I was playing a match of 5v5 with Olaf the Berserker, and I tried experimenting a bit with different builds, and here is one that I found works well for tanking and dealing chunks of damage.

This is my first build on MobaFire and I hope you all enjoy it. I will definitely be improving the build every day by adding my thoughts, tips, tricks, etc, so stay tuned. Also I would like to create more builds to share my thoughts with you all.

Once again thanks a lot for viewing and stay tuned for improvements and more guides. Have fun playing "Olaf the Berserker."

-Ambripwns.

Pros:
-Great harass.
-Very good at last hitting.
-Great sustainability in lane.
-Very tanky late game.
-Easy to escape most scenarios due to ghost+ult.
-Great slow.
-Deals True damage.
-BROLAF SKIN!

Cons:
-Deals damage to himself.
-Goes oom if you spam abilities.
-Takes practice to land undertow.
-Difficult to lane against ranged.
-Ignite is very annoying.

I think Olaf is most effective when he is able to tank through the team, sticking on to the carry. Because this build focuses on a more tanky way to build Olaf, here are my reasons for choosing each of my runes:

I choose to go with physical damage marks because this way he is more effective early game (easier last hits and better harasses on enemy). Not only is it effective in early game, it is effective throughout the whole game. Since I build him very tanky, I feel he lakes a little bit of damage so I pick these up.

Other options are attack speed marks to maximize passive, health to build more tanky, or armor/magic resistance.

I decide to go with attack speed seals because in my build I don't build any attack speed items, and by using attack speed runes, that makes his passive much more effective. This helps him a lot in team fights when you are getting focused, you just use viscous strike and that along with you passive and runes help you to life steal a lot quicker.

Other options are attack damage, health, armor and magic resistance.

I go with health glyphs for two reasons. The first is because they are very useful at the start of the game. You can easily exchange hits with your enemy since you have more health and five health pot. The second reason i go with health glyphs is because after you get your atma's you get a lot more attack damage.

Other options are magic resistance or armor to become even more tanky, attack speed for your passive or attack damage for more dps.

I roll with movement speed quintessences because this way you will have a great advantage at the start, unless your enemy has picked up boots. You can run up to him and reckless strike and he can't do anything about it. Another reason to use these is because in late game it really helps you stick to your target to eliminate them or scare them off the fight.

Other options are life steal (very viable), attack damage (if you find this build to lack in damage), attack speed (for your passive), health (for atma's and tankiness), armor (for lots of AD) and magic resi (for lots of AP).

These are my thoughts on runes, you can use any runes that work best for you. You can try to experiment with different runes to see which ones you like best. My best tip is to not pick up health regen runes. The reason for this is because your passive depends on how much health you are missing. The only health regen you should have is from your warmogs and masteries.

As I have said before, I believe Olaf is most effective when you build him very tanky with a bit of AD. I build him tanky with lots of health. The reason I don't build much MR or Armor is because of Olaf's ult which at rank 3 gives him 60 MR and Armor and because I build armor and MR in his Masteries.

I go 21 points in the defensive tree and 9 points in the utility tree.

Defensive tree: In this tree I make sure I pick up all the armor, MR, health and damage reduction as I possibly can, with just a bit of health regen. This is very important for my build because I hardly build any armor and MR.

Utility tree: In the utility tree, I pick up the improved teleport (also useful if u want to exchange ghost for flash because then this mastery will improve both your summoner spells), all the mana regen as I can (very useful at the start if you are getting zoned so you can use undertow to last hit frequently) and finally I pick up the extra movement speed to help me stick to my enemies.

Now after looking at my items build, a lot of you may be wondering why I choose to buy each item that I listed. Well here are my explanations and some possible alternatives:

EARLY GAME: When the game starts I generally like to pick upand 5 . This is because most solo tops are AD. Another alternative is and 3 . You can pick this up if you are laning against a speedy champ. The three main items I try to build are , and . The reason why I get is because it offers so much for such a low price. It gives you life steal for survivability, armor, some damage, the occasional extra damage on minions to farm AND a free ward every 3 minutes. Then I like to pick up because they are great for some extra MR and tenacity. Other options for boots are boots of swiftness for extra mobility, berserker's greaves for extra attack speed or ninja tabi for more armor. The last item I build in my early-mid game is a . This item is very useful to Olaf. It gives him some extra health, some bonus damage and the occasional slow to help you stick on to your enemy.

