Hello Jungle Maokai

Huge Maokai Changes on PBE Patch 12.17

Champions 30-08-2022 08:30

Worldbreaker Maokai — You wouldn't have expected these changes, eh? | © Riot Games

Maokai has been a pretty decent support champion in recent times. His saplings can chunk down the opposing ADC which means his duo in the bot lane will just have to one-shot them with ease. It isn't difficult to play him either, meaning anyone can pick him up.

But now, Riot is making some big changes on his kit to make him viable in other positions as well. For PBE Patch 12.17 they've decided to make Jungle Maokai a thing. Will these upcoming changes be able to bring this champion back into the jungle?

LoL PBE Patch 12.17 | New TFT Set, Maokai Jungle Buffs & More

PBE Patch 12.17 | Jungle Maokai Buffs

Jungle Maokai... it feels like it's been eons since we've seen this champion in the jungle position, but with these upcoming changes we might just see him once more as a starting jungler. Whether that is going to be during the 2022 League of Legends World Championship though remains to be seen.

Will Maokai end up on the most annoying champions list after Patch 12.17?

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Maokai Adjustments on PBE

So let's quickly go over all the changes Riot is making to Maokai's kit. Four of his five abilities (passive included) are getting adjusted or buffed. These are all the adjustments you can look forward to in the next LoL Patch:

Maokai Ability	Jungle Adjustments on PBE Patch 12.17
Sap Magic (P)	[NEW] Getting hit by large jungle monsters reduced cooldown: 1.5s per Auto
Bramble Smash (Q)	[ADDJUSTED] Base Damage: 70/110/150/190/230(+40%AP) --> 65/110/155/200/245(+40%AP) [NEW] % Mac Health Damage: 2/2.25/2.5/2.75/3% [NEW] Now deals 40/60/80/100/120 bonus damage to Monsters
Sappling Toss (E)	[REMOVED] % Max Health Damage [ADJUSTED] Base Damage Total: 20-120 --> 45-185 (+35%AP + 3%tHP) [ADJUSTED]Brush Damage Total: 40-240 --> 75-295 (+70%AP + 6%tHP) [NEW] Empowered damage does not affect minions (but does affect jungle monsters) [BUFF] Mana Cost: 60/70/*80/90/100 --> 45/55/65/75/85 [BUFF] SLow Amount: 35% --> 45% [NEW] EMpowered Brush Slow Amount: 55%
Nature's Grasp (R)	[BUFF] Missile Initial Speed: 50 --> 100 [BUFF] Missile Max Speed: 650 --> 750 [BUFF] Missile Acceleration: 250 --> 300 [NEW] Move Speed on Champion hit: 40-60% movement speed decaying over 2s

When Will The Maokai Changes Go Live?

These changes are going to go live in LoL Patch 12.17 which is set to drop on September 8, 2022. This is likely going to be one of the main patches ahead of the League of Legends World Championship, so expect many more pro-skewed changes to be added.

Will these adjustments make Maokai jungle viable or are they just going to make him an even better and stronger support champion in the future? I wouldn't be opposed to seeing some Keria Maokai at Worlds if I'm being honest....