How to win lane as Ryze against Olaf · 48.11% win rate over 185 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Olaf | Olaf's Undertow axe slows you into a Vicious Strikes lifesteal trade at level 1 — you have only Q and no escape, so the math is entirely his. |
| Level 2 | Olaf | He retrieves the axe to reset Undertow cooldown and can chain slows into a sustained brawl; W root is your only answer and it is not enough to stop the bleed. |
| Level 3 | Olaf | His full kit trades (Undertow slow, Vicious Strikes sustain, Reckless Swing true damage) outpace your E-W-Q burst at equal levels before any items. |
| Levels 4-5 | Olaf | His lifesteal sustain outpaces your mana costs in drawn-out farming phases — he recovers faster on the wave and can all-in whenever his axe is up. |
| Level 6 | Olaf | Ragnarok at 6 makes your W root useless for the duration, turning his all-in into a pure stat trade his lifesteal wins — stay safe and warp away. |
| First item | Olaf | Seraph's reduces his lead but Ragnarok still answers your root; deny him free all-ins by keeping Rylai's kite distance and warp to better fights. |
| Two+ items | Ryze | Full loop speed and Rylai's slow make his axe retrieval and gap-close unreliable — your Flux cascade in teamfights finally out-values his lifesteal budget. |
Level 1 is Olaf's — he throws Undertow (axe) to slow you, activates Vicious Strikes for attack-speed and lifesteal, and turns any trade into a bleeding contest you cannot win with a single Q. Walk behind minions so his arc must curve through creeps; if the axe misses his cooldown is long and that is your only window to CS without punishment. At level 2 he gains the full slow-into-lifesteal loop and can dive you under tower if you overextend, so match level, back off when his axe is up, and only touch him in the half-second after the axe lands and he has to run forward to retrieve it — that retrieve walk is the one moment he is committed without his slow.
The full Ryze 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 Ryze guide →
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