Maokai vs Neeko Counter Pick

Reach defines this support matchup before anything else happens: Maokai attacks from 125 units, Neeko from 550. Over 175 recorded games on patch 16.13.1 the treant still finishes ahead at 56.6%, because the range gap only matters while Neeko is allowed to keep it.

Twisted Advance removes it. Maokai turns untargetable during the dash and roots on arrival, so one cooldown erases 425 units of spacing and hands the trade to the champion with 665 starting health and 35 armor, Sap Magic returning health to him whenever an enemy spell connects. Neeko opens at 610 health and 21 armor, and the deficit persists late: 2,518 against 2,378 at level eighteen.

Both are magic-damage champions, which narrows itemization on either side to magic resistance, and the base values sit close at 32 and 30. Sapling Toss covers the brush Neeko wants to walk through, while Bramble Smash knocks her out of a Blooming Burst follow-up.

Her counterplay is deception. Inherent Glamour holds an ally’s silhouette until Maokai commits his dash at the wrong body, and Pop Blossom punishes a treant who entered a fight he assumed he controlled. The difficulty scale reads 3 for Maokai and 5 for Neeko, pointing the same way as the win rate: his kit asks for fewer correct decisions per fight.