Olaf Top Build 16.11
Olaf Top build in patch 16.11 has a 66.0% win rate over 50 games. This setup focuses on boots are an early movement purchase built to improve baseline mobility and reduce how punishing bad positioning feels. they are mainly bought to help with spacing, lane movement, and getting to fights or objectives faster.
Olaf Build Guide & Strategy (Patch 16.11)
About Olaf
Olaf is a relentless juggernaut who wins by forcing extended fights with axe slows, heavy melee damage, and an ultimate that lets him run straight through crowd control. He is terrifying when he gets on top of people early, but he becomes much easier to kite if he loses momentum or mismanages his approach.
Olaf Build Strategy & Items
Boots support a tempo-oriented style where movement matters as much as raw stats, letting you weave in and out of trades, dodge skillshots, and reach waves or skirmishes sooner. They fit gameplans built around cleaner rotations, safer lane resets, and better control over distance in fights. The item supports lane patterns where every auto attack, ability ratio, or short trade becomes slightly more threatening right away. It fits aggressive and tempo-conscious gameplans that want immediate combat value while keeping many future build options open. This item supports assertive laning where you contest minions, punish last hits, and look for early health leads through repeated combat. It fits marksmen, fighters, and other AD users whose gameplan improves when their first few trades carry more threat. Boots are an early movement purchase built to improve baseline mobility and reduce how punishing bad positioning feels. They are mainly bought to help with spacing, lane movement, and getting to fights or objectives faster. Long Sword is the basic attack damage component for champions who want a small but efficient increase to their physical output. It is mainly bought to improve trading, farming, and build flexibility without delaying larger item paths. Doran's Blade is an aggressive starter that combines early damage with a small durability cushion and lane sustain. It is mainly for champions who want their first levels to feel stronger in trades, farming, and all-in setup. Health Potion is a consumable sustain tool used to recover health over time during lane or after small fights. It is mainly for extending early map presence without needing an immediate recall. Phage is a bruiser component that mixes offensive intent with a small durability buffer to make close-range trading feel easier to maintain. It is mainly for melee champions that want a smoother path into mid-game brawling items without buying only raw health or only raw damage.
Olaf Key Strengths
Their value shows up everywhere because early movement speed changes how quickly you can reposition, chase, retreat, and respond to map plays. Boots also make trading more reliable for champions that need better angles, tighter spacing, or faster entry into range. Long Sword is attractive because it gives clean AD at a low cost, making it one of the easiest ways to sharpen early damage and last-hitting. It also builds into a wide range of assassin, marksman, fighter, and utility items, so early purchases rarely feel restrictive. Doran's Blade is valuable because it gives a rounded early stat package instead of committing purely to offense or defense. That mix makes it easier to last-hit under pressure, trade back with confidence, and keep pushing lane presence without feeling too fragile. Health Potion is valuable because it turns gold into reliable early endurance, which matters most when the first few waves decide pressure and recall timing. It also works across many matchups, making it one of the simplest ways to stay active after a rough exchange. Phage is useful because it gives melee champions a more practical combat feel than isolated stat pieces that only solve one problem at a time. It also helps lane transitions into skirmishes, where a little extra health and offensive pressure can make repeated close-range exchanges much more manageable. Plated Steelcaps are strong because they answer one of the most common and persistent damage patterns in the game: sustained physical chip from attacks. They are especially useful into double-AD pressure, ranged harass lanes, or late-game carries that would otherwise shred you through repeated autos. Sterak's Gage is valuable because it gives bruisers a much better chance to survive the moment when several enemy abilities land at once. It is especially strong on champions that thrive in extended melee fights, since living through the initial collapse often gives them enough time to turn the fight back with sustained damage. Experimental Hexplate is valuable because it sharpens the exact moment many fighters care about most: the entry into a fight after ultimate activation. It is especially useful on champions whose ult defines their threat pattern, since the item helps that window come up more often and feel more punishing once it begins. Ravenous Hydra is valuable because it turns ordinary farming and trading into much stronger map pressure, especially for champions that want to shove first and move. It is especially good on picks that remain in combat long enough to use both the extra area damage and the sustain, making duels and messy skirmishes much easier to control. Randuin's Omen is valuable because it specifically targets the kind of explosive physical damage that can otherwise punch through ordinary tank itemization. It is especially good against crit-heavy carries and AD divers, since it makes their biggest offensive spikes much harder to convert into a clean kill. Death's Dance is valuable because it gives bruisers more room to stay active after diving into dangerous range, which is often the difference between a successful skirmish and dying before the second rotation. It is especially strong on reset-oriented fighters and sustained melee carries, since staying alive slightly longer often lets them completely swing the fight.
Best Olaf Runes & Spells
Conqueror is a stacking combat rune designed for champions that build momentum as a fight develops. It mainly rewards repeated contact, sustained ability use, and the willingness to stay engaged until accumulated combat power starts to outweigh early burst runes. Last Stand is a combat rune that increases a champion's damage as their own health gets lower. It is mainly chosen by fighters and other close-range champions that expect to keep dealing damage deep into dangerous trades instead of backing off the moment they are threatened. Biscuit Delivery is a lane sustain rune meant to keep health and resources from collapsing under repeated pressure. Its purpose is to make difficult early phases more survivable so a champion can continue farming, trading, and contesting waves instead of being forced out too quickly. Approach Velocity is a chase rune built to help players close distance once a target has already been slowed, controlled, or otherwise made catchable. Its purpose is to make successful setup matter more by turning partial access into full contact. Legend: Alacrity is a scaling attack-speed rune made to sharpen auto-based gameplay as stacks accumulate. Its main purpose is to increase how quickly a champion can deliver repeated hits, making sustained DPS and trigger-based attack patterns feel smoother and more threatening. Triumph is a takedown rune that rewards successful fights with a burst of recovery and extra payoff at the moment an enemy falls. Its main purpose is to keep momentum alive after the first kill so a champion can survive the aftermath and continue pushing the skirmish. Flash is an instant repositioning spell built around solving range, angle, and danger in a single moment. It is mainly used to create or escape decisive situations that normal movement cannot cover in time. Ghost is a sustained mobility spell centered on extended movement rather than a single instant reposition. It is mainly picked to improve chase, kiting, and target access across longer skirmishes where spacing decides the outcome.
How to Play Olaf (Early, Mid & Late Game)
Olaf Laning Phase (Early Game)
In the early game as Olaf in the Top lane, prioritize consistent farming and map awareness. Aim to secure your Ravenous Hydra as quickly as possible to establish a lane advantage and create opening opportunities.
Olaf Mid Game Strategy
During the mid game, utilize your 3 item power spikes to control lane transitions and objective contested zones. As Top Olaf, your roaming potential and skirmishing power are at their peak.
Olaf Late Game Strategy
In the late game, focus on teamfighting effectiveness and critical positioning. As Olaf, your role is to maintain utility and pressure in final sieges, coordinated and protecting objectives with your full item build.
Olaf Mechanics & Gameplay Tips
Strong Olaf players chain Undertow pickups to keep permanent pressure, weave Reckless Swing at the right moments, and judge exactly when Ragnarok should be used to ignore the key crowd control rather than pressed too early. Weak Olaf play shows up when axes are thrown where they cannot be retrieved, when he tunnels past his damage window, or when he activates his ultimate without a clear path to stick to a target.