PROS WHEN PICKING RYZE + Amazing waveclear after getting mana items. + Ryze has killing pressure when splitpushing. + Safe first pick because of his waveclearing ability. + Insane teamfighting, gank setups and zoning capability. + Very mechanically intense and great playmaking ability. + You are able to invade and farm enemy jungle camps quickly, denying the enemy resources while getting yourself ahead. + Amazing to learn the fundamentals of midlane with, since making a missplay on this champion is often unforgiving. + Thrives in organized environments, so definitely an amazing pick for your 5v5 team if you need an AP control mage.

CONS WHEN PICKING RYZE - Ryze has a very short range and is thus easily targetable. - Very mana-hungry so you need to manage your mana extremely well. - It will hurt your jungler if you spend a lot of mana before the scuttle crab spawns. - His only form of self-peel is some movement speed and his Rune Prison ability which you can only use once. - His ultimate Realm Warp is useful, yet way less useless in SOLOQ. Coordination will often lack for it to be properly used. - Even though he can be picked blind because of his waveclear, he still has a lot of bad matchups. However, that doesn't mean you can't survive the lane, because in most matchups; you can.

Ryze is a versatile champion and can be picked into and against a lot of teamcompositions. As Ryze you really excel when you can play around your jungler, since you have great gank/kill setup with Rune Prison. You also have great waveclear because of low cooldowns on Spell Flux + Overload, this allows you to get lane priority and help your jungler first. Ryze thrives best when his team can peel for him and play around him (his root with Rune Prison and his damage). Ryze needs time to scale, but he excels in skirmishes and teamfights where he has the time to deal damage and catch people off with his Rune Prison. With his excellent waveclear he can splitpush very well and regroup with his team very quickly when needed, whether that is by walking after pushing a wave or by using his ultimate Realm Warp or Teleport.

Although Ryze has a lot of damage, he has an awful sustain problem this season because they removed the shielding he had. If you don't manage your waves correctly early in the game, you will definitely be zoned from your creeps or even killed since your escaping tools are below mediocre. Ryze relies, even more so than other champions, HEAVILY on good positioning and doesn't thrive when the enemy has a lot of cc, especially cc that is hard to dodge or just plain point-and-click. Every spell you cast locks you in place for a small time-frame, unlike for example Syndra or Orianna who can move while casting. Ryze's Spell Flux does spread, but tanky champions, like Maokai, are still a nuisance to him since he won't be able to access the backline properly. Champions with hard-engage are a nightmare for Ryze, since he doesn't have any movement abilities. Don't pick Ryze when your team is already heavy on magic damage since the whole point of Ryze is dealing magic damage in high amounts.

Let's first talk about maxing out your abilities. Ryze will almost always level his abilities in the same order, except when he has a tough time getting close at level 1. If thats the case, you go Spell Flux first instead and the flux spread will allow you to start stacking Manaflow Band.



I highly suggest you to read the abilities yourself so you know exactly what they do. To explain it in a few words; your Spell Flux and Rune Prison will reset Overload. The whole purpose of Ryze is playing around these resets. If an enemy has Spell Flux applied and you use Rune Prison he will be rooted, if he does not have Spell Flux on him, then he will be slowed by Rune Prison instead. Also if an enemy has Spell Flux applied your Overload will deal a lot of extra damage, both on minions and champions. Your ultimate abiliy Realm Warp has a passive that will give you extra damage whenever you level it up (40%/70%/100%, depending on skill level). When you use Rune Prison and Spell Flux it will give one stack on your Overload passive. If you didn't use Overload before you reached 2 stacks, it will give (28-44%, depending on skill level) movement speed the next time you use it; this passive ability does not have any cooldowns. Very useful for catching people off-guard since most people think you rely on Phase Rush to get close.

Going Conqueror on Ryze isn't as good as Phase Rush but can still be used if you play against a teamcomp which doesn't have a lot of damage or cc; it's also useful when you can't really escape anyway and have to take the fight. When your team has a lot of crowd control to peel you, it is also an option, yet more of a high-risk/high-reward choice. Taking the rune called Presence of Mind over Triumph is better since it will give you more damage later in the game; your passive that gives you AP scales of how much maximum mana you have. The third row and fourth row in the Precision tree can be flexed depending on your preference and enemy teamcomp.

