League Classic matchup
Nasus vs Olaf
The lane, from both sides
Nasus’s side
- Weak against Olaffrom the Top AD Juggernaut build (Top)
Reckless SwingReckless SwingEActive: Olaf strikes thunder onto the target enemy, dealing true damage.'s true damage ignores the armor Nasus builds, 
RagnarokRagnarokRActive: Olaf becomes enraged for 6 seconds, cleansing himself of all crowd control and becoming immune to them, as well as gaining bonus armor, bonus magic resistance, and lethality. answers 
WitherWitherWActive: Nasus ages the target enemy champion for 5 seconds, slowing them by 35% and crippling them by 17.5%, both increasing every second over the duration. entirely, and 
Vicious StrikesVicious StrikesWActive: For 6 seconds, Olaf gains bonus attack damage, life steal, and spell vamp. out-sustains 
Soul EaterSoul EaterPassiveInnate: Nasus gains 10/15/20% life steal at levels 1/6/11. in the trade that decides the lane.
Olaf’s side
- Strong against Nasusfrom the Jungle AD Bruiser build (Jungle)WitherWitherWActive: Nasus ages the target enemy champion for 5 seconds, slowing them by 35% and crippling them by 17.5%, both increasing every second over the duration. is crowd control and RagnarokRagnarokRActive: Olaf becomes enraged for 6 seconds, cleansing himself of all crowd control and becoming immune to them, as well as gaining bonus armor, bonus magic resistance, and lethality. is the answer to crowd control. Reckless SwingReckless SwingEActive: Olaf strikes thunder onto the target enemy, dealing true damage. ignores the armor Nasus stacks, and Vicious StrikesVicious StrikesWActive: For 6 seconds, Olaf gains bonus attack damage, life steal, and spell vamp. out-sustains Soul EaterSoul EaterPassiveInnate: Nasus gains 10/15/20% life steal at levels 1/6/11..
The lane in detail
NasusOlafOlaf-favored: Ragnarok answers the only slow
Siphoning Strike has no cap; Reckless Swing does not need one.
Reckless SwingReckless SwingEActive: Olaf strikes thunder onto the target enemy, dealing true damage. deals true damage, so Frozen Heart's armor cannot reduce it. Nasus still gains health and sustain from his build, but must keep those separate from his defense against Olaf's attacks.
Who has the lane, level by level
1–56–11- 1–5Olaf: True damage without spending mana
- 6–11Olaf: Ragnarok erases Wither for six seconds
- 12–18Even: More Spirit Fire ranks join the stacked strike
- 1Reckless SwingLevel 1: 100 true damage from the first level, on a 9 second cooldown
- 2WitherLevel 2: 100 mana from a level 2 pool of 290 before items
- 6RagnarokLevel 6: Six seconds in which Wither does not exist, every 100
- 6Fury of the SandsLevel 6: 300 bonus health, and 100 more cast range on Wither
- 9Siphoning StrikeLevel 9: Rank 5: every 4 seconds, 110 plus every stack banked
- 9Reckless SwingLevel 9: Rank 5: the cooldown reaches 5 and the number reaches 340
The numbers, head to head
NasusOlafRank 5 main spell
Nasus's number keeps climbing past rank 5; Olaf's stops at 340.
Slow at rank 1
WitherWitherWActive: Nasus ages the target enemy champion for 5 seconds, slowing them by 35% and crippling them by 17.5%, both increasing every second over the duration. also cripples attack speed, from 17.5% upward across the 5 seconds.
Life steal in a long trade
Soul EaterSoul EaterPassiveInnate: Nasus gains 10/15/20% life steal at levels 1/6/11. never turns off; Vicious StrikesVicious StrikesWActive: For 6 seconds, Olaf gains bonus attack damage, life steal, and spell vamp. costs 40 mana and 12 seconds.
Ultimates at first rank
RagnarokRagnarokRActive: Olaf becomes enraged for 6 seconds, cleansing himself of all crowd control and becoming immune to them, as well as gaining bonus armor, bonus magic resistance, and lethality. returns 20 seconds sooner and drops to 50 mana at rank 3.
Armor removed versus armor penetrated
Spirit FireSpirit FireEActive: Nasus unleashes a spirit fire at the target location, granting sight of the area for 2.5 seconds and, after a 0.25 delay, dealing magic damage to enemies within. The fire then remains for 5 seconds, dealing magic damage each second to enemies within and inflicting them with armor penetration, lingering for 1 second. is the third max here and gets no point before level 12.
