How to win lane as Nautilus against Olaf · 43.75% win rate over 16 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Even / skill | At level 1 neither of you has an all-in, but your passive root on the first auto makes the opening trade yours before his axes get momentum. |
| Level 2 | Olaf | His W axe-slow stacks on you and his E (Reckless Swing) true damage ignores your shield, so once he is online he wins every short trade. |
| Level 3 | Olaf | With Q, W and E up he out-trades you cleanly — your CC is single-instance and his attack-speed slow means you cannot kite the follow-up. |
| Levels 4-5 | Olaf | His W move speed and slow let him stick to you while Reckless Swing chunks through your tank stats faster than your W heals. |
| Level 6 | Olaf | Ragnarok makes him CC-immune, so your R knock-up, Q stun and E slow all do nothing the moment he ults — your worst window. |
| First item | Olaf | His first bruiser item plus axe-throw uptime out-damages your shield, and you still have no answer to his ult cleansing your lockup. |
| Two+ items | Even / skill | You become a low-damage CC-bot while he keeps true damage and lifesteal — only Skill if your team converts the R you land on someone else. |
Level 1 is your only honest window: your passive Staggering Blow roots him on the first auto and your anchor isn't even needed, so if he steps up to last-hit you can land a free root-into-auto trade before his axes ramp. But the moment Olaf hits 2-3 he flips it — his W slows your attack speed and movement so you can never walk away, and his E (Reckless Swing) is true damage that goes clean through your W shield and tank stats. Don't throw Q as a poke; if you whiff it you have no escape and he runs you down with axe move speed.
The full Nautilus 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 Nautilus guide →
All Nautilus top lane matchups →