Jungle is one of the most pivotal roles in League of legends, especially when it comes to competitive play. Over the years as the meta has evolved and changed we have seen various types of junglers reign supreme. From unkillable tanks like Zac and Sejuani to early game playmakers like Lee sin and Elise even scaling carry's like Karthus and Nidalee. However virtually every year without fail the berserker known as Olaf returns to take the lives of both jungles camps and his opponents. Let's take a look at what you need to know to get started with Riot's resident Viking.
Why Did Olaf Return to the Meta?
The current jungle meta revolves around fast placed junglers who can clear camps quickly something Olaf excels in. His kit makes him an excellent duelist due to his passive and W while his Q allows him good gank set up with its slow. This season's new items also help his scaling potential as he can now build in a way that allows him to act as an effective frontline while still being able to catch out and deal damage to priority targets.
Olaf's Abilities
Passive: Berserker Rage
Olaf's Attack Speed is increased by 1% for each 1% of his health he is missing.
Q: Undertow
Olaf throws an axe into the ground at a target location, dealing damage to enemies it passes through and slowing their Movement Speed. If Olaf picks up the axe, the ability's cooldown is reduced by 4.5 seconds.
W: Vicious strikes
Olaf's Attack Speed is increased, he gains Life Steal and has increased healing from all sources based on how much Health he is missing.
E: Reckless 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.
Basic attacks reduce this ability's cooldown by 1 second.
R: Ragnarok
Passive: Olaf gains armor and magic resist.
Active: Olaf cleanses himself of all crowd control. For the next 6 seconds, he becomes immune to crowd control and gains Attack damage For the first second of Ragnarok, he also gains bonus movement speed when moving towards nearby Sight enemy champions.
The skill order is at level one take Q, level two take W, level three take E, and finally R at level 6. Then max Q followed by E then finally W putting a point in R whenever possible.
Olaf's Build
At the start of a game, as you will be playing jungle, I recommend Hailblade as your jungle item. Its ability to slow down enemies is better than dueling offered by Emberknife. As Olaf is a melee champion he runs the risk of being kited by ranged opponents and Hailblade can ensure that doesn't happen.
The ideal mythic item for Olaf is Goredrinker. It provides attack damage, bonus health, ability haste, and health regeneration. This combined with the area of effect active which heals him based on the damage done allows him to run headfirst into the enemy team with nothing to fear. Following this, he picks up a Steak's gage for some more Attack damage and health along with a lifeline shield which triggers in situations where he is low on health.
From there the item choices are more situational. A Spirit Visage is good against opponents with a lot of magic damage, and to provide some extra healing. A Death's Dance would be good for teams that are attack damage heavy. A Randuin's Omen against teams with dangerous critical strike opponents, or perhaps a Guardian Angel to provide you with an extra life.
His boots of choice are usually either plated steel caps or mercury treads.
Olaf's Runes
Olaf runs Conqueror as his Keystone. The stacking damage and healing synergise well with his kit. Triumph provides him bonuses for takedowns while alacrity gives some more attack speed. Last stand is good on him as you want to be low on health to make better use of his passive. Magical footwear and approach velocity both give him bonus movement speed to chase down his opponents
His stat runes are attack speed, adaptive damage and either armor or magic resist depending on the matchup.
Final Thoughts
Olaf is almost always going to be a strong jungler. His dueling, ability to take camps and ultimate are always going to be valued by a team. The new season has even given him help with his weaknesses. He is not the most difficult champion to play so if you are looking for a simple and strong champion to climb then Olaf may be the pick for you.
Thank you for reading my article. Why not check out other amazing articles on the website. Whether you are interested in Call of Duty maps or Cyberpunk weapons, I am sure we can find the one that suits you.