What's wrong with Olaf?

Trash MammaI·Feb 28, 2015·8 votes·1,996 views

People say he was nerfed too hard to be viable and that he's not good anymore? Why? I've played a few games with him and all have had great success. Sure, he's not mobile but he does have an amazing kit. Especially on his ult to ignore all CC. Letting you easily run to the back line or make everyone focus you allowing your team to have the real focus. Great sustain. Great poke. Decent tankiness. Good steroids. Good Mana cost. Good waveclear. Besides mobility there's nothing he really doesn't have.. so what's the deal?

22 Comments

our mid sucksFeb 28, 201511 votes

sheep.

BeatzBoyFTWFeb 28, 20159 votes

He is very easy to get kited.
Does not have much sticking power to autoattack a lot
Your ult may remove cc from you, but also makes you squishier since the armor/mr passive is lost
Grievous Wounds & Ignite is his greatest enemy

Daedalus871Feb 28, 20156 votes

Olaf has a build disparity going on. His kit says "I want to do the damages" but his play style says "I need to tank this shit up" and there isn't really a way to resolve that. I am not a huge fan of his ult as using it makes you squishier... as you try to run head first into the enemy ADC. All the damage is on you. He also has issues getting to the enemy carry as they can walk and flash away. By the time you reach them, your ult will be over and a competent team will peel you off.

There is also the fact that he is out classed by champions who fill a similar role, but without his issues. , Jax , Irelia all fill a similar role as he does as tanky AD's, that are sustained damage dealers. But they can reach the carries much easier, they all have hard CC, and their ults don't feel bad to use.

DreamReaper123Feb 28, 20152 votes

I know eve's bad, but can someone explain why? She has a 0.5 AP scaling q on a tiny cd, thats really good.

CerbearusFeb 28, 20154 votes

Thematically she is a stealthy mage assassin. Problem is that she is so overnerfed that a tanky/ad build is a thousand times better on her. She can't even use magic pen builds anymore because the biggest part of her burst (E) does physical damage, and her ult is slapping someone with a wet noodle (damage was halved TWICE).

All that compounded with the jungle being extremely hard (seriously she gets fucking wrecked) so good luck if anyone ever decided to walk into your jungle.

DreamReaper123Feb 28, 20151 votes

Thank you, that makes sense.

ChaoticPineconeFeb 28, 20151 votes

she used to rely on her E for her burst, but they changed it to physical damage. She used to be able to DFG-ULT-E-Q to blow someone up, but those days are gone.

Now her biggest benefit (past the insane lane pressure she can put) is the pseudo-tankiness from her ult shield and her 120% attack speed boost on her E. The AS boost + her Q lets her put out a lot of DPS, as long as she can stay alive.

CerbearusFeb 28, 20152 votes

Kalista

SookoFeb 28, 20152 votes

Olaf, to me, looks a like Volibear. "I can beat several melees without any issue (in fact, I have only beaten Olaf top as Volibear as a melee, other than that I lose lane often against him), but put a ranged champion to the table and I am nearly worthless asides from letting them focus me and give you a few more seconds to live in the teamfight."

He has stats. He is a fine example of a ball of stats. But he lacks means to use them. What good is true damage if Kalista is never going to be near you so you can use it? What good is that slow skillshot if all it hits are the tanks, and picking it up just gets you killed? What good is a slow in the league of dashes?

I am considering buying him, as an appreciator of unconventional picks (immobile mages, Volibear and Zac top lane...) but I honestly think that there are champions that have more CC and are harder to kite.

nachocheeseeeeeFeb 28, 20152 votes

He lacks a gap closer and hard cc so is easily kited. If he manages to stick to a target and fight, he is prob one the the scariest things you will have to deal with.

Hasztalan2Feb 28, 20151 votes

Cuz he is only good in the first 15 minutes then he drops like a pebble in the ocean. But since most of the bronze/silver games last for 20 minutes until 1 team surrenders he seems better than he really is.

Yandere CarryFeb 28, 20151 votes

He does have issues with heavy kiting, but most of the "Olaf sucks" talk is about the old olaf pre-rework. At the moment, he is a strong pick. Not god tier, but strong nonetheless.

TheFrozenIslesFeb 28, 20151 votes

I ask my self this a lot as well.A lot of what people say what make him bad does not make cents to me as well. I get thing like "easy to kite" but that is the only one I can see.

When I do play him(I'm more a support player so this is not much) I play him top with Boot, Spirit Visage,Warmog's armor as more core items. With Frozen heart(if I what cooldown so I can get my Q and E really low.) or Randuin's ( I find my self getting Righteous Glory with this for that double slow active.) For damage I like BOTRK (most likely as it does cover a lot for him) or Youmuu's Ghostblade.

This cover ever thing I can think of with the master I take as well.

XemeronFeb 28, 20151 votes

Hes fine. Just play him, he does a pretty good job. He is way to addicted to blue buff though... He could use a bit more mana...

MrBuffingtonFeb 28, 20151 votes

IIRC that was part of his nerf (his mana/mana costs, I mean)

Trash MammaIFeb 28, 20151 votes

Guess I'll keep playing him then. I only play normals and I was silver last season so If I do play ranked ill be put in bronze/silver where nobody knows what kiting is so guess he isn't too bad

xLordZantxFeb 28, 20151 votes

Are you referring too ranked olaf vs normal olaf or olaf as a whole.In my personal opinion any champ is good in normals any kind of shit can work(imo) but the real test comes when you play people who take the time to counter you and exploit your weaknesses with delicate thinking or.......... you could just pick Kalista

SirsirFeb 28, 20151 votes

He is pretty good, just too kite-able in the League of Mobility.

HumphreyFeb 28, 20151 votes

Who knows.

Raja ChachkiFeb 28, 20151 votes

EXACTLY. When starting on red side, i do an easy lvl 3 clear, can gank, and still solo dragon after it. He clears so easily it's funny. However, the real problem is lategame. He has no way to get to the backline, and he is easily kited. His ult does little for him in these moments, and this is why people usually play him FULL tank, otherwise he dies so easily.

femméMar 1, 20151 votes

he's a 1v1 melee fighter with no way of sticking to people the second he misses an axe. He's bad in teamfights because all his dmg is single target and IF you build dmg then you'll be really squishy. He has no escape when split pushing his dmg falls off super hard if you build tank and when he ults his bonus armor/mr is removed and is traded for more dmg which if you're ulting to get into some ones face then you shouldn't have a problem killing them as olaf anyway. soooooo ya other than shitting on his laner he can't do much past 15 minutes.

Trash MammaIMar 1, 20151 votes

All of the issues I see being stated are mainly revovled around two things which are both Riot's refusal to nerf pentration items which sh*ts on tanks like no tomorrow and their constant blink/dash implementing into kits. A speed buff(like bards) is fine but blinks/dashes are annoying other than those two hes fine and both can be worked around