Pros Beefy tank that cannot be CC'd when Ragnarok is active Anti-enemy frontline; can charge into backline with Ragnarok Lots of movement speed Good sustain and damage Good pushing & objective killing power Strong early/mid game Cons Lack of a gap closer and escape Easily kited Lack of hard CC (stun, taunt, knockup, etc) Weak late game

FLASH: Best summoner spell to take when laning since it helps you escape ganks, engage, and run away.

GHOST: Alternative to Flash. Good for engaging and good to take against junglers that can't gank early on.

TELEPORT: Standard Top Lane summoner spell. Usually, you should be using this selfishly to get to lane faster in the Early Game. However, if you see an opportunity on the other side of the map to Teleport and gank, you should decide whether or not you can turn & win the fight if you teleport.

IGNITE: Alternative to Teleport. Should be taken when the lane is easy and you want to play aggressively to win the lane even harder.

With the recent nerfs to Teleport in the Preseason, it feels much better to run aggressive/defensive summoner spells like Ignite and Ghost instead of Teleport.

Passive

Berserker Rage

Olaf gains 0%-100% bonus attack speed based on his missing health.

Q Ability

Undertow

Min Range: Max Range: Cost: Cooldown:

400 1000 60 Mana 7 seconds

Olaf throws an axe to the targeted location, slowing by 29/33/37/41% for 1.5 - 2.5 seconds based on distance and dealing physical damage equal to 80/125/170/215/260 + 100% of his bonus AD to all enemies it passes through.

The axe stays at the target location until Undertow goes off cooldown. The cooldown can be reduced by 4.5 seconds if Olaf picks the axe up.

• Upon landing, Undertow will briefly give vision.
• This is how you'll be winning lane and killing enemies. Use this whenever you can to poke the enemy and go in for the kill when possible.

W Ability

Vicious Strikes

Cost: Cooldown:

30 Mana 16 seconds

Olaf gains 55/65/75/85/95% bonus attack speed, 14/16/18/20/22% life steal, and 0%-50% more healing from all sources based on his missing health.

• Enhanced healing stacks multiplicatively with Spirit Visage (healing won't be increased by 30% + 0%-50%)
• You'll max this last because the only thing you really want from this is the enhanced healing and lifesteal.

E Ability

Reckless Swing

Range: Cost: - Cooldown:

325 21/34.5/48/64.5/75 (+15% total AD) Health 11/10/9/8/7 seconds

Olaf swings his axe to deal 70/115/160/205/250 + 50% of his total AD to the target enemy as TRUE DAMAGE.

• If Reckless Swing kills its target, Olaf is refunded the health cost.
• Auto attacks reduce the cooldown by 1 second.
• If your laner is melee, this is a good tool to trade with whenever they go in melee range to CS. Does a lot of damage early game with little cost.

Ultimate

Ragnarok

Cooldown:

100/90/80 seconds

Passive: Olaf gains 20/30/40 Magic Resist and Armor while Ragnarok is not active.

Active: Olaf removes all Crowd Control effects on him and loses the passive portion of Ragnarok. For the next 6 seconds, Olaf is unstoppable, immune to Crowd Control effects, and gains 15/20/25 (+30% total AD) extra AD. For the first second, Olaf gains 20/45/70% bonus movement speed while moving towards nearby enemy champions.

• Does not remove Stasis ( Zhonya's Hourglass/ Tempered Fate) or stat debuffs (such as Tryndamere's Mocking Shout's AD debuff.)
• Cannot be used to exit Camille's Hextech Ultimatum unless you Flash with Ragnarok active.

• If you feel like you need more dueling power, put an extra point or two into Tough It Out at levels 5 or 8.

PRIMARY: Sorcery // Arcane Comet and Scorch will help you poke the enemy laner with Undertow, giving you a lot of damage. Despite the removal of the AD conversion on Celerity, it's still one of the best runes to take on Olaf because you can't take full advantage of Absolute Focus. SECONDARY: Domination // Cheap Shot is VERY much recommended, since landing Undertow and landing another attack will allow for quick damage. Take Relentless Hunter if you need more movement speed or Eyeball Collection for some extra AD. SECONDARY: Resolve // If your lane opponent is a lane bully with lots of poke, take Bone Plating or Second Wind to help you survive. Taking Revitalize will increase the heal from Tough It Out, making it a very good option to take if you plan on dueling a lot. Overgrowth is a good option if you want to be tankier.