MID GAME: After picking up my phage I don't like to rush a frozen mallet because it really isn't that beneficial to us yet. It hardly gives us any extra stats for an expensive cost. Thats why after a phage I like to build into a . The reason for this is because it gives a lot of extra health and some health regen. It is important to not get this item TOO late in the game because then it will be too late to get all of it's extra stats like 450 bonus health. After a warmog's I build into an . The reason for this is because at this point I would say you have a great amount of health and because of atma's passive you gain damage equal to 2% of your health as well as some armor and crit chance. This item is very important for Olaf because it is his main source of damage. The last item I build in my mid game-late game is a . At this point in the game you should pick up a frozen mallet. I like to buy a frozen mallet because it gives you some more health and damage as well as a slow every auto attack.

LATE GAME: At this point in the game you should be unstoppable. As for your final items I would pick up either a if they have a lot of AD that is melting you down, OR you can pick up a if they have lots of AP as well as some bonus health and mana AND a spell shield every 45 seconds. Your final item should be . You should buy this to replace your wriggle's lantern.

Some other options for items are: a , for some armor, magic resistance and a resurrection every 5 minutes, a for some damage, health, movement speed, mana, crit chance, attack speed, ability power, a slow and extra damage once in a while, a for armor, health, health regen, cooldown reduction, a slow and an AOE Slow. The final alternative is , it gives you health, attack speed, life steal, cooldown reduction and an aura to aid your allies as well.

As for the skill sequence I suggest you start withso you can last hit, and poke at your enemies as well as a great way to chase and escape in case you get into a fight. I then pick upfor a quick undertow-reckless swing combo then pop a health pot every now and then. After you pick up reckless swing, you then pick up . This is great for regaining your health after reckless swing if you have no more pots or if you need them for later.

After your first three picks I like to max my first by lvl 12, picking up one rank in , for that extra life steal and a couple of ranks in for the bonus damage for quicker chases. Make sure you pick up your ult at lvls 6,11 and 16. After maxing my reckless swing I alternate between my viscous srike and undertow to maximize damage and survivability.

As solo top Olaf the summoner spells I suggest areand .

I use because it is very useful for many reasons. One reason is if you are low on health and you need to go back to base, but you don't want your enemy to push your tower. In this case you quickly go B and teleport back to your tower in now time. It is also useful if you've pushed your lane. If you are just waiting for the minions to push back, then you can go to base get some items and TP back quick so you don't lose any EXP. Teleport can also be used to save any tower no matter where on the map. The last reason why I think teleport is very useful on Olaf is because you can teleport to a friendly ward to aid your team in a team fight since you are the tank generally.

I also use because it works really well with Olaf's ultimate. With his ult he is immune to all disables. That with ghost can get you out of practically every situation. You don't even have to ult. Ghost in general is very, very good to escape as well as chasing a low enemy.

ALTERNATIVES:
. You can use this to flash over walls and such but I think ghost is a much better option.

. Another option is ignite. This is good for dotting a low champ or an enemy who has lots of life steal or regen like Mundo. However you should let your AP carry get this spell, you're better off with other spells.

. The last option for solo top Olaf is exhaust. This is useful against AD's. It is used to get an advantage on your enemy as well as helping you escape or chase an enemy. This is viable but I'd rather get ghost.

In the early game (first 15-20 minutes) you should really be focusing on last-hitting. This means to wait for the enemy's minions to get low enough so you can just one shot it. This is important because you only get gold from minions by killing them. If you are having trouble in lane because your enemy is constantly harassing you, you should ask your jungler for a gank. If you start pulling up ahead in CS (Creep Score), by a lot, then you have just gotten a big advantage for your mid-late game, even if you gave up a death or two. One kill is worth 300g, that is equivalent to about 12.5 creeps. If you are 0-2 and you have 100cs and your opponent has around 60, you are still ahead in gold by a decent amount. In the fifteen minute mark, aim for about 100 cs.

