Hello everyone at Mobafire and welcome to my guide to Ryze! I believe that Ryze is one of the best harass, early, mid, and late game champs in the game. If played correctly Ryze can 1v1 most champs and do mass damage to an entire team in team fights. I have gone plenty of games with 30+ kills and almost never go negative. Take the time to read through the guide and learn not only what items to buy with Ryze but how to play him as well, which is just as important! Thanks and dont forget to comment and vote +1 if you like the guild!

Pros

Bulky
Huge burst damage
Good Team fighter
Ranged

Cons

Early game mana issues

The runes that i picked are what i use to get the max amount of mana/CD reduction possible. It is really imprtant for Ryze to get as much mana as possible because of how his abilities work. Ryze does not us AP but instead his max mana. The more mana that he has the more damage his abilities do because they are based on his max mana. So using the runes i have listed give a nice balance between mana for early game and late and CD reduction.BTW, I have so many different types of runes because some are for a set amount of mana to buff you early game and some add mana by the level for better end game. Helps balance out Ryze, I dont know why people think a veriaty of runes is a bad thing, especially considering they are mostly mana runes.

I put the 9 points into the offensive tree to get the spell pen, then i put the remaining into utility because Ryze doesnt have much of it. Putting the points into utility gets you extra mana, mana regen, and CD reduction, all things Ryze needs.

The items that are listed are what make Ryze such a beast. Starting off with saphire crystal helps a ton at the start because it gives you extra damage right away. After you get your Tear of goddess you can start last shotting minions with your Q ability to get extra gold, you want to start spamming your abilities on minions to farm once you have a stable mana base. Moving on to the later game items, obviously get caster boots, then rod of ages, because of the mass amount of mana you get from it. Later on you are able to stack the defensive items like banshees veil and frozen heart to make you a bulky champ with an amazing amount of burst damage. HP + MP = Bulky Damage. Archangels Staff is not bad for Ryze! So many people belive it is because it gives AP, The reason i pick it near the end is because its the only item that gives a lot of mana (400) for more damage and doesnt have a unique passive. Your E ability runs ONLY off of AP, not mana, its the only one. So Because your mana is so high at this point it will give you a big buff for you E ability. Is not bad!
Core Build

At the very start you want to get a point into you Q ability , then a point into W and E You want to max out your Q ability asap. it is one of the best harass in the game if you use it right. You can tear people down to nearly half life in the first few minutes of the game without being touched. After that you want to put as many points into your W ability because of the huge damage it does and the snare it gives. after that you want to put points into your E ability for the magic resist debuff it puts on them. (Obviously put points into Ult whenever possible)

Your summoner spells are so important. Many people would disagree with having on Ryze but when used correctly it will get you kills even first blood. Your goal is to get mid lane and get as fed as possible, and much of this is on you. I will explain why the summoner spells chosen are so important later in the guide.
- A great spell even with the recent nerf of it, helps to get away, can still get over walls with it, and great for initiating with your burst to kill in mid lane with Ryze
- Like i said many people dont like this spell on Ryze but many people do, I put into example later why I choose it but really its a great spell to shut down an AD carry and to delay the enemy until you can get your next burst attack on them.

Other Possible Smmoner Spells

- With the recent nerf of flash, switching to ghost is definitly not a bad idea, many people will probably do this as in some cases it will be more useful, I will be sticking to flash but thats just a personal preferance and its totally up to you.
- Some people like to use ignite on Ryze, its really not a bad spell and can be helpful for when you use your spell burst but they just barley survive,I just prefer having th exhaust because it allows you to delay them until you can use your next burst.
- In my opinion pretty useless, only mana problems are very early game and this spell will quickly become uneeded, and even more if your midding without giving your partner extra mana, but some people disagree and think its helpful for staying in lane.
- Not a bad spell for anyone who is playing mid but i dont like to go back very often anyway unless the other person leaves the lane so i usually find myself able to get back the the lane by the time they do.

The most important part of the game for Ryze. Although it is not so important that you get super fed right away, it is so helpful and if you can go 2-0 at mid lane in the start the game is pretty much over. Here is how you get first blood and own mid lane like a boss. When you get to your lane you want to harass as much as possible with your ability, bring them to about half life and keep them there, you dont want them to b. Keep up the harass until you hit level 4. At this point you should have 2 points in your ability. Let them over extend a little bit then in and use your ability, Then use your to bring down their magic resist. Then your to snare them. At this point your ability WILL be back up. so use it again, this should get you first blood. but if they are not dead then simply exhaust them until your is back up then red ball the ***** in the face till hes dead. You win :)
So your spell rotations should look like this: (If needed) And repeat! This is your burt rotation, which should kill just about anyone from half heatlh (except for people with a lot of magic resist)

Mid game you should be trying to rack up kills in your lane and get your items as fast as you can. stay in the lane trying to over level your opponent. At this point you can set up ganks in other lanes with your teammates to get more kills. Use your ult to farm minions, yes i said ult on minions. Ryze has a very short CD on his ult and everytime he uses and ability the CD on all his other abilities goes down by one second. this means if you use your ult, then cast a spell. the CD on your ult is already down by one second, this is why you use your ability first before your snare. because then you are able to get to big red balls off before they can get away. the more big red balls the better. Btw... Big red ball = Late game you should be team fighting. Team fighting is pretty straight forward. You are bulky because of the health the items give but dont be overly aggresive. Just because you are bulky does not make you unkillable, Ryze has almost no escape other than his snare and flash, but against 3 to 5 other opponents if he is caught he is probably dead. So let your tank initiate then pop your ult. Try aiming for the squishiest of the team and then use your burst rotation on them, this could kill them depending on how fed you are (I have 3 shot AD carries end game before) if not, then they will be forced to retreat. The AoE that your ult allows will also do mass damage to the allies around the carry. This will give your team a massive advantage in team fights. Once your burt rotation is over, wait for your cooldowns to be done then repeat the cycle.

Ryze is a beast. He IS the best dps in the game if build right, im telling you if you can complete this build end game you will blow peoples faces off. Play him hes not that difficult, get good at harassing, and you will be unstoppable. Please vote and comment, letting me know if i left anything out or if you have any questions.

And remember the goal! Make them fear THE BIG RED BALL!

To be honest with you i had always gotten a little stuck at this point. Do i go with another or another mana heavy item to get more damage, or maybe a defensive item? In the end i decided that a defensive item is the way to go. You dont have to get but it is a good choice. If they are really AD heavy, go with and if they are really AP heavy then go with it is really up to you but i found that a defensive item for your 6th slot helps the most with survivability to max your damage output because at this point they are probably focusing you first.

10/10/11 - Added 6th item slot chaper
10/19/2011 - Readjusted the runes for less variety and more of the same rune (Better not worse)
11/12/11 - Upated end game tab (more in depth)
11/12/11 - Updated Introduction
11/30/11 - Added Other Possibly Summoner Spells