Olaf's R is always cited as the reason he can't be truly balanced or viable
I don't think this is the case.
Kayle can ignore Damage for a duration and is seen as completely fine. Why? Her kit isn't broken on it's own.
It's his R + THE REST OF HIS KIT not just the R alone.
Lets look at his kit:
P: Offensive stat that punishes the enemy for damaging Olaf and rewards him for taking damage
Q: Ranged Slow nuke that either stomps them 100% of the time or 0% of the time because of how a spammable slow works
W: Activate for free stats that scales with how much damage you took
E: Spammable true damage that scales with AD
R: Free Armor/MR that turns into a massive amount of AD when Activated
Conclusion: His kit was made to be unbeatable. They gave him thing after thing to patch up weaknesses without giving him a real strength. His strength is that he has no real weakness that other Melees don't have. What is his weakness? He is kiteable. What are his strengths? insert list of 12+ things that are super general
Why does this matter?
What does becoming Immune to CC do? It makes it so you can't be stopped or kited and so you can get off your damage without being destroyed
Why is this a problem on Olaf's kit?
His entire purpose as a character is to run forward and kill you. A skilled Olaf is only one that caught up to the guy, not one who used his abilities in a strategic manner. I don't really see how in the world that could be called skilled for any modern design of a Champion. His entire success is based on whether or not he could catch the enemy, aka whether or not the enemy was bad enough that he/she let Olaf catch them. So skilled.
Either he succeeds with minimal counterplay or he doesn't and he falls completely flat on his face. Instead of being centered around Relentlessness and skilled usage of Axes and combat, his Q is only there to slow them and his R is only there for him to catch you.
Conversely, a Kayle kit that was centered around her R instead of her R serving her kit would be very different. It would probably look at like a Ranged Poppy. Kayle doesn't use her R to dive an entire team and ignore basic principles of the game, she uses it the re-position. Olaf uses his R to be Olaf. This is the major difference.
**What would a Relentless Berserker kit look like if it were centered around his Q rather than his R? **
P: Autoattacks and Axes give a Health Shield that lasts 4 seconds that stacks up to 12 times. Scales with Total AD per shield stack. No internal CD.
Q: Axe throw with a charge system. Axes can be picked up after tossed. Max 2/3/4/5/6 charges. Less damage than on Live. CD inbetween charges is longer than Live CD but Axes are more visible and last a lot longer than on live. Speed, CD and damage of Axes directly scale with Attack Speed. Axes also apply On hit effects and Crit at a % value based on rank.
W: Dashes to an Axe at a fast speed, knocking aside and damaging all targets he runs thru. Passively gains flat MS when running towards an Axe. Cannot be interrupted or stopped by either Olaf or an Enemy. Can cast QER while dashing.
E: Summons the Wrath of the Gods to strike all live Qs with Lightning dealing AoE damage and Slowing to units within the range of the Axes. Slowing field remains briefly after the strike.
R: Passive shield values doubled, tosses multiple Qs per cast, W speed increased and E AoE Slow and Range increased. Additionally, breaks free of all CC upon cast.
