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If you don't ban this champion, you will not be in for a fun time. I wont elaborate any further, but should you end up against him, play safe, farm it out and call for ganks. Do not try fight him one on one, you will lose.
Nasus
This lane is incredibly easy. Pre 6 this lane is yours. Level 1 you should be able to take first blood or at least his flash. Wave management is important here cause if you mindlessly push under tower, he will stack and you will not get those free early kills. Post 6 if he's pushed up just ult, ghost and spam q and you will kill.
Aatrox
This is generally quite situational. Olaf has the advantage in my opinion, but a good Aatrox player can easily take the lane. He'll use his Q to CS, the second you see him use that third q, you Q and E spam him out of lane and then rinse and repeat.
Cho'Gath
Once you learn this matchup it's relatively easy. Wait for him to overextend, dodge his knockup and then move in for the Q and E spam. Your grasp procs are important in this matchup to level out Chogaths inherent tankiness. If he extends to your tower when you have full health, if you ghost ult, there is no escape for him.
Dr. Mundo
There is no reason you should ever die to Mundo. Stand behind CS, if he moves up to auto a minion you E and Q him. Your true damage really helps in this matchup. Post 6, your ult counters his Q and your Q counters his ult move speed. The lane is free.
Riven
Unless you're up against Box Box, this lane is also incredibly free. Level 1 if he tries to harass with you Q, turn it and spam Q him, you'll force a back or take first blood, he cant out trade you. Level 3 is a big power spike in this matchup, abuse him. You need your Q though so make sure you don't throw it far away or he'll try turn on you. Post 6 his CC is useless given your ult, making it really easy to kill him. He will only win this lane if you do something stupid. If it's a stalemate in lane he will kill you late game.
Fiora
This is a skill based matchup. Whoever ints that first kill will likely lose the lane. You have the advantage level 1, so if she q's towards you for a vital, you be sure to use every Q your mana will allow for and every grasp proc. This lane often generally ends up as a first blood given the duelist nature of Fiora. If she ults you, q and run away till its on CD, cause she'll dish out some big damage. If you have ghost and ult and she runs up to your turret, she's as good as dead.
Gangplank
Absolute ease of a lane. He can do nothing to you, you win at every point of the game and should generally snowball the lane. He'll spam Q level 1 but that's fine. Rush Tabis, or if you're confident, just go the usual Phage first item. If he walks into melee range, he's not getting away from Ghost and your Q E spam. Let him push and then run him down when he gets comfortable.
Gnar
Another super easy matchup. If he walks into melee range, just spam Q and E. His jump is a bit of a pain but its got a huge CD. If he uses it and pushes up again, you should be able to lock-down a kill. If it's on CD and you land a close quarters Q, use ghost, ult (so he doesnt slow you), and e q spam him till hes dead. Never fight him when he's big Gnar, unless he's real low and you have ult cause his CC makes it tough.
Garen
Such a boring matchup. Another case of once you learn the matchup you wont really ever lose it. Gotta be a little more conservative with mana given he heals most of the damage you deal. My strategy is to bait out his Q, slow him with my Q and then hammer him with E and gradually poke him down. If his passive comes back up hit him with a Q to cancel it. Try not to use ult if you're low as it will remove the passive armour it gives you making Garen's ult do even more damage.
Illaoi
Not a good word to say about this matchup. It's winnable, but difficult. Since you're melee it's difficult to move into E and auto range without her using the Soul Pull and combo. Post 6 it doesn't get any better, she can one shot you and your Jungler. Best bet is to just slowly poke her down with Q and when soul pull is on CD move in for E and potentially an all in.
Irelia
Easy. Level 1, you out-trade her. Level 3, you out-trade her. Level 6, you out-trade her. her abilities require on close quarters combat, which you excel most at. If she Q's to you, Spam Q and E her, there's nothing she can do. Beware her stun pre 6, if she lands that she can dish out a relatively even trade. Post 6 you steamroll her, if she q's to you, ult and do your thing.
Jax
When his counter-strike is down he's useless. If he leaps on you to counterstrike, you chase him down with Q and E spam, there's nothing he can do but run. Post 6 it's over. The second he leaps on you with counterstrike, you ult and spam E and Q, it goes right through his counterstrike. He's as good as dead with no escape.
Kayle
Pre 11 you have full control. You need to push her out of the game. You have every advantage pre 6 given she's melee. She'll have to choose between you killing her or no cs. A freeze is your best friend in this matchup. If she cant CS, she can't buy items, meaning she'll be useless when she goes God Mode post 11. After that time, she'll work her way back into the game and likely start melting you if you haven't snowballed.
