Guide · Top

Olaf Guide

the Berserker

Fighter

Tank

Tier B Top

Olaf, the Berserker, is a fighter and tank champion that is easy to pick up. Across our 760 analysed ranked games, Olaf is mostly played in Top (89% of its games), and more rarely in the Jungle (11%), with a 50.8% win rate in that role: tier B among Top champions (#19 of 51, ranked by win rate). Olaf's damage is mostly physical (70%): armor is the best defensive answer against this champion. 30% of that damage is true damage and therefore ignores resistances. Win rate varies with game length: 57.1% in long games (over 35 min, 70 games) versus 46.1% in medium-length games (25 to 35 min).

Averages measured over 673 Top games played with Olaf, from our ranked Solo/Duo data collection.

Combos and how to play

Olaf is a fighter who gets more dangerous as he loses health: his passive gives him attack speed and life steal based on his missing health. Undertow throws his axe to damage and reduce armor and movement speed, Reckless Swing deals true damage (including to himself), and Ragnarok makes him immune to crowd control as long as he keeps attacking.

The trade

Q › AA AA › E › W

When: An enemy is within axe range.

Undertow damages and reduces armor and speed, pick up the axe to reduce its cooldown, Reckless Swing deals true damage and Tough It Out gives attack speed and a shield.

The team engage

R › Q › W › AA AA

When: A fight begins.

Ragnarok makes you immune to crowd control as long as you attack; follow with Undertow and Tough It Out.

The exit from a fight

W › R

When: A control threatens you.

Ragnarok cancels crowd control if you keep attacking, and Tough It Out gives you a shield.

Laning phase

Pick up your axe after Undertow: it reduces its cooldown. Reckless Swing costs you health but refunds it if it kills its target.

Common mistakes

• Not picking up the axe after Undertow.
• Casting Reckless Swing at low health with no guarantee of a kill.
• Stopping your attacks during Ragnarok: the immunity depends on your attacks.

Riot's official tips for playing Olaf

• Olaf can combine Berserker Rage, Vicious Strikes, and Ragnarok at low life to become deceptively strong.
• The bonus healing granted by Vicious Strikes amplifies your Life Steal from all sources as well as heals from allies.

Build, runes and summoner spells

The most-played core build is Experimental Hexplate, Death's Dance, and Stridebreaker (142 games, 54.2% win rate).

Experimental Hexplate+Death's Dance+Stridebreaker

142 games · 54.2%

Experimental Hexplate+Ravenous Hydra+Death's Dance

42 games · 50.0%

Experimental Hexplate+Maw of Malmortius+Stridebreaker

42 games · 61.9%

Summoner spells

Flash + Ghost48.8% · 338 games

Exhaust + Flash49.4% · 170 games

Flash + Ignite58.0% · 143 games

Most-played runes

Conqueror + Inspiration

49.1% · 485 games

Primary tree · Precision

Triumph95%

Legend: Alacrity99%

Last Stand99%

Secondary tree · Inspiration

Approach Velocity98%

Biscuit Delivery83%

Shards

Attack speed62%

Adaptive force100%

Health61%

Stormraider's Surge + Inspiration

57.7% · 97 games

Primary tree · Sorcery

Nimbus Cloak97%

Celerity96%

Scorch93%

Secondary tree · Inspiration

Approach Velocity98%

Biscuit Delivery90%

Shards

Adaptive force73%

Adaptive force98%

Health97%

Conqueror + Resolve

53.1% · 64 games

Primary tree · Precision

Triumph97%

Legend: Alacrity95%

Last Stand98%

Secondary tree · Resolve

Bone Plating81%

Revitalize61%

Shards

Attack speed59%

Adaptive force98%

Health55%

For each row, the most picked rune among the games played with this page (share of games in brackets).

Which items to build against the enemy team?

We sort every game by the enemy team's damage. These are Olaf's completed items and their win rate in each situation; "▲" marks an item that does at least 3 points better than its usual win rate.

Mostly magic-damage enemy team55.2% · 174 games

At least 50% of their damage is magic

Stridebreaker 50.0%

Experimental Hexplate 57.0% ▲

Death's Dance 48.8%

Ravenous Hydra 68.9% ▲

Maw of Malmortius 58.5% ▲

Fiendhunter Bolts 80.0%

The item that stands out most is Ravenous Hydra: 68.9% win rate, +15 points versus its usual win rate.

Mostly physical-damage enemy team47.6% · 168 games

Less than 35% of their damage is magic

Stridebreaker 54.7% ▲

Death's Dance 47.4% ▼

Experimental Hexplate 48.3% ▼

Ravenous Hydra 38.6% ▼

Fiendhunter Bolts 33.3%

Sterak's Gage 54.5%

The item that stands out most is Stridebreaker: 54.7% win rate, +4 points versus its usual win rate.

Balanced enemy team50.1% · 331 games

Mixed physical and magic damage

Stridebreaker 48.6%

Experimental Hexplate 52.3%

Death's Dance 55.1% ▲

Ravenous Hydra 54.8%

Maw of Malmortius 57.9%

Fiendhunter Bolts 73.5% ▲

The item that stands out most is Fiendhunter Bolts: 73.5% win rate, +6 points versus its usual win rate.

Counters and matchups

Who counters Olaf in Top

Yone Olaf: 33.3%15 games

Yone has the edge in 67% of the 15 Top duels against Olaf. See the Yone guide.

Jayce Olaf: 39.3%28 games

Jayce has the edge in 61% of the 28 Top duels against Olaf. See the Jayce guide.

Camille Olaf: 40.0%20 games

Camille has the edge in 60% of the 20 Top duels against Olaf. See the Camille guide.

Jax Olaf: 48.1%27 games

Jax has the edge in 52% of the 27 Top duels against Olaf. See the Jax guide.

Nasus Olaf: 53.3%15 games

Nasus has the edge in 47% of the 15 Top duels against Olaf. See the Nasus guide.

Who Olaf is strong against

Nasus53.3% · 15 games

Jax48.1% · 27 games

Camille40.0% · 20 games

Jayce39.3% · 28 games

Yone33.3% · 15 games

How to play against Olaf

• Olaf becomes more dangerous the lower life he is. Save your disables to finish him off.
• Preventing Olaf from reaching his axe will minimize the amount of harassment he can cause in the laning phase.
• Olaf has reduced defenses from damage during Ragnarok, despite being immune to disables. If you can't escape from Olaf during Ragnarok, try focusing your damage on him with your teammates.

Win rates measured over direct same-role duels; only matchups with more than 15 games are listed. See all of Olaf's matchups.

Abilities

PassiveBerserker Rage

Olaf gains Attack Speed and Life Steal based on his missing Health.

QUndertow

Olaf throws an axe into the ground at a target location, dealing damage to enemies it passes through and reducing their Armor and Move Speed. If Olaf picks up the axe, the ability's cooldown is reset.

WTough It Out

Olaf's Attack Speed is increased and he gains a Shield.

EReckless Swing

Olaf attacks with such force that it deals true damage to his target and himself, refunding the Health cost if he destroys the target.

RRagnarok

Olaf passively gains increased armor and magic resist. He can activate this ability to become immune to disables for as long as he keeps attacking.

Frequently asked questions

Full Olaf page · League of Legends tier list · All champion guides