Is Mao viable bot then? I'm stuck in G1/P5 limbo and might need some cheese to get out.
I've been terrorizing botlane with him by merely spamming saplings into bushes while laughing from an awfully safe distance, and on top of that you've got quite the good CC package in W>Q for an easy all-in on top of your passive sustain and CoK shields, and later your ult as well. In a low-level game a single sapling at level 1 did like 20% of Ashe's HP... it was pretty ridiculous, to be honest.
The sapling's duration is obviously a lot lower than Teemo's shrooms, but they're a lot more likely to outright kill you out of nowhere, and with little to no counterplay other than spending a dash ability or flash to gtfo before the saplings get you, since it isn't like you can diffuse them with sweepers, unlike shrooms.