Yasuo
You should win this most of the time. Rush Tabis and Thornmail. If you make it to here without feeding, the lane's over for him. You can still steamroll lane without these items, but if you throw your Q far away or he jukes it, he will out-trade you. Good thing is though post 6 your ult counters his ult while he's in the air mid ult, you're on the grounded still poking the hell out of him.
Urgot
It's like Olaf was made solely to counter this champ's playstyle. If you can dodge his flip, he's dead. Even if you don't dodge it, he's still dead. Your E nukes his shield, and then you just spam Q around him, autoing him continually to refresh your E. Just avoid fighting him if his shotgun legs are up, they hurt. Post 6 his ult is literally useless. If he starts pulling you in for the exe, just ult. It cancels it. If you all in and he uses it while you're ulted, that's five seconds he can't exe you. He may as well not even have the ability.
Yorick
I'm gonna be honest, I still haven't quite worked this matchup out yet. He seems pretty invincible. If you try run him down he traps you and you cant catch him. A sure way to win generally is to dodge the ability that throws his Minions at you and all in while his ult is down. Outside of that, you can always call for ganks.
Camille
Seems as though she's migrated to the jungle. However, if you do end up against her, you generally out-trade her. The big issue is her hookshot. You think you got her and she's gone, and it's CD is tiny. Wait for her to use it to instigate a fight then you just ult and full combo her.
Wukong
Another easy counter. He can't fight you at all. If he moves up to cs, just Q and E spam. His damage is tiny. Anything he deals just use W to heal it back. Post 6 if you plan on all inning him, make sure you ult first because if he uses his first, your ult doesn't cancel his knock-up if you're already midair, it still retains it's full effect. A sweeper lens goes a long way in chasing down his W. If you Q him before he uses it, he wont get very far anyway, then he's screwed.
Akali
She can't really kill you. The main issue is catching her with all her escapes. If she shrouds and e's away she's pretty much impossible to chase down. Go for Merc Treads and run your usual build. Shove her CS under tower, she'll have a really tough time farming.
Teemo
Pretty damn easy. Pre 6 it's a bit annoying. I like to rush merc treads and a spirit visage for this match-up. Lane's a breeze if you do, dying will be next to impossible. Post 6 if he overextends and you land a Q, immediately ult and ghost. Shrooms will have no slow effect, and you just keep spamming Q and E till he dead.
Mordekaiser
Truthfully I've played this matchup like once. Relatively even, he seems to have the upper hand.
Malphite
Really easy. Simply walk up and E him to remove his passive shield entirely. Auto minions with increased W atk speed to refresh your E and E him again while also Q spamming. His damage output is next to nothing and costs him a fortune on mana. Just W to heal up and use your gradual poke down. When you're ready to all in ghost ult and the kill should be secured.
Vladimir
Boring. He should never be able to kill you. Both of you have great sustain, your W and his Q. I like to normally rush a spirit visage to even our sustain out. You likely wont get a lot of kills out of this, but if he overextends you might be able to get him with a ghost ult q e w combo. Bit of a stalemate. Beware early if he has ignite.
Kennen
Rarely ever comes up. When he does, rush merc treads into spirit visage and you'll be unkillable. From there, wait till he uses his energy ball or overextends and then all in him.
Kled
Very skill orientated matchup. Olaf has the upper-hand though. Dodge his bear-trap and then use e and spam Q. When he's off Skaarl, it's important you don't let him get back on it. Stand at a distance and throw Q's one at a time slowly wearing him down. When he's low enough, use ghost and ult and a Q E should kill him. Tabis are very useful early in this matchup for survivability.
Maokai
Pretty boring match-up. Two tanks bludgeoning it out. He wont ever solo kill you though. Q W E spam can definitely do some work, but with his cc and passive he's pretty hard to actually put down. Best bet is when he overextends post 6 is to ghost ult and all in him.
Ornn
The definition of a stalemate. UN-KILLABLE. It's so mind-numbingly boring. Even with a gank there's no sure sign you'll actually kill him. Have fun. He can still kill you though, so be careful.
Poppy
Pretty free lane as long as you stay away from walls. Same as usual, poke her down with E and Q, she has no escapes so if she oversteps you should be able to kill her cause all she can do is tackle you back bringing her with you. Post 6 just ult ghost and all in with e q w and her ult will be worthless.
