Talk:Maokai/@comment-24.131.216.74-20121109162753/@comment-80.98.153.26-20121110191955

Both Philo and heart of gold give him nice stats, that won't get unnecessary too fast. So you can get them and yea - his ganks are great... root and pushback and slow... actually you can charge enemies from level 2 if your laner knows his job you will have kills/assists in no time for the gold/10 items. From then on you can build him tank or tanky ap... His lategame presence is a bit situational because his ult is very easy to avoid and his cooldowns are way too long - but it is great for jungle fights where there is not enough room. forcing a fight within it or disengage... both can help. out in the open he isnt a big deal but i guess a good early game can pay for this...