I usually try to avoid champions that are overdue for remakes and tweaks, but Olaf just got a small buff so I thought it might be a good week for him. For the return of the Champ of the Week series I’ll be playing Olaf.

A long time ago I mused that Olaf might be an underwhelming version of Mundo. I don’t think that’s completely true, but I can still see the similarities and, consequently, Olaf’s shortcomings. Olaf is a champion I’ve never spent much time with, mostly because it takes so much farm for him to be enjoyable. Olaf’s basic kit is designed around having enough health to be missing 30-40% and still stay with a fight. That’s a lot of health, and it takes time to amass that kind of resilience, which is why I’m willing to state the following: Olaf shouldn’t jungle.

I know he can jungle. I know he’s an incredibly fast jungle. But he doesn’t make the kind of cash necessary to reach his potential if he jungles. His ganks aren’t strong enough to guarantee kill/assist gold, he doesn’t have the mobility, crowd control, or killing power to counter jungle effectively, and he requires too much farm to drop a lot of money on wards.

This isn’t just theorycraft, either. I played a couple games with Olaf today and, despite one successful match, I spent the rest of my game time wondering when I’d finally be farmed enough to keep up with my opponents. Answer: never. Without significant farm, Olaf doesn’t bring anything the table that another champion with similar qualities couldn’t do better.

I’ll be focusing on moving Olaf out of the jungle this week as much as possible. Where it seems to make sense I’ll also jungle with him to see if there’s anything worth saving, but for the most part I think my instincts are right on this one.

If you have suggestions drop them in the comments. Don’t forget to check back throughout the week for more Olaf impressions.

I was fortunate enough to catch a couple games with Olaf today so I wanted to share my impressions, as usual. Olaf is definitely a strong champion – potentially too strong, though I think his lack of a initiator/gap closer will be his weak point.

For starters, Olaf is insanely strong in the early game. My first match with him I managed to bait a Kayle/Nasus combo down my lane a bit before creeps had spawned. They had me to about 60 percent when I turned and my lanemate (another Kayle) and I rocked them. Olaf’s attack speed gets so high he is just unmanageable if you have to be close to deal damage.

Unfortunately, his passive is his one great strength. Yes, it is awesome, but I wish his other skills offered a bit more. Ghost is pretty much a necessity, because you just aren’t fast enough otherwise. If someone is toward the edge of your axe range, the distance they cover while you cast is enough that they’re out of range by the time your axe lands.

Olaf is very strong in the jungle, which is good considering his ability to burn through mana. Most of his skills are cheap, but they’re up often so you can really churn through that blue bar. It’s also really nice to have lizard buff early in the game for the slow. That means you can rely less on your somewhat sporadic axe and more on your heavy-hitting Reckless Swing.

The fact that Reckless Swing is pure damage is another strength. It deals what it deals, regardless of your enemy’s resistances. It can also hit you pretty hard in the early game, so be sure you’re going to live through the encounter before spamming this too hard.

As for the rest, it feels a little early to talk about Olaf’s position as a part of the ongoing metagame. Patch Day always encourages odd choices, and I saw more Kayle players today than I care to remember. I also seemed to see Ashe in every game I played, which meant I was getting kited all over the map. If you’ve enjoyed heroes like Pantheon or Mundo, give Olaf and go and let me know what you think.