Mordekaiser vs Maokai Counter Pick

The 59.1% figure attached to this matchup rests on 159 games from patch 16.13.1, a modest count that makes it a lean rather than a settled verdict. What supports the lean is structural: Mordekaiser attacks from 175 units against 125, both champions deal magic damage, and the 123.4 armor Maokai reaches by level 18 sits almost entirely idle.

• Bramble Smash knocks back and slows, and its real value is denying Mordekaiser the three connections Darkness Rise needs to switch on.
• Twisted Advance is untargetable on the way in and roots on arrival, but it ends with Maokai inside 175-unit range, where Obliterate deals its increased single-target damage.
• Death’s Grasp pulls him straight back into that zone the moment he tries to walk out of it.
• Realm of Death steals a portion of the target’s stats, and a champion built on 665 base health growing to 2,518 hands over a valuable slice.

Sap Magic keeps Maokai standing through long trades, and Nature’s Grasp is the one ability that punishes a careless approach, since a rooted opponent cannot use the move speed Darkness Rise grants. Beyond that he is a Tank and Support whose damage is magic and whose crowd control travels slowly, an awkward combination against Mordekaiser, who spends no mana at all and rebuilds his health bar through Indestructible.