PRIMARY: Domination // Predator helps you engage fights and roam. Taste of Blood will help you sustain in lane when you land Undertow. SECONDARY: Sorcery // Nimbus Cloak and Celerity will help you engage fights faster. You can choose to take Scorch over Nimbus Cloak to help you win lane with Undertow poke and Absolute Focus over Celerity if you plan on going completely AD. SECONDARY: Resolve // If your lane opponent is a lane bully with lots of poke, take Bone Plating or Second Wind to help you survive. Taking Revitalize will increase the heal from Tough It Out, making it a very good option to take if you plan on dueling a lot. Overgrowth is a good option if you want to be tankier.

PRIMARY: Precision // Conqueror is a good rune to take for the late game, since it can stay up for an entire teamfight if you're constantly hitting someone. You can take Legend: Alacrity instead of Legend: Bloodline if you plan on buying a lot of Lifesteal items. SECONDARY: Sorcery // Nimbus Cloak and Celerity will let you engage faster. You can choose to take Scorch over Nimbus Cloak to help you poke with Undertow in lane. SECONDARY: Resolve // If your lane opponent is a lane bully with lots of poke, take Bone Plating or Second Wind to help you survive. Taking Revitalize will increase the heal from Tough It Out, making it a very good option to take if you plan on dueling a lot. Overgrowth is a good option if you want to be tankier.

Starting Items

A standard starting item taken in most situations. Very good for healing back up after receiving poke or fighting. After changes to Doran's Shield in Preseason, I have been preferring a Corrupting Potion start for a more reliable heal, unless I am in a heavy poke lane or against a ranged champion.

Good starting item because it restores mana and will let Undertow deal extra damage for its duration. Good against melee laners.

Core Items

Gives a good amount of AD, health, and cooldown reduction. This will help you chase or escape from enemies with its Rage passive, which gives you extra movement speed after dealing physical damage. The armor reduction passive is good against enemies stacking armor, as well.

Run your enemies down with this item! After activation, you'll gain movement speed when moving towards an enemy and upon arrival, you'll release an AoE slow around you. Turbo Chemtank gives good defensive stats as well, giving you a total of 30% CDR when built with Black Cleaver.

Tanks only become tankier! This item will give you 50% of your base AD as extra AD. Upon taking a certain amount of damage within 5 seconds, you'll gain a shield for 75% of your bonus HP, tenacity, and grow larger. This lets Olaf run in with Ragnarok and Turbo Chemtank without being too afraid.

Alternative Core Items

Gives a little bit of every stat. This item should be bought against low-threat laners or when you're already winning lane hard. This item also gives extra movement speed with its Rage passive.

Run your enemies down with this item! After activation, you'll gain movement speed when moving towards an enemy and upon arrival, you'll release an AoE slow around you. Turbo Chemtank gives good defensive stats as well, giving you a total of 30% CDR when built with Trinity Force.

Reach 40% CDR and heal more when using Tough It Out with Spirit Visage! Very good item against teams with magic damage.

Situational Items

If you find yourself splitpushing and you need more dueling power, buy this for its high damage and lifesteal.

If you're splitpushing most of the time or your team doesn't have enough waveclear, buy this to help you push waves. Also a good source of lifesteal and damage for when you're dueling.

Good buy against AP users and champions that spam the same spell or effect over and over, like Ziggs, Kayle, Taliyah, Azir, etc.

Gives a good amount of MR and Armor. Be a team player and buy this item to shield your entire team in teamfights. Don't buy this if your support or jungler already has this.

Go on support duty and bind yourself to your jungler, mid laner, or bot lane carry and let them carry you. If you fall behind and all you can do is tank and peel for your carries, buy this. If your support has already bought this, you can buy it but make sure to bind to a different person.

