We all remember how broken ryze used to be, with his ability to instakill any squishy in 3 seconds flat. He was as overpowered as any burst champ could possibly be, and we all believed he needed a nerf. We did not expect a total revamp of his basic structure. His ap ratios dropped drastically, and his snare now also scaled off of his mana. His ult only deals 50% aoe and now gives him spellvamp and passive mana.

But through this, the mana caster was born. Finally our answer to midding against veiger had been discovered. Ryze can completely ignore ap and deal great damage through his vast stores of mana. His early game does not deal great amounts of damage, but over time he becomes one of the strongest burst champs without being overly powerful.

I know that several guides have already been made, some of which are viable. I believe my guide to be viable as well, another option for those looking to increase their ability to be a useful team member. This is my guide on Ryze, the Mana Caster.

For runes, I didn't waste time on anything that wouldn't benefit Ryze's lategame damage output or his early game damage. All the runes i picked directly give Ryze mana, therefore increasing the effectiveness of the blue buff and allowing him to dish out major damage later.

For quints, marks, and seals I went for the mana/level. This gives him greater power lategame and adds to the power of tear of the goddess. But in order to give him a small boost early game, I used flat mana glyphs giving him an extra hundred mana at start. Coupled with his base mana and sapphire crystal, ryze can easily have over 500 starting mana. Thats over 25 extra damage to his snare, increasing with each level.

Now these runes are easily changed around, you can get all flat mana runes for early game dominance but taking a huge hit in damage late game. This would require ryze to be fed early, and having taken the middle lane as well. But for those of you up to the challenge, i say go for it.

Masteries on Ryze are a bit more flexible than with most champs. Everything in the utility tree will benefit him, and quite a few masteries in offense and defense are excellent as well. I go with a standard 9/0/21, with points in critical strike instead of ap because its just plain fun. More than once I've killed a champ because i got a critical strike on him early game. The ap gain is very small and does not really increase your damage output significantly, but the cdr and magic pen is very helpful.

If you feel you want a bit more survivability, you can put those points into defense instead. 3 points in mr, 3 in strength of spirit, and 3 in armor are all greatly appreciated. with how much mana Ryze has, strength of spirit is a huge boon and helps with protecting him from harassment.

Utility is versatile, with many great options. Expanded mind and cdr are necessary, but the rest is personal choice depending on how you intend to play him. I put points into exp gain, movement speed, gold/10, and buff duration increase. They are all subtle buffs, but the overall impact is startling. The buff duration is strong, but since Ryze has a lot of mana as it is, the blue buff is better given to champs that really need it, such as warwick and anivia. But if you find time to burst down the enemies blue, go for it.

Most Ryze builds stack up their points in their Q first. I don't because i feel that W is far more powerful in the beginning, and the increase in snare duration is more useful early than simple cdr. I then level up E because of its magic resist reduction and farming capabilities. Neither is strong enough for the aoe of Ryze's ult to matter much early game, so its better for clearing minion waves and killing the blue golem. After that, then i finish leveling overload since the base damage is low, but the extra damage from mana is where it's true power comes in anyways. The extra 10% cdr is strong lategame, helping to spam overload which in turn helps to spam Ryze's all powerful snare. After playing, you will see that his snare his better than his overload.

Ryze is a mana based spellcaster. So obviously, it would be highly foolish to not get tear of the goddess early so as to stack up the full mana bonus. However, upgrading tear of the goddess into archangel's staff is not recommended, since the ap gain is not significant until ryze accumulates nearly full mana. I like to upgrade archangel's last, to make my E hit like a truck when i 1v1 a champ.

Two rods of ages gives Ryze his survivability, with a huge health boost along with mana and a little ap. But wat's also nice is the passive that heals Ryze and gives him mana on level up that now carries over to RoA. There are some other options for Ryze, such as if the team is heavy AD or AP. The easy solution, is to switch the second RoA into either a Frozen Heart or a Banshee's Veil. Then afterwards finish the archangel's and start on your next item, probably a RoA or the other item you didnt build first.

Other great items to build on Ryze later as a game progresses are Guardian Angel, Force of Nature, Banshee's Veil(if not already built), Frozen Heart(if not already built), and Thornmail(for heavy auto attack champs like tryn and ashe).

If other team is full of cc, buy mercury treads instead. Being constantly stunned or slowed will hinder your ability to play as Ryze. If you wish, you could also by sorceror's shoes for more magic pen.

My personal favorites for this build, are heal and ghost. Heal gives Ryze more survivability early game when he needs it the most, and allows him the support other champs that may be laning with him. Ghost allows Ryze to either run away when his snare is on cd or if chased by multiple champs, switch lanes quickly, and even chase down champions for the snare. Both combined make him tough to beat.

Another good spell to get on him is Flash instead of ghost for a quick burst for better positioning. This is best for escaping in the jungle or for getting close enough for the snare combo. Teleport is useful for getting back into the lane quickly, but i believe its simply outdone by ghost and flash in usefulness on Ryze. Exhaust is strong