Pantheon
Easy. His passive shields are useless. Your Q and E both go through it. All he's doing is restricting one auto. Post 6 if he leaps to stun you, ult ghost and all in. He's dead no matter what.
Quinn
Rush tabis into cleaver. She'll poke you down at the start but if you catch her out with a Q even before 6, if you got ghost you should be able to kill her. Post 6 if shes extended, if you land a q, ghost ult all in. If you die early to her, you could be in trouble. Just survive until you got tabis and it should be free.
Renekton
Better player generally wins this one, but Olaf has the upper hand. Abuse him level 1, you have control, same with level 2. Just watch out for empowered Q's. Post 6 it's pretty easy. If his E is on CD, ult ghost and all in. He'll have to make a last stand and use everything but he's ability orientated, he can't match the DPS on your Q. However, if your ult is on CD and he has ignite, he could get a kill on you too, so be careful.
Rumble
Not a bad match-up by any standard. Pre 3, if he uses his fire, just run up Q and E. He'll try turn and run taking his fire with him meaning he can't damage you all the while you Q spam him. Post 6 just use your usual ghost ult all in. Just don't fight in his ult.
Ryze
Boring, especially if he's running phase rush. Really difficult to run down. Merc Treads and spirit visage, just farm. Post 6 if you see him overextended without w, go for the ghost, ult, all in. You might get lucky. He shouldn't ever kill you though.
Shen
Used to struggle with this but now it's pretty easy. When you really look at Shen top, he's only got one damaging ability, his Q. Outside of that he's entirely defensive. E Q spam him every chance you get, just don't fight on his dodge circle or go near his tower. He'll use that to cheese for kills. Outside of that it's a pretty free lane. Don't all in unless his taunt is on CD cause its a pretty large leap.
Swain
Really easy, pre 6 just spam E and Q, if you dodge his root and you have ghost, he's pretty much dead. If he moves up post 6, just ult ghost and all in. He wont be able to stun you, but if he has ult, he may be a little hard to bring down. Try make sure he's pretty pushed when you do this so you maximise your damage output. If you do it while he's close to his tower, he'll likely escape.
Singed
Pretty difficult to kill early, easy to poke though. Every time he moves up, just E Q him, you'll do close to half his health. He'll flip you into his gas. When he does just run to the side out of it, heal with w, then repeat. The time you'll spend in the gas is next to nothing so the damage inflicted is small. Post 6 just ult ghost and all in, your Q counters the effects of his ult so you should be able to kill him. Be sure to keep account of how much gas damage you're taking.
Tryndamere
This can really go either way. To reduce that risk, I generally just run straight for tabis and thornmail then into my usual build. Sure you'll do less damage, but he wont be able to kill you, while you'll still have a chance. Pre 6 dont let him cs, if his fury is low he cant fight. Every time he runs up to auto just abuse with Q and E and freeze lane. Sooner or later he'll have to come up to cs, and you'll dish out the hurt when he does. If he has full fury, try avoid contesting him until he shoves the cs under your tower and is forced to Q.
Sion
Pre 3 you hammer him. There's very little he can do to stop you. Just hit him with E's and a Q where you can. Post 6 he's a little difficult to bring down. Your best bet is pre 6 before he gets too tanky.
Jayce
This one's a bit of a tilter. It's pretty hard pre 6, you have to be careful. If he's even remotely good at Jayce he's not going to get in range for you to Q E him. If you do, he'll likely just Q you away. Post 6 is your best bet, if you Q him, you can run him down with ghost and ult. He wont be able to knock you away. If you survive till then you should be able to snowball.
My name is Olaf Bot and I was an Olaf one trick for close to 3 seasons. I currently have 1 million mastery points on Olaf between two of my accounts averaging a 60% win rate last season across about 400 games. My highest rank last season was Gold 3 and I've experimented with countless Olaf build paths and runes. I know every match-up off the back of my hand given I've essentially studied this champion like a second language.
I play Olaf both Top and Jungle, but I find my greatest success is in the top lane. He's an incredibly underrated champion and I believe people who gave this guide a shot would find similar success in the top lane.
My primary reasoning behind creating this guide is that I've been playing this champ for such a large extent of time that I truly believe I have mastered it. When you've played a champion this religiously, I believe it makes sense to share that information and what I've learned with everybody else.
Godlaf in the Top Lane (9.7)
Build Guide By ElleryTheViking
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