I started playing Olaf top lane recently and have been quite dominant in lane. However, before I take him into ranked I need some more experienced players to clear some things up.

1. Starting Items: I've always felt it is safer to start with a ward so I can push the lane freely and sustain in lane until I am able to get my big ticket item. Most guides say boots3 or cloth5 but I feel like Faerie Charm + Rej Bead + pot + ward would be a better start if facing an easier lane which is often the case when playing Olaf. Is philosopher stone still a good first item on Olaf top?

2. Masteries: People tend to go 9/21/0 most often which I completely agree with based on his kit. In the Defensive Tree, I see people skip Honor Guard which I don't understand. Is it really that bad? Also I've never thought defender was that great but seems many people take that on Olaf. In the Offensive Tree, there are mixed reviews of taking summoner's wrath or not taking it. It always seems like since I'm taking ghost ignite summoner's wrath is a must have. With the remaining 3 points in tier 1 should I get fury or sorcery?

3. Runes: Which quint is the best on top lane Olaf and why? I've been using speed quints but also own flat HP and flat AD

4: Items: Should I rush Warmogs first or should I rush Frozen Mallet? I've had really good experience with Warmogs but many guides say go Phage then Mallet. Also which item that builds out of kindle gem is the best? I'm leaning towards Shurelyas since that item builds out of philo stone and it would work well with my starting items. Heard people say zekes is good also spirit visage.

Please also state your elo if you play Olaf in ranked.

Top ELO: 1353
Current ELO: 1305
Ranked Wins as Olaf: 2/2

Starting Items: I tend to go with boots3, and then grab a ward on my first back, as the jungler wont always gank in that time. Try not to push the lane too much and you're good.

Masteries: I go 21/9/0, getting health (durability and vet's scars) and 2 in both Armor and MR, and then going through the Offense tree. I do this because it helps the damage, where as all your tankiness can be received through items. Summoner's Wrath is a must for me, since I go Ignite/Flash. Sometimes I'll pop Ignite when I go in on the enemy laner, for that extra 5 AD in the fight, plus the damage coming from the Ignite itself.

Runes: I go ArPen quints, though AD quints would be good, too.

Items: My typical standard build on Olaf is Frozen Mallet from Phage, Sunfire Cape, Maw of Malmortius, Randuin's, Warmog's, BotRK. Expensive as hell, and I dont always get all of the items, but its full of Health and Armor and MR and more damage.

It's decent, but typically raw HP is superior to HP regen. Depends on how the lane is playing out TBH, but it makes more sense to get both. Olaf's got a butt load of true damage early game and scales well for DPS building nothing but HP, so he can forgo DPS items a lot longer than your average melee bruiser would. An extremely generic start for Olaf would be a regrowth pendant and phage.

But you should always start with boots in top lane, especially if you're picking before your opponent. Olaf's only good so long as he can't be kited.

To a degree Olaf wants to get hurt, which is probably why they forgo honor guard.

Five potential armor and MR for one point spent is a good trade off.

There's no right answer for which tier 1 masteries to take in offense.

Speed or HP. Again, early game, where runes tend to matter the most, Olaf can afford to neglect AD.

Neither. Warmogg's is too much of an investment to just straight up rush it. It's a lot of HP, and while Olaf is one of the few characters who's really more or less OK getting it early game, it still isn't that good.

And neither is Frozen Mallet. Phage is fine, finer than fine, but the cost of admission to jump from Phage to Frozen Mallet is prohibitive for a reason. Sometimes it'll make sense but generally there's a better gold value in virtually any other item in terms of offense or defense.

Situationally all three items you listed from the Kindle Gem are good ideas. Generally because mobility is so critical to Olaf, shurelia's is the short answer.

I consider myself a good Olaf player, and I often carry my team with him. Here's my build:

1. Cloth Armor + 4 Health Pots + 1 Mana Pot
2. Phage
3. Ninja Tabi
4. Frozen Mallet
5. Ravenous Hydra
6. Warmog's Armor
7. Wit's End

If you somehow manage to get this build and have gold left over, I suggest you go a Runic Bulwark for defense or an Atma's Impaler for offense. I often go for the Atma's.

Runes and Masteries are up to you, but I use:
9/21/0 Masteries
Armor Pen. and % Crit Chance Runes (my only AD rune page).

As for Summoner Spells, I almost only use Ghost + Ignite.

Good luck!

More about the game play. I feel like as Olaf I usually dominate the early game. Once I start ripping kids they just fall back to tower and I can only harass with axes. Because of this, I feel like that early mana regen is really helpful since my axes take so much mana early on. Is it smart to just level axes and build mana regen into philosopher stone or is there too much of an opportunity cost wasted for not building hp or cdr early on?

If you're pwning and pushing them back to tower, get your minions there then go put pressure on mid. Try not to use your axes so much, except for getting minions you cant reach or harrassing conservatively.

You could build philo stone into shurelya's, but your support is probably gonna get that, so I would go straight for hp/dmg/cdr, whatever you feel is best.

Don't. He got nerfed really really hard today. Find a new top.

Yeah, saw that nerf last night and immediately when to normals to get some last good play on the Brolaf before the nerf absolutely pwns him.

+1

Olaf is my main and my build is:
1. boots and 3
2. rush sunfire cape (it gives great AoE and makes getting CS easier)
3. Berserker's Greaves
4. warwog's armor
5. Maw of Malmortius or Spirit Visage
Then you can get whatever you need depending on the team. Wriggle's lantern but get that first if you want it. I like to get a Bloodthister or Ravenous Hydra but I find you dont need much AD as olaf because if you have a lot of heath, you get a lot of damage with your W. I also find Randuin's Omen good if they have a lot of AD.