Maokai

Rooting enemies in place is Maokai’s entire language. This durable tank splits his time between top lane and support, and in both roles he offers the same package: sustain-driven laning, layered crowd control and one of the largest area-denial ultimates in the game.

Sap Magic keeps him healthy through long lanes, empowering a basic attack to heal him on a cooldown that shortens every time he casts a spell or is hit by one, so trading actually accelerates his sustain. Sapling Toss is his zoning and vision tool, flinging saplings that stand guard and become far more dangerous when placed in brush, which is why Maokai supports dominate river and dragon-pit control. Bramble Smash gives him a knockback plus slow for close-quarters trades and peel, while Twisted Advance turns him into untargetable roots that dash to a target and root them on arrival, his primary engage and gank-setup button.

The advancing wall

Nature’s Grasp summons a colossal wall of brambles that creeps forward, damaging and rooting everyone it touches. Cast into a choke or over a wall, it can trap an entire team or split a fight in half, and it works equally well as engage or disengage. Maokai’s tradeoffs are low damage without items and reliance on landing his root through minions. He rewards players who enjoy flexible, utility-first tanking, setting up kills for others and controlling objectives rather than carrying through raw numbers.