Domination In this rune tree you should take Taste of Blood and Ravenous Hunter since it gives atleast some kind of sustain in lane while trading and Ravenous Hunter helps later in the game. You can also take Eyeball Collection instead of Taste of Blood in easy matchups for even more damage later in the game (you can change this to Zombie Ward in higher elo's).

Sorcery In the this rune tree you should take Manaflow Band since your passive scales with the amount of mana you have. Transcendence gives you resets and ability haste. You can choose between for Absolute Focus and Gathering Storm. They both scale pretty well, it's just that the second option scales much harder the longer the games take, which makes it great in low elo. Waterwalking is a great option if you want to take part in early river fights and if you want to roam a lot. Taking Scorch is a possibility for some extra early damage in some matchups, but the other runes are much more useful in my opinion since Ryze plays to scale anyway.

Resolve In the this rune tree you can take early game runes like Bone Plating and Second Wind to make it easier to survive in lane. Or you can decide to apply pressure in the laning phase a bit more with Demolish, for example if the enemy has a champion that you absolutely stomp or even better, when the enemy has a champion that roams a lot (since you can push waves incredibly fast with Ryze). If you want to go Resolve in a lane where you can scale for free you can take Conditioning combined with Overgrowth for a bit more late game survivability.

Inspiration In the this rune tree you should either take Biscuit Delivery for early game survivability or runes like Magical Footwear and Perfect Timing for scaling and gold-efficiency. Minion Dematerializer is not worth it, since you have amazing wave-clear anyway. Time Warp Tonic is useless when we go for tear first item. Future's Market has always been an okay option, but it is not necessary on Ryze. My favourite combination in this tree is Biscuit Delivery with Cosmic Insight.

The small rune shards should be: Ability Haste, Adaptive and Shield or Tenacity and Slow Resist. You can also take double Adaptive shards in harder matchups to have better waveclear (in order to push faster and avoid lane.)

As you can see, rune choices on Ryze can be pretty straightforward since the main goal is scaling. However, as you probably have noticed, you can still decide on runes that make you better at for example roaming or early fighting.

Teleport This is by far the strongest summoner spell on Ryze. It allows him to get his early items (e.g. Dark Seal with Refillable Potion) without missing too many minions. Sometimes you don't need to use it and then you can use it to counter a gank in another lane. It will also allow him the opportunity to split even better without worrying about not being able to attend a potential fight or objective play. When you choose another spell, remember that you won't have this amazing one anymore.

Cleanse Required in a few champion matchups that can lock you down for their jungler, for example Lissandra. I highly recommend not greeding on this since it will be awful to get zoned or pressured permanently, especially in lane but also after laning phase.

Ghost Very useful if you're versing against teamcomps who have a lot of skillshots. Champions like Cassiopeia are gonna struggle if they can't hit their crucial abilities on you. It's definitely an option you could consider, especially since now the movement speed ramp up got removed!

Ignite Taking this spell is possible for early pressure in lanes and river fights you are confident in. Ignite is often combined with Electrocute.

Exhaust This spell will allow you to stay alive in harder assassin matchups, for example Zed. Taking Exhaust is also very strong if you ever have to duel later in the game.

Barrier and Heal Both can be taken for more survivability. Remember that Ignite doesn't reduce the amount of shielding by Barrier, however it does lower the amount of healing by Heal. Not as strong as the other options.

Since I've been asked to go more in-depth about the items; I'll be explaining why you go a particular item.

Rod of Ages Standard item which works really well with scaling champions like Ryze. After 10 stacks it evolves and gives you a free level-up. This item has amazing stats.

Luden's Tempest Amazing first item vs squishies, since it gives AP, AH, Mana and Magic Pen. The passive gives you extra damage and it also gives movement speed. All other legendaries also get magic penetration which amplifies your damage against champions that want to build mainly damage!

Everfrost I like to build Everfrost, since you can root someone for a total of 3 seconds if you combo your spells right. Everfrost works exceptionally well versus targets without dashes and is the most picked tankier and more setup-oriented alternative to Luden's Tempest.

Liandry's Anguish When the enemy has a lot of champions that stack Health this item can be useful; since it ignores their magic resistance up to 15% and it deals maximum % health damage. Other than that it also gives you 80 AP, 600 Mana and 20 AH. The passive also gives you ability haste on your Legendary items, which works well with a battle-mage like Ryze.

