Maokai has rooted their ADC, but you are still clearing the minions between you. By the time you move up, Bramble Smash has shifted the target out of your firing line. The catch failed because neither player checked how you would follow it. Picking an ADC for Maokai support starts with that question.
The best ADCs for Maokai are Jhin for catches that begin with poke, Miss Fortune for a clear ultimate setup, Varus for ranged pressure with his own root, Kai’Sa for joining a committed dive, and Ezreal for keeping a safer firing position. These choices assume Maokai is the support and you are farming bot lane. They reward different parts of his kit; they do not all want him to charge at the first target in range.
Maokai’s ADC options are farming carries in normal PC Summoner’s Rift. Their different ranges and movement tools decide whether a rooted target is an opening to follow or a threat Maokai should keep away. Riot's 26.18 notes.
Choose the damage you can actually deliver
This is a mechanics-based shortlist, not a ranking by duo win rate. The selection favors usable follow-up, a lane plan before level six, and a way to contribute when Maokai has to defend instead of engage. Historical 26.17 Maokai support and bottom-lane samples were checked with Ranked Solo, all ranks, and all regions selected; the sample confirmed role use at that time, not the strength of these pairings.
| ADC | Pick for this follow-up | Reconsider when |
|---|---|---|
| Jhin | Turn sapling damage into a long-range root before committing | Your team needs you to keep attacking through a long frontline fight |
| Miss Fortune | Cover a rooted target’s retreat with Bullet Time | You cannot find a channel position away from enemy disruption |
| Varus | Poke first, then extend control or attack an exposed frontline | Maokai will leave you alone against divers |
| Kai’Sa | Join a chosen target once Plasma makes the approach possible | Both enemies can punish your short reach before either of you gets close |
| Ezreal | Follow from a clear shooting angle while preserving an escape | Your lane plan requires immediate, sustained close-range pressure |
If the team needs a different damage profile regardless of support, make that decision first. The broader ADC guide weighs that part of champion select.
A root is not an instruction to press every button
Twisted Advance makes Maokai untargetable during his dash and roots the enemy when he arrives. Bramble Smash briefly slows enemies in its shockwave and also knocks back nearby enemies. A rooted enemy can still attack and use many non-movement spells. Neither ability makes your ADC invulnerable while following. Riot’s current Maokai kit describes that distinction between W’s root and Q’s nearby knockback.
The direction of the knockback matters more than memorizing W followed by Q. Check where Maokai and the target are relative to your attack range. Pushing an enemy toward your ADC can help; sending that enemy out of a firing line can waste the catch. When your next shot is already lined up, Maokai can hold Q until it adds something, such as interrupting an approach or making room to retreat.
At rank one, W’s root lasts one second before reductions. That gives you little room to walk around minions and then start attacking. Check the wave before Maokai arrives so you can use the time he buys.
Prepare the approach without spending the whole mana bar
Saplings chase nearby enemies and explode on arrival. Brush placement gives them a larger explosion and increased damage; their brush lifetime scales with Maokai’s bonus health. Minions do not take the extra brush damage. This makes brush preparation useful for threatening a lane opponent, but it is not a shortcut to deleting the whole wave. Current normal values and their English tooltip bindings support those limits.
Help Maokai contest a brush only when you can stand close enough to punish someone entering it. If the opponent gives up that brush, use the room to last-hit from a better position; you need not spend W to get value. If you are catching a large wave under turret, a sapling far up the lane creates very little immediate threat. He should prepare the route that matters to your next few seconds: the nearby lane brush, or an approach you need to check before moving. One watched patch of ground does not clear the rest of the river.
Repeated E casts also leave less mana for W and Q. If the enemy keeps walking around the saplings, save enough mana to defend the next wave. Filling a brush is expensive when neither opponent needs to enter it.
Jhin turns a sapling hit into a decision
Jhin is the first choice here when you want Maokai to threaten a catch before stepping into melee range. Deadly Flourish can root a champion recently damaged by an ally, so a sapling explosion can provide the condition without Maokai spending W. Jhin’s shot passes through minions and monsters, but the first champion in its line intercepts it.
Picture the enemy ADC walking toward the brush to contest Maokai, taking sapling damage, then turning back toward the wave. Jhin aims W while Maokai approaches on foot. If the root lands and both allies can reach, Maokai can continue the catch. If a healthy enemy support intercepts the shot while their ADC can attack you freely, keep the trade short. Walking past that support to chase the original target gives their ADC even more time to hit you.
