Jhin ADC vs Maokai Support Matchup

Why Maokai is favored

Maokai's point-and-click untargetable root (Twisted Advance) completely bypasses Jhin's movement speed kiting, making all-in engages virtually unavoidable for the immobile marksman. In addition, Nature's Grasp (R) blankets bot lane corridors to easily interrupt Jhin's Curtain Call (R) channel and lock him down.

How to play as Jhin

Consider taking Cleanse or respecting Maokai's Flash + Twisted Advance (W) range; breaking the point-and-click root prevents him from walking behind you to knock you into his ADC with Bramble Smash (Q).

Hold minion waves closer to your tower; if Maokai casts Twisted Advance (W) near your turret perimeter, Flash backward under the tower to drag him deep into tower range when his untargetability ends.

Nature's Grasp (R) summons a wide advancing wall of roots that covers entire lane chokepoints and interrupts Jhin's stationary Curtain Call (R) channel upon collision with an escalating root duration.

How to play as Maokai

Initiate with Twisted Advance (W) when Jhin begins his Whisper reload animation or commits his attack windup on a minion, ensuring he cannot trade back with high-damage auto-attacks.

Cast Nature's Grasp (R) immediately down the center of Jhin's Curtain Call (R) firing cone to force him to cancel his channel early or absorb a multi-second root.

Maokai is untargetable during Twisted Advance's (W) dash, allowing him to bypass skillshots like Jhin's Deadly Flourish (W) and guarantee a point-and-click root upon arrival.

Saplings tossed into brush gain bonus duration, speed, and area-of-effect damage while revealing targets, denying Jhin safe access to bushes for setting Captive Audience (E) traps.

Sources

These notes come from r/summonerschool, checked against the champions' abilities.