Seraph's Embrace Completed version of AA. Gives a lot of AP when finished, much needed mana (which also translates into a lot of AP) and the ability to build tear early. You want to get this item very early, since it synergizes so well with Ryze's kit.

Zhonya's Hourglass Amazing item for extra survivability and it also works to deny some ultimate abilties like Zed's Death Mark. Remember that using Zhonya's Hourglass active 'Stasis' while using ultimate does NOT work anymore on Ryze.

Morellonomicon Frozen Heart is a great choice against champions that deal AD damage and rely on melee auto-attacks since this item gives you a lot of armor and lowers the attack speed of enemies that are close to you. This item also gives a great amount of mana, making it a useful combination with Riftmaker.

Banshee's Veil Verdant Barrier is a really useful surviving tool in AP matchups. The passive of Banshee's Veil is useful against champions who like to use their CC or ability as an engaging tool. It gives you a lot of AP, 45 MR and 10 AH.

Mejai's Soulstealer Very strong on AP champions, however this one is a bit more risky. Should only be build if you think you'll be able to stack it and stay alive. Also gives you 10% movement speed. This item is the cheapest Legendary item; it will give you the extra stats from your Mythic item of choice.

Rabadon's Deathcap Incredibly strong item on AP scaling champions, the passive gives you a total of 40% bonus AP. Since it's so expensive and scales off AP we buy it after a few core items.

Morellonomicon Item that's useful when the enemy has champions with a lot of healing. Applies more Grievous Wounds healing reduction when the enemy is below 50% health and Liandry's Torment re-applies it for a total of 4 extra seconds.

Rylai's Crystal Scepter Synergizes okay with Ryze's kit since it gives a AP, a lot of extra health and a slow that allows you to hit your spells once applied. Still, because there are better items to build right now, this item has become obsolete.

Ionian Boots of Lucidity Great for if you're snowballing and also works well with any active items like Everfrost that you might have. These are the boots I build the most right now.

Sorcerer's Shoes Great item for some early to mid game damage since it gives 18 magic penetration quite early.

Other Boots Defensive ARMOR/MR boots can be taken in harder lanes if you don't plan to build Zhonya's Hourglass, for example vs Zed. They can also be build if the enemy is very heavy on one AD/AP. Mercury's Treads are primarily amazing against CC since it gives the tenacity stat. For the other boots: I don't recommend the other boots since they dont work that well with Ryze's kit.

Ryze has a lot of combo's and most of them are improvisation; that's what makes the champion Ryze hard. "What combo is the best to use in this situation?" is what you need to ask yourself multiple times per game. Here are a few combo's that are basic on Ryze:

Q, W or E - Poking enemies or stacking Manaflow Band, but be careful with your mana.
EQ - Spread and damage. Good for waveclearing and poking the enemy.
EW - Rooting an enemy with Rune Prison. Good for setting up a quick play when your damage isn't important.
EEQ - Using the Overload movement speed passive to get close to enemies and catch them off-guard. Wait for your Spell Flux cooldown before casting Overload so you can continue the combo after.
QWEQ - Simple trading combo, the slow is often enough for you to hit your second Overload.
QEWQ - Basic combo when you want to escape quickly, this will proc the Overload movement speed passive. You can leave out the first Overload when needed.
EQWQ - When you don't have your Q you can use this combo. If you have enough distance between you and the target the enemy will get rooted, this is especially helpful when you have a ranged advantage.

Remember that you can wait with using your abilities in order for your Spell Flux to come off cooldown, so you can use the rest of your combo faster. So apply Spell Flux to an enemy and then wait till its almost off cooldown again. These two combo's are also useful:

QWQEQ - If you want to do the most damage you can ASAP. W is often enough of a slow for you to be able to connect your Q's.
QEQWQEQ (+ Everfrost -> EQ) - Ryze's "most advanced" full damage combo. At close to max range casting, Rune Prison will connect before Overload, rooting the target in place; allowing you to get all your damage off. After this combo immediately use Everfrost to lock him in place, allowing you to get an extra E+Q off.

A lot of Everfrost combo's from a Reddit user: Reddit Post.