Jhin has four seconds after the damage to land W for a root. You have time to aim after the sapling explodes, but watch the mark rather than waiting indefinitely for Maokai. When Maokai starts with Twisted Advance instead, let Jhin shoot at the rooted position before Q moves it.
Check the gun before agreeing to continue. A fourth shot can finish a short trade; it is followed by a reload, not four more attacks. If you spend that shot on a minion while Maokai is moving forward, tell him you are reloading. A sapling hit and a root may still earn space, but they do not supply the damage you have just made unavailable.
Later, Jhin can follow Nature’s Grasp from farther away with W or Curtain Call. That is useful when crossing the river mouth would expose him. It also means Maokai may need to remain between Jhin’s channel position and an approaching enemy rather than follow every bramble hit. Pick a more sustained attacker when the draft’s main problem is a frontline nobody else can damage for long enough.
Miss Fortune needs a clear channel
Choose Miss Fortune when you want a straightforward way to punish an enemy team that enters through a narrow space. Bullet Time sends repeated damage into a cone. Maokai can make leaving that cone harder, but a root at the edge does not ensure the opponent takes the entire channel. The current channel lasts three seconds, longer than even Nature’s Grasp’s maximum base root. Miss Fortune’s normal spell data and Riot’s cone description.
Before six, play the minions as well as the champions. Double Up can bounce from a dying minion into an opponent behind it, with a guaranteed critical bounce if the first hit kills. That gives Miss Fortune a threat while Maokai occupies the nearby brush. His presence may make an enemy sidestep toward the bounce line, but it does not guarantee the bounce will select that champion. Watch the actual positioning before spending Q.
Make It Rain can slow a retreat long enough for Maokai to approach, provided he is already close. Opening with E while he is still far behind you mostly spends mana. Use a slow to close a manageable gap; do not expect it to make up for starting on opposite sides of the wave.
At six, set the cone across the enemy’s likely retreat, with Miss Fortune positioned outside the easiest interrupt. If Maokai catches someone already inside it, he does not need to shove that champion sideways out of the bullets. His Q may be more valuable on the other opponent who is approaching Miss Fortune. Rooting one enemy does not disable their support.
This pairing loses much of its appeal when the enemy can repeatedly reach or interrupt your channel and Maokai is the only person protecting you. In that draft, ask him to save his close-range control for defense. Keep attacking and using Q from a safe position instead of holding all your damage for a Bullet Time you cannot finish.
Varus gives Maokai a second way to start
Varus fits when walking Maokai into W range is the dangerous part of the lane. Piercing Arrow threatens from farther away, while Chain of Corruption lets Varus offer the first root at six. Maokai can then walk into a follow-up instead of paying for the approach with his health. Varus’s R stops on the first champion and spreads conditionally to nearby opponents; it does not root everyone immediately.
Decide whether Varus is poking or walking up to attack. His attacks apply Blight, and his own other abilities detonate it; Maokai’s damage does neither. If a tank steps forward, Varus may need time to attack and detonate those stacks. Landing one arrow from far away does not mean he has delivered that whole sequence.
For a short lane trade, begin with a safe attack when the enemy moves up to last-hit. If Maokai can threaten W without crossing a large hostile wave, that threat may let Varus continue attacking before using an ability to detonate Blight. If the opponent backs out of reach, accept the hit and keep farming. Do not chase into the wave merely to finish a maximum-stack sequence.
A charged arrow also has a cost: Varus slows himself while charging. When the enemy jungler appears on your flank, cancel the idea of a perfect long shot and prioritize moving. Maokai cannot stay beside you and chase the retreating ADC at the same time. In later fights, an attack-focused Varus wants him to control the nearest threat, while a poke-focused Varus wants safe angles before the fight starts. Pick the plan your build supports rather than treating both as the same promise.
Reject this duo if the rest of the draft requires Maokai to dive and leaves Varus to handle multiple approach angles alone. His own root gives him a response, not a reusable escape.