Go on support duty and bind yourself to your bot lane carry and let them carry you. In teamfights, charge in with your ultimate and give your carry burning autoattacks! Do not buy if your support has already bought this.

Frontline even harder with Guardian Angel and make them kill you twice! Gives you a good amount of AD and armor while also letting you revive after taking fatal damage. After using the passive once, I recommend you selling this for another defensive item, preferably either Spirit Visage, Adaptive Helm, or Locket of the Iron Solari.

Buy against Crit users and auto attackers to make their jobs harder. Also has a nice slow on its active for when you charge in with Ragnarok, but be careful about using it right away if you go in with Turbo Chemtank since slows don't stack.

Early GameAs soon as you enter the lane with the enemy laner, make sure to throw an axe to harass them and get your Arcane Comet proc. That's basically how this laning phase will go; whenever your axe is off cooldown, you should be looking to poke them down. Start to auto minions right away so you can reach level 2 faster, but be sure to keep the wave in the middle of the lane so you can make use of your level 2 threat. Against melee: Whenever your laner goes in to kill a minion, you can choose to use Undertow or Reckless Swing to poke them. If they're far from the minion and walking towards it, Undertow is the best choice. If they decide to all in you, you can easily turn the fight and win it with Tough It Out, Berserker Rage, and Reckless Swing. Pushing under turret is okay so you can constantly harass them with Undertow, but be wary of ganks. Against ranged: Keep the lane pushed or towards the middle so they cannot harass you under your turret. Harass them whenever possible with Undertow. Be careful about going all in against ranged opponents, since you can be easily kited or CC'd before level 6. Only choose to all in if you land an Undertow and you can kill them 100%.

After level 6, you should be looking to roam and have small fights with Ragnarok and Ghost or help your jungler in the enemy jungle. If you choose to roam, make sure to clear the wave and push to the enemy tower so you don't miss out on minions.

Mid & Late GameAt this point, you have two options. You can group up with your team, take objectives, and start to siege, or splitpush and pressure the enemy to send people to stop you. Grouping: Pressure the enemy with your presence and help take objectives. Prioritize Elder Dragons, Infernal Dragons, and Mountain Dragons over Clouds and Oceans. If Dragon is up but it's not a priority Dragon, take towers with your team on the opposite side of the map. If a teamfight starts, it's your job to frontline for your team. If your carries are positioned well and aren't threatened by the enemies, you can hard engage with Ragnarok and Turbo Chemtank and make the enemy carries panic, creating space for your team to pick the enemy's frontline. If you take down two or three on the enemy team, all eyes should be on Baron Nashor . If the enemy jungler or anyone that can steal Baron is still alive, it's your job to zone them or kill them so they can't. Splitpush: If Baron Nashor or the Rift Herald is up, have your Bot Lane go Top or Mid while you pressure and push Bot. The enemy will have to decide to contest the objective or stop your splitpush. In most cases, it's a win-win situation. If they decide to contest, you can either keep pushing and get one or two turrets or if you can get there fast enough, run to Baron to turn the fight into a 5v5. If they decide to stop your push, your team secures the objective for free and can potentially get a few kills, too.

When Late Game starts, you want to be grouping up with your team as much as you can, since you won't be able to duel as well anymore. Your objectives are the same as Mid Game: siege towers, take objectives, teamfight and win the game.

Thanks for reading my guide on Olaf in the Top Lane! I hope you enjoy him; it's fun to watch as he runs down the entire enemy team, but even more fun to actually play!

If you're interested in sharing your Olaf outplays, moments, or just discussing Olaf things with other Olaf players, check out the Olaf Mains subreddit!

I'll be updating this guide regularly for every new patch, hotfix, or if I feel the need to add anything new.

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Get Excited! - A guide to Jinx ADC

Reave the Cosmos - A guide to Kassadin Mid & Top

Hunt Them Down - A guide to Vayne top lane

Guide Updates

February 9, 2019:

• Updated to 9.3

January 24, 2019:

• Updated to 9.2

January 9, 2019:

• Updated to 9.1