Hello, My name is Mythius i may not be one of those flashy high elo ranked players or have all the flashy flashy runes, but i am skilled in mechanics and the champions i play. For this guide i enjoyed playing Ryze so much, but then he eventually got out dated and it wasn't a valuable pick anymore. But with the new recent updates and buffs he has received it allows you to revive the once great Melee Mage.

This guide is semi indepth with runes and abilities and a little about the items that you build and his core.

This is my very first guide so any comments on how to improve would be great.

Pro's:

Ultra Easy to pick

Gets stronger with Mana

Late game huge Mana pool

There is no true counter if played correctly

Often underrated/underestimated

Arguably the tankiest mage in game

Reliable to carry teams

If Fed then he does whatever the hell he pleases.

Cons:

Hard to Play (Master)

Requires understanding of game mechanics

All spells except from your ultimate require you to be still.

Long ranged champs are hard to play against.

No reliable escape mechanism (Besides Flash)

Relatively squishy until he buys core items.

If denied from farming things can get ugly

So the main end game build that i strive to get consists of these.

Mercury Treads, Seraph's Embrace, Rod of Ages, Ludens Echo, Zhonya's Hour, Void Staff, Greater Vision Totem.

Which the total cost of the build round about is 14.6k. The stats you'll have end game with this build I'll list below.

Stats:

3.1k HP

3.3k MP

104 AD

308AP

212 Armor

150 Magic Resistance

35% Tenacity

7.8 Flat Magic Penetration

35% Perfect Magic Penetration

9% Spell Vamp (From Ult)

15% Increased Healing

40% Cool-down Reduction

411 Movement Speed (With boots upgraded to Alacrity)

I went through and calculated that in a custom game just to give an idea of why i run these items.

When playing my first buy because i like to play passive and if gank is available go for the kill are. Crystalline Flask, Vision Ward, Total Biscuit of Rejuvenation. It's a relatively passive start great sustain and every time i head to base i get free potions. With the added Vision totem I'm allowed to place one at key choke points as-well as one at my lane.
For more of an aggressive start i'd just simply swap out my vision ward and flask for a Sapphire Crystal and 2x Biscuits. Simply because the Sapphire allows me to build into Catalyst the Protector which later builds into one of my core items Rod of The Ages.

My First back always varies on situations, but one item always stays the same Tear of the Goddess it proves such an amazing boost for little cost. Then if I'm vsing a mobile opponent that is landing abilities more then i would like I'd go for Boots of Speed that little bit more movement makes that much of a difference. If not I'll simply start building into Rod of The Ages.

Then after that i practically just build into my cores all on the situation after I've rushed my Rod of The Ages, if I'm doing good don't need that defensive aspect of Zhonya's I'll start into either a Luden's Echo or if my damage is lacking a Void Staff.

For an example build order that i use on one or more occasions is the following.

Greater Totem>Sapphire Crystal>Tear of the Goddess>Catalyst the Protector>Rod of Ages>Boots of Speed>Seraph's Embrace>Mercury's Treads>Luden's Echo>Zhonya's Hourglass>Void Staff

But once again that is purely situational I'm never building items without taking in note of what is happening around me. Even then sometimes i won't touch a Luden's Echo and opt for another defensive item.

Different Situational Boots:

Like i stated above my Mercury's Treads are totally just the base item feel free to swap change on situations or player style. Here are some good alternatives.

Ninja Tabi:

If your enemy team has fed ADC or just mainly AD champions.

Sorcerer's Shoes:

Most Ryze players opt for these since you are an AP Carry after all and you need Magic Penetration, on top of that they're not expensive which makes them a good set of boots. Regarding the Magic Penetration if you opt for Void Staff these are not really needed.

Now onto the boot enchantment Alacrity.

It's personally my favorite enchantment for Ryze once again because his very reliant on movement speed the +20 solid movement bonus is really nice. Allowing you to chase down or escape easier.