How to win lane as Graves against Olaf · 36.36% win rate over 22 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Olaf | He owns level 1 — his Q axe slows and chunks true damage while your short shell range and single ability give you no safe trade back. |
| Level 2 | Even / skill | Your second ability comes online and you can start an E-in shell trade, but his W lifesteal already heals the exchange back. |
| Level 3 | Even / skill | With Q, E and W all up you finally get a real kite-and-blind window, but his axe-pickup slow loop keeps it close. |
| Levels 4-5 | Olaf | His Q and E true damage plus W lifesteal out-trade you in extended fights as both your stat stacks try to scale. |
| Level 6 | Olaf | His R makes him CC-immune so your W slow/blind and R knockback whiff entirely — his single best window to all-in. |
| First item | Olaf | Your Eclipse/Youmuu's spike is real, but his W lifesteal and Q-axe slow deny you the clean kite-window to cash it in. |
| Two+ items | Olaf | An itemized, CC-immune Olaf out-sustains and true-damages through your entire armor-stacking kit — you lose the long game outright. |
Your one real window is levels 2-3 once your E, Q and W are all up. E-in for the point-blank 4-shell spread, W-blind him to stop his autos, and burst with Q (End of the Line) before his sustain takes over. The problem: his Q (Undertow) axe slows you and chunks true damage, and if he picks the axe back up the cooldown resets, so he can chain slows and walk you down onto reloads. Dodge the axe by stepping sideways and never let him retrieve it for free — that axe-pickup loop is the whole lane.
The full Graves 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.
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Playing the other side? Olaf vs Graves guide →
All Graves top lane matchups →