Lulu vs Maokai Counter Pick

Maokai’s level 18 profile explains the result before any ability is read: 2,518 health and 123.4 armor against Lulu‘s 2,129 and 104.2. Across 876 games on patch 16.13.1 the outcome is 45.4% for Lulu, rated hard.

The specific pressure points:

• Twisted Advance makes him untargetable through the dash, so reactive Glitterlance or Pix damage is simply thrown away, and he arrives with a root already applied.
• Sap Magic heals him whenever he casts a spell or is struck by one, turning enchanter poke into his sustain rather than a resource drain.
• He deals magic damage from 125 units, so armor gained through support items contributes nothing to surviving his engage.
• Sapling Toss is more effective in brush, which restricts the ward paths and side routes a 565-health champion depends on.

Counterplay hinges on spending Whimsy after Twisted Advance resolves rather than before, since the untargetable window makes an early cast impossible to land. Beyond that, Lulu’s 47 base attack damage means she cannot contest him for a wave, and his 335 movement speed edges her 330 in every rotation. A difficulty rating of 3 against her 5 makes the skill investment lopsided as well, and his 64 base attack damage is the higher figure by a wide margin, which shows whenever he chooses to auto-attack instead of cast. The Maokai champion page has his full ability text.