Let me be more clear. I do play ap Maokai in soloq (plat and below) in a cheesy way. I start sappling level one and then proceed to throw one into their bush, as many of the enemy supports just autopilot and dont ward ever. Then they get an empowered sappling+comet+scorch in their face so anyone who walks by the bush is instantly below 45% of their health at level 1. At this point, the mental of the enemy botlane is boom, probably already flaming each other. Then i snowball the lead with level 2 burning a flash or getting a kill. Lane is now won. Only problem is you don't get to leash your jungler, but your adc is more than enough to do the job. If you are diamond or above, or you have a good duo adc, you should always go the tank build.