Some tricks on Ryze:

Recalling while Realm Warp teleports will deny Realm Warp from teleporting you. When you use Realm Warp you want to walk out of it and walk/flash back in if there are enemies chasing you. If Ryze's character model is not facing the inner circle and you're on the outer edge of Realm Warp it will sometimes not take you with it. Using Zhonya's Hourglass will cancel the teleportation. Realm Warp can go over walls if you are closer to the other side of the wall with your character. You can ultimate before some abilities hit to deny the damage, for example: Karthus' Requiem, Zoe's Sleepy Trouble Bubble, Fizz' Chum the Waters. You can also use it to go back to lane to miss less creeps or join a skirmish or teamfight later in the game. Most types of crowd control (except for example slows) will cancel your ultimate so be careful when you use it! Don't use your Realm Warp to get close to champions with AOE abilities like Orianna, Malphite and Fiddlesticks, you will just bring in your team to die and potentially lose the game. Ryze is able to bring minions with him when he uses Realm Warp; this might be useful if you want to push a turret fast or deny someone a push. Zac blobs can be taken with you too. Also another tip: using Rune Prison on enemies will cancel their Teleport summoner spell. That's about it for the combo's and notes!

Ryze isn't necessarily the strongest early game; he can't trade carelessly. This doesn't mean that you can't trade or win lane though! Trading with Ryze is good in the early game especially vs matchups that are in your favour. Generally what you want to do is farm and stack your tear and the rune Manaflow Band every time is comes off cooldown. Remember that extra mana, even from runes like Manaflow Band, give you AP. If you play against melee matchups, you might be able to keep building slow pushes early-game, while poking the enemy, so it bounces back every time it hits he enemy tower. Ryze is a champion that excels in lane priority and denying the enemy resources (like taking enemy raptors), however you can also keep the wave on your side of the lane for your own safety and to potentially set up a gank with Rune Prison for your jungler. Definitely use pings or chat to communicate with your jungler when playing Ryze.

As a midlaner you always want to think of your lane as a part of the jungle, that you're actually 2v2 instead of 1v1. Before the game starts think about who is a threat to you (even supports and toplaners can roam and be annoying) and whether you can win skirmishes with your jungler vs their midlaner and jungler. Depending on if you have a decently strong jungler (like Lee Sin, Elise, Graves or Jarvan IV) you will be able to join scuttle fights, given that you didn't spend too much mana in lane. If your jungler is a strong invader, you can try to keep slow pushing your waves and join him; since if you crash a wave the enemy laner has to decide between missing minions or helping out. You always want to hug the side of the lane where you placed your Stealth Ward or hover the side where your jungler is. You want to put a Control Ward in the bush at the side you want to roam the most to this game (e.g. you want to roam bot; place a Control Ward in the bot-side bush, you can ward the "pixel" bush too (the ones in the middle of the river), however the "pixel" bush most often gets warded by someone else on your team). Later in the game you want to keep pushing waves and farm up by taking jungle camps and roam to exert pressure on the map; preferably roaming together with your jungler.

When the first turret goes down you want to go to a sidelane so you don't share creeps with your teammates. I won't go too in-depth about the art of splitpushing; but basically it functions as a tool to exert pressure on the enemy. Splitpushing will force the enemy to choose between taking the wave that's about to die or hit their turret or staying with their team to guard them. If you are REALLY strong then they might even have to send two people to contest you. While splitpushing you want to keep looking at the map. If there is someone coming to you or multiple enemies are missing on the map you want to be a bit more careful and most likely back off till they reappear on the map. Having a deep Stealth Ward will help you exert more pressure with splitpushing since you'll know when enemies are rotating.

If you can't pressure the turret, you want to push the wave to their tower and hover your team while being out of vision or take the enemy jungle camps depending on the state of the game. When the wave starts pushing back you can start walking back to the sidelane to push it again. Depending on whether you have the summoner spell Teleport up or not, you need to choose a sidelane that's further or closer to the next objective that will appear on the map; in that order. Keep doing, this, farm up and try to group with your team when possible and take Baron Nashor when the enemy gets caught to end the game!

I hope you liked my guide. I hope I have the motivation to make more extensive guides for other champions too so I can help you guys out. Please leave a thumbs-up if you liked the guide and I'd love it if you could follow me on Twitch: Lodart!

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