triumph, Legend: Alacrity and Last Stand, and Resolve secondary (Bone Plating and Unflinching) vs Maokai.
Start Doran's Blade + Health Potion and back for Executioner's Calling (≈800g) — cuts his healing. Build Trinity Force (the duel spike) first, then Sterak's Gage / Spirit Visage, with Mercury's Treads.
Playing the other side? Maokai vs Trundle guide →
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