Hey guys it's me again! My IGN is Pokemon Black and I have made one other guide before for Nidalee ( Nidalee Guide ) way back in the day. I am currently Platinum 5 trying to get to Diamond like I did in Season 3. I've played hundreds of ranked games along with many games on my smurf accounts.

Typically if you don't have lots of IP to buy all the runes, here is a basic set that will work with Ryze:

But, the runes I ideally think work with the meta right now for AP toplaners should be these since they scale well, especially with items:

Ryze's abilities scale off AP and Mana. Therefore we mainly focus on items that can provide him with enough mana to spam his spells and give him ample damage! The OG core items every Ryze needs is the Rod of Ages and Seraph's Embrace. These give Ryze great Health, Mana, Sustain, a Shield, Mana Regen, and Ability Power!

For boots you should either go Sorcerer's Shoes - Homeguard or Mercury's Treads - Homeguard. If you are actively aggressive and there's not too much Crowd Control (CC) or damage onto you, go Sorc. Shoes. If you are getting focussed with AP damage and Crowd Control, then go Merc. Treads.

Your fourth item slot should be dedicated to Void Staff because it gives you AP, and Magic Pen which is even better because your Spell Flux also reduces the enemy's Magic Resist. The enemy's MR can be further weathered down if you decide to buy a Abyssal Mask which also reduces ALL the enemy's MR within 700 distance. This means your damage > their MR.

The final item slot can be used for a various amount of options now that Patch 5.13 came out with more viable AP items. Rabadon's Deathcap gives you more AP to do more damage. Void Staff provides Spell Penetration and AP to get through those Magic Resistant defences. Luden's Tempest makes your damage do more splash or AoE damage in fights to more people. Rylai's Crystal Scepter gives you slows to your abilities, giving your team more soft CC and peel. Lastly, Zhonya's Hourglass gives you tankiness and damage along with a safety option with its immunity to damage; doubling this item with Seraph's Embrace gives you a shield AND invincibility so keep that sweet combo in mind. Abyssal Mask is also good if you want to shred their MR while mitigating enemy AP damage as well.

Let's talk Masteries. Why do you put points in what you do? Want to know more than what to go? Here is a little in-depth analysis. 21/9/0 is prime. That is all. JK. We put a point in Double-Edged Sword because trading will be better b/c more damage; you will win trades. 4 points in Sorcery grants us 5% CDR! Add that to level 16 Ryze ult passive CDR = 35% CDR lvl 16 with no items. This means no more CDR Items b/c waste of stats and stuff. Mental Force means more AP. Mo' AP mo' better. Same thing goes for Arcane Mastery, why would we even go AD? Free AP is best AP. Executioner and Dangerous Game allows us to pick up kills easier and survive when you barely die fighting to the death (ignite < dangerous game). Archmage also gives us AP, I don't know why this needs explaining since Ryze is AP and not AD, getting AD masteries means you are a special breed. Arcane Blade gives you a little more damage on your autos based on your AP. Devastating Strikes and Havoc gives more damage as well, simple enough. Giving Ryze AD masteries or other ones don't benefit him in any way.

Toplaners should always 100% of the time bring Teleport because they are considered alone on their toplane island and the best way to get back to that island OR more preferably join a teamfight is to use Teleport to get their fastest.

Another must-have for Ryze is Flash because it's the most versatile and useful spell all champions should bring for the most part. It provides safety as well as aggression with its quick movement. You can escape a deadly gank or set up a kill with it.

COMBO TIME. Ryze's Passive Ability is Arcane Mastery which after casting 5 abilities within ten second intervals, gives him a Mana Shield based on his maximum mana that blocks damage much like Blitzcrank! When his Mana Shield is up, you can spam your abilities to lower the cooldowns of the other abilities you have, including your ultimate! Maxing your Q allows your passive a longer duration (5 second max duration)!

Basic Ryze's/Quick Combo:
Overload -> Rune Prison -> Spell Flux -> Overload
OR
Overload -> Spell Flux -> Rune Prison -> Overload

Chain Snare Combo Technique:
Rune Prison -> Overload -> Spell Flux -> Overload etc, you can get about 3 snares into this combo at max CDR/Ability maxing

Waveclear Technique or Teamfight Damage AoE:
Desperate Power -> Spell Flux This combo allows you to eliminate whole waves of minions due to the AoE ultimate add-on to your abilities! If there is a teamfight, the AoE burst of many enemies huddled together is deadly in the same context to the minion wave.
If your enemy laner is inside a minion wave trying to avoid your damage, simply use this combo to not only get rid of the minion wave but to megaburst their HP as well since they are inside the minion wave as well, tanking all your AoE damage. This also forces them out into the open if the wave is melted which makes it easier to land your Q and combos etc.

LCS Pro Tip: Use your Q to poke and weave into your combos when available

Crazy Technique:
Slam your face into your keyboard and let the Gods' choose your order and destroy thy enemies (order doesnt matter since you will kill anyone no matter what)

Ryze is a tanky AP/Mana Damage dealer. He excels in trades and dealing damage to one or more enemies at once.

Early Game
Early game you are simply trying to farm and get your Tear of the Goddess quickly to start stacking it. You can buy it for 720 gold which isn't too bad at all. Ryze should try to conserve mana in the very early game because it can get depleted quickly due to lack of mana items. Try to last hit with auto attacks if possible and use your Overload to secure minions at a distance or if you mess up your auto attacks. It's never a bad idea to abuse your enemy laner with your Overload as well.

Mid Game
You should have some ample items to assist you in more aggressive play thanks to your growing mana pool. Setting up ganks with your snare is a must. Try to use your Teleport to join in skirmishes bot lane or dragon secures/dragon fights. Gain items, fight, scale.

Late Game
Teamfight. Youre bulky at this point and do a lot of damage. You should have your items at this point fully scaled so as long as you dont get caught out you should be fine. Ryze has no escapes outside of flash so make sure not to randomly die because your team will lose the game. Keep damage coming out of you constantly, try to burst down squishies and wear down frontlines. Your snares will be key to locking up targets for yourself and your team.