Hello, Welcome to a Ryze guide for all skill levels! The first champion I ever played when I started playing League of Legends in Season 3 was Ryze and have loved him ever since. Being the first champ I bought, he was the only champ I played to get to level 30. As my love grew for him so did my love for mid lane! I eventually bought all his skins and bought full runes built for him, and to this day I main mid lane and still love playing Ryze. I am now Gold V and have seen Ryze undergo many changes! I never forget where I started and wanted to create a guide so others may follow in my footsteps. Enjoy the guide!

Pros

+Insane Burst
+Great Team Fighter
+Easy to Learn
+Easy to Farm
+Can Carry
+Amazing Mid/Late Game


Cons

-Few Escape Tools
-Mediocre Auto Attacks
-Difficult to Master
-Bad Lane Pusher
-Prone to CC

Many have questioned how useful movement quints can be, I've found them very useful for Ryze to catch up to fleeing opponents and to get harass in lane easily.

If you don't want to jump on the movement speed quint bandwagon, just go for spell vamp or scaling mana.

23 Offence
7 Utility

The 7 Utility I believe is important for more teleports and more mana regen during laning phase. And the offence is standard for most mid laners.

Sapphire Crystal
Standard start for a Ryze. Gives extra Q harass on your opponent. "But why rush it?" The sooner you're stacking Tear of the Goddess the better.
Catalyst the Protector
Rush this for more sustain in lane and work towards Rod of Ages to get it stacking early on. If you aren't able to afford it get the ruby crystal or sapphire crystal depending on the match up.
Boots of Speed
Grab a Boots of speed soon after your Catalyst for extra mobility and escape/roaming capabilities.
Rod of Ages
Similar to your Tear of the Goddess, obtaining it early will accelerate your damage output on opponents.
Sorcerer Shoes
Standard Ryze boots after Rod of ages, only rush these if you need to roam to other lanes. Replace these with Mercury treads for a heavy CC team.
Frozen Heart
Pick one of these up against an AD focused team composition. The armor and CR are the reasons you would buy this, the mana and passive are a great added bonus.
Spirit Visage
Great item against AP heavy teams, it gives you the health and magic resist you need, with of course some CR.
Archangel's Staff
Finish what you started, and buy this item! The active will allow you to survive longer in team fights and surprise your enemies!
Iceborn Gauntlet
If you picked up a Spirit visage, this is great item if you need some armor and extra CR. Use the spellblade accordingly.
Void Staff
If they are stacking MR this is a must buy.
Banshee's Veil
Great item if you're looking for some extra MR and getting annoyed with CC or ults by the enemy team.
Will of the Ancients
Good item to go along with a Spirit visage, pick up if you don't need a Banshee's or Void staff.
Rabadon's Deathcap
Not a great item to get on Ryze but seeing as I've seen other Ryze's build this, I'll throw this in here. The choice is yours whether or not you want this!
Athene's Unholy Grail
A former popular item on Ryze, this is an ok item if you are interested in more mana regen, or just don't wanna get Archangel's Staff at all.
Guardian Angel
I normally don't build this item unless the rest of my team has one. If you do want to build this, don't buy Banshee's Veil.

Max Q at all costs, and usually max W second for longer roots and damage, and of course max E third for more damage.

A big part of winning your lane is harassing your opponent and pushing them out of lane with your Q/Auto attack combo. Get close enough to Q, and throw in an auto straight after.

Teleport
A great spell for getting back to lane with a freshly bought Tear of the Goddess, or good global pressure through teleporting to other lanes or team fights. Good for top and mid laners!
Flash
Pretty obvious choice! Great for escaping or doing a good flash + W combo.
Ignite
If you are going mid this is also a good choice for guaranteeing a kill.
Barrier
Not often picked, but this can surprise your opponent and set you up for a few more kills.

Standard Combo
> > >


If they are running away
> >


With Ultimate
> > > > >

Farming with Ryze is easy once you get Tear of the Goddess, just use Q on every minion! If your Q is off cooldown use W on low health minions and R + E on massive minions waves.

Roaming is an important aspect for Ryze to carry a game, if you use your teleport/homeguard combo for global presence, you can help other lanes and turn team fights to your teams favor.
Buy a few more pinks to roam if both lanes are losing.

Ryze is a great champion if you are learning the game, or if you love bursty AP mages. He has been played by top LCS teams and has grown in popularity over Season 4. New items and play styles have been hatched and created due to the nature of his kit. Though Ryze has counters, you can win any match up depending on how you play it and which items you buy. If you lose lane or get behind don't stress, Ryze is a capable of coming out of any deficit. If mastered, you can win any match up and carry any game. He has great team fight potential and I hope I have taught, encouraged, or helped you in this guide!