Kai’Sa should choose where she lands
Pick Kai’Sa when you want to join Maokai at the target. Nearby allied immobilization applies Plasma through her passive, and Killer Instinct lets her dash near an enemy champion carrying that mark. She can reach a catch that another ADC would have to walk toward. Riot used Twisted Advance to illustrate this pairing in its original Kai’Sa design article; her current passive and ultimate tooltips still support the interaction.
A sapling’s slow is not that immobilization. Nor should Kai’Sa assume a root on the other side of the map will mark a target for her: the passive specifies nearby allies, and R has its own range. Look for the Plasma mark and an available ultimate rather than launching a dive because Maokai pinged someone.
Before level six, the minion wave often decides whether this lane is playable. Icathian Rain divides missiles among nearby enemies. If Kai’Sa follows Maokai straight into a large enemy wave, she spreads damage across targets and takes more return fire. Thin what you safely can, then seek a catch beside the remaining minions rather than in their center. A rooted champion surrounded by healthy minions is still not an isolated Q target.
Once R is available, choose a landing point that keeps you on a usable side of the target. The shortest-looking route behind them can put you nearer the enemy support and farther from your team. Sometimes the correct landing is on the near side, where you can keep attacking alongside Maokai. The shield helps absorb damage; it does not remove hostile crowd control or arrange a return journey.
The lane to avoid is one where both enemies can repeatedly hit Kai’Sa while denying Maokai an approach. His personal sustain does not refill her health bar. If neither player can touch the wave without losing a trade, farm what is reachable and wait for help or a mistake. Reaching six lets Kai’Sa join a marked target; it does not fix the health deficit she may bring with her.
Ezreal keeps a different angle
Ezreal is the compromise when you like Maokai’s ability to catch but cannot afford to stand beside him for every attempt. Mystic Shot lets you contribute from a longer firing line, and Arcane Shift gives you a repositioning tool. The important catch is collision: Q hits the first enemy. A root does not remove the minions between Ezreal and his target.
Move sideways before Maokai commits when that opens a clear Q angle without exposing you. If the shot is still blocked, use an attack when it is safe or wait for the obstruction to die. Spending E forward merely to clear the angle can leave both allies committed after Maokai has used his own way in.
Essence Flux adds another timing detail. The orb can stick to an enemy champion through ordinary minions, but Ezreal must hit that target himself to detonate it. Maokai cannot trigger it for him. If W lands behind a wave, Ezreal still needs an attack or ability that can reach the champion. The current W tooltip names Ezreal as the champion who must trigger it.
Against pressure, let Maokai stand near enough to punish an enemy who walks into you. Ezreal can give ground, keep E available, and shoot the target Maokai stops instead of forcing a long chase. When a catch does produce a safe attack window, use it: remaining at maximum Q distance throughout every fight wastes the space Maokai has made.
Choose someone else if your duo wants to stay close and attack throughout an immediate all-in. Ezreal can follow a catch, but both players must first allow him a clear shooting angle. If you are comparing Maokai with a partner who helps Ezreal poke or disengage differently, the Ezreal support guide covers those alternatives.
Fire the wall at the route you want to change
Nature’s Grasp travels as separate brambles; each catches the first enemy champion it hits. A frontliner can intercept a bramble intended for someone behind them. That first-champion behavior is described in the preserved Riot 7.9 release notes, but the release-era speed and duration are not the current values.
The brambles accelerate as they travel, and their base root lasts 0.75 to 2.25 seconds depending on the distance covered. Hitting a champion also gives Maokai a decaying movement-speed boost. Expect travel time before a catch, then be ready for Maokai to approach faster after a hit. Riot’s acceleration update and the current client record document those effects.
For a dragon approach, look at where the opposing team must walk to contest you. A wall across that entrance can make them retreat, split, or put a tank in front. Your ADC should respond to the actual result. Miss Fortune may get a cone across the entrance; Varus may get an arrow; Kai’Sa may have no acceptable dive at all. If opponents leave the area, use the opening to establish position with your team rather than chasing until they find a better fight.
The same judgment matters after an unsuccessful lane engage. If Maokai has used W and the target escaped, back toward your wave instead of matching the escape with your own mobility automatically. Keep him close enough that Q can push a pursuer away from you. As the ADC, attack what you can reach while retreating; do not walk back past Maokai to rescue the original plan.
Sometimes the most useful next root belongs on the champion walking toward your carry. Maokai does not need to reach the enemy backline for your duo to have a fight worth taking.