Talk:Maokai/@comment-3145151-20110723153405/@comment-3486816-20110723213844

Full tank (focusing a BIT more on health than other tanks, and make sure to get CDR and Mana; both are necessary Frozen Heart/Randuin's Omen/Shurelia's Reverie/Spirit Visage are all good for CDR and most of them give health) or Tanky AP (RoA, Frozen Heart, Abyssal Scepter, Trinity Force/Lich Bane, Rylai's are all good), Tanky AP is a lot more expensive but can be very effective.

Full tank with RoA worked pretty well for me for a while, but I've switched to a completely full tank build and I'm currently having more fun with it; it kind of depends on how much damage your team has and how much it needs. Also; I'd recommend leveling R>Q>W>E (but generally start with sapling) regardless of where you start (and he's good anywhere, even in the jungle). In lane you can use Arcane Smash to last hit (and even to harass).

The hardest part of playing him (or any tank, for that matter) is knowing when and when not to initiate. Above all, make sure your team is with you when you do. I still make that mistake all the time, lol. The hardest part of playing him specifically is placing his ultimate. The easiest way to use it is to push a tower when part of the enemy team is there. Often times you'll die when doing this, but you'll get the tower, and that's what matters. It can really throw your enemies off, and it's actually surprisingly effective. The other times you want to use it is a couple seconds after your or the enemy's initiation, depending on where (or whether or not) the enemy team is moving. Try to protect your team as much as possible with it, that's more important than landing the damage on the enemy imo (but still try to activate it before the enemy runs out; there's rarely any reason not to).