First appearing in season 4.5 with the brand new tribe – the Butcher, Olaf quickly became an extremely powerful carry in Teamfight Tactics. However, this was only true until version 11.4; Olaf has become incredibly weak at this point. In fact, according to the lead designer of Teamfight Tactics – Riot Mortdog, Olaf is currently the worst 4-cost 2-star unit.
Riot Mortdog: “Below is a chart showing the rate of reaching top 4 among 4-cost 2-star units. Olaf’s chart shows that as the game progresses into the late game, this unit becomes weaker and has the lowest rate of reaching top 4 compared to other 4-cost 2-star units.”
In fact, Olaf himself hasn’t been nerfed too much in season 4.5 of Teamfight Tactics. The last time this unit was nerfed was just a reduction of 5 base attack damage, which is a relatively small amount. Meanwhile, changes regarding the reduction of additional attack damage and healing from the Butcher system have significantly impacted Olaf. This makes this unit easier to take down and more dependent on items to ensure damage output.
Speaking of items, Olaf also lost a considerable amount of damage when the Death’s Sword was nerfed in patch 11.5. Previously, the Runaan’s Hurricane was stripped of its ability to trigger splash damage effects from Olaf’s abilities. As “signature items” were gradually nerfed by Riot Games, it’s understandable that Olaf has weakened.
Moreover, Olaf’s champion type is being heavily countered by the current meta, preventing this unit from shining. From patch 11.4 and earlier, Teamfight Tactics players still paid great attention to backline carries like Kayle, Aurelion Sol, Kalista… At that time, players wouldn’t invest too much in the frontline and only use a modest number of champions in a tank role.
This allows Olaf to maximize his power by being able to take down the opponent’s frontline units, stacking the Death’s Sword and “cleaning up” the backline. However, with the emergence of various “tanky” compositions in the current meta such as Guardians, Vanguard – Mystic, Brawlers… Olaf can no longer dominate.
As a result, Olaf players often find themselves lacking damage, unable to quickly take down opponents and losing matches. Hence, Riot Mortdog announced the unfortunate statistics for Olaf as mentioned above. This champion simply no longer fits the meta and is not worthy of player investment in the late game.
If you still want to play a Butcher composition, the advice is to switch to using Tryndamere or Samira as your main carry. These champions have tools to reach the opponent’s backline, helping you take down the enemy carries much easier than Olaf.