Also in the early game you should be harassing the enemy every once in a while. An easy way to get a good burst on him is to undertow, catch up to him, auto attack, reckless swing and if you can, get one more auto attack in. You should be harassing as often as possible so you can zone your enemy so he can't earn exp or gold. If he comes in for some cs, you just combo him and he will get his jungler for sure. Make sure you get wards so you are aware of any ganks. At this point you have disturbed his jungler and him and have gotten plenty of cs. At this point in the game, you should be ahead of your opponent and you are about ready for mid game.

You have now entered mid game. In mid game what you want to do is try to gank other lanes that need your help. Olaf is a great ganker and your team can benefit a lot from your ganks. If you see your lane is pushed and your enemy is at your turret, you could always teleport back to your turret. You should really be trying to gank the lane that has fallen behind, however you can't do this unless you have already won your lane. That's why it is really important in the early game to last hit as much as possible. If you see the enemy is laying wards, you can always either get a vision ward or you can flank from another route.

Another thing you should be wanting to do in mid game is keep farming. If you can't really gank or if you are losing your lane, what you want to do is to keep farming so you will win in late game. However always look for a great gank or chances to help your teamates out, like if their turret is getting pushed.

The last thing you should be doing in your mid game as Olaf is to gain buffs, kill drag and ward areas on the map as well as being in the team fights that your team is involved in. You should either be getting your red buff or the enemies buffs along with the enemy's wolves, golems, wraiths and blue. If you are going to get your own red buff, make sure your jungler approves. You should also be getting drag when it is up and make sure you ward it. Don't only ward dragon, you should ward the enemies jungle, the two rivers and your own jungler as well. Also make sure you are involved in every team fight as you are a very big part in the fight, being the one who sticks to their carry bursting him/her down.

The late game is very important because one bad team fight, and the odds can change. What you want to do is move as a team and try to pick people off while they are overextended. At this point in the game you should be extremely tanky and really hard to kill. You should have at least your wriggles, boots, warmogs, atma's and maybe your frozen mallet. This item setup is to maximize tankiness as well as being able to deal decent damage to the enemy's carry.

Another thing you want to do in late game is really push the enemy's turrets. The best way to do this is to go as a group and eliminate turrets. You could also split push where one group pushes one turret and the other pushes another turret. You want to do this to get more gold and also so you can enter their base and destroy their nexus. You should have already destroyed a couple of turrets so now you just destroy the remainder.

The most important thing to do in late game is to join every team fight that occurs. You are the tank in most cases so you should be the one who initiates the fight, unless they initiate it. If you initiate the fight, make sure you activate your ultimate as soon as you enter the fight and rush their AD carry. It is important you activate it as soon as you run in or even before you run in because that way you can't be slowed, you have a lot more armor and magic resistance and you have more armor pen. You should be able to kill their carry by the time they focus you and kill you. However in most cases, you will live longer than that considering you have built the right items to counter them.

The last thing you should be doing is making sure you control baron. Your support should buy an oracle, or if you don't have a support, you should get an oracle or vision ward, and roam the map, destroying all wards they have placed, especially the ones around baron. Baron is a very important buff and it can completely change the outcomes of a game. When you are attempting baron make sure your whole team is there so if you get into a team fight, you aren't caught off guard. Also make sure you ward any ways to enter baron to be aware if the enemy team is coming. Once you get baron make sure you use it wisely and try to initiate team fights because you have the advantage. A great time to baron is when you have just killed their turret or inhib and they are soon going to respawn. This gives you just enough time to kill baron and recall. If the enemy team has gotten baron make sure you all stick together and turret hug, as they will most likely be moving in a group.

Overall I think Olaf is a great top laner and is loads of fun. I have had lots of fun playing him and dominating my lane. The best thing about Olaf is that when you start pulling ahead, you can zone really well. I think you will all enjoy playing Olaf by following this guide.

Some important things to always keep in mind while playing Olaf are:
1. Focus on CSing early game as much as you can.
2. Harass whenever you can.
3. Always look for any possible lanes to gank.
4. Join every team fight as you are the tank.
5. RUSH the AD carry in the team fights.
As long as you follow these tips you should be fun.

With all that said I really suggest picking Olaf up and giving him a try. I am sure you will enjoy tearing your enemys to pieces. If you liked my guide please take a few moments to thumbs it up and please leave a comment telling me if you liked my guide or not and why. Also I would really appreciate it if you leave a suggestion telling me how to improve my build and maybe your way of building/playing Olaf.

Thank you, Ambripwns.