Gnar vs Olaf — Top Lane Matchup Guide

How to win lane as Gnar against Olaf · 47.21% win rate over 466 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27

Verdict: Olaf is favoured — Olaf owns 3 of the 7 game windows to Gnar's 2. Play it patient and win your windows. Gnar wins 47.21% of games vs Olaf in top lane (466 Emerald+ games analysed).

Favour timeline — who owns each window

StageFavouredWhy
Level 1Even / skillMini's ranged autos and one Boomerang win the first poke, but Olaf shrugs off the range and farms it back even.
Level 2GnarThird-hit Hyper plus a Boomerang is a chunky free trade he can't answer at Level 2 — take it and shove before he can all-in back.
Level 3OlafOnce he throws an Undertow axe to slow me and closes on that slow, he sticks to my squishy Mini body and I can't kite away.
Levels 4-5OlafIf Rage is on cooldown when he all-ins, I have no Hop reset and his Undertow slow runs me down.
Level 6GnarWith Mega up and his Ragnarok on cooldown, a Wallop stun into wall-GNAR! is my clean kill window — but only while his R is down.
First itemEven / skillHis Ragnarok makes him CC-immune, so the moment he pops R my stun and GNAR! do nothing and his true damage ignores my Mega armor.
Two+ itemsOlafRagnarok's true damage and W lifesteal out-sustain my kiting — his all-in scales past my form-dependent burst, so I teamfight instead.

Early game (levels 1–5)

Level 1 is even — my Mini autos and one Boomerang win the first poke without giving anything back, but Olaf just shrugs off the range and farms it back. Level 2 is mine: third-hit Hyper plus a Boomerang is a chunky free trade he can't match yet, so I hit it and shove. The trap is Level 3 onward — once he can throw an Undertow axe to slow me, he closes the gap on that slow and sticks to my squishy Mini body. Don't auto-walk forward into his axe line; sidestep the throw and back off the moment he lands one, because the slow is what lets him catch me.

Read the rest of this matchup

The full Gnar vs Olaf report continues with the mid-game plan, the late-game and teamfight plan, every power spike to play around, and the win conditions for both sides — plus cooldown tracking and the live enemy-jungle tracker inside the app.

Become a Founding Member — $1.99/month →

🔒 Secure checkout · 💰 7-day money-back guarantee · ✋ Cancel anytime
Early Access price — $3.99/month for new members after launch.

Related guides

Playing the other side? Olaf vs Gnar guide →
All Gnar top lane matchups →