Reach, from above
Nasus
Olaf
Rings are ranges in game units, both radars on one scale. Abilities wear their icon, the basic attack wears the champion’s own face; the dashed ring wearing the opponent’s face is their longest reach.
The item race
Nasus
300g15 armor out of the only start this build lists, and true damage does not read armor.
1400gThe step toward Spirit Visage. Its 45 magic resist answers nothing Olaf casts; the 200 health does.
2750g400 health, and 20% added to every point Soul Eater steals back.
3000g920 health, plus 3.5 per minion killed, on the champion who was farming anyway.
Olaf
1000gNasus must land basic attacks for Soul Eater. The attack reduction limits that part of his trades.
800g10% life steal for 800 gold, which Vicious Strikes adds another 9% on top of.
3300gCleave hits the wave and the champion in one attack, which is how the stacks get denied.
3300g700 health and a 40% slow on every melee hit, so the trade ends when Olaf says.
Play it as Nasus
- 1Spend WitherWitherWActive: Nasus ages the target enemy champion for 5 seconds, slowing them by 35% and crippling them by 17.5%, both increasing every second over the duration. after RagnarokRagnarokRActive: Olaf becomes enraged for 6 seconds, cleansing himself of all crowd control and becoming immune to them, as well as gaining bonus armor, bonus magic resistance, and lethality., not before. Six seconds of immunity turns a 100 mana slow into nothing.
- 2Last-hit through the trade. Six stacks come off a large minion and three off a small one.
- 3Buy health over armor here. True damage reads neither the 22.5 he starts with nor Frozen Heart's 95.
Play it as Olaf
- 1Use
UndertowUndertowQActive: Olaf throws an axe to the target location that deals physical damage to enemies it passes through and slows them decaying over 2.5 seconds. The axe remains in place for a duration equal to Undertow's cooldown, granting sight of its surroundings for 0.5 seconds. Olaf can pick up the axe to reduce Undertow's cooldown by 4.5 seconds. to push Nasus under his tower, then pressure his last hits while staying clear of tower fire. - 2Use RagnarokRagnarokRActive: Olaf becomes enraged for 6 seconds, cleansing himself of all crowd control and becoming immune to them, as well as gaining bonus armor, bonus magic resistance, and lethality. to clear WitherWitherWActive: Nasus ages the target enemy champion for 5 seconds, slowing them by 35% and crippling them by 17.5%, both increasing every second over the duration. when committing to the chase. Once it ends, Nasus can slow you again.
- 3Cast Reckless SwingReckless SwingEActive: Olaf strikes thunder onto the target enemy, dealing true damage. from 325 before Nasus closes to melee reach. It spends health instead of mana.
The catch
RagnarokRagnarokRActive: Olaf becomes enraged for 6 seconds, cleansing himself of all crowd control and becoming immune to them, as well as gaining bonus armor, bonus magic resistance, and lethality. clears WitherWitherWActive: Nasus ages the target enemy champion for 5 seconds, slowing them by 35% and crippling them by 17.5%, both increasing every second over the duration. and protects Olaf from further crowd control for 6 seconds. Nasus can use health from Spirit Visage or Warmog's against true damage, but armor alone will not help. Reckless SwingReckless SwingEActive: Olaf strikes thunder onto the target enemy, dealing true damage. spends no mana; its health cost is not represented by that mana figure.
The kits at a glance
Nasus
Full abilities- Soul Eater
- Siphoning Strike
- Wither
- Spirit Fire
- Fury of the Sands
Olaf
Full abilities- Berserker Rage
- Undertow
- Vicious Strikes
- Reckless Swing
- Ragnarok
Base stats, side by side
| Stat | Nasus | Olaf |
|---|---|---|
| Health | 500 (+90) | 534 (+93) |
| HP regen | 1.68 (+0.18) | 1.58 (+0.18) |
| Mana | 245 (+45) | 270 (+45) |
| Attack damage | 56.8 (+3.5) | 57.6 (+3.5) |
| Armor | 22.5 (+3.5) | 24 (+3) |
| Magic resist | 31.25 (+1.25) | 31.25 (+1.25) |
| Attack speed | 0.638 (+3.48) | 0.694 (+2.7) |
| Move speed | 350 | 350 |
| Attack range | 125 | 125 |
Level-1 values with per-level growth in parentheses, read from the Classic client and re-checked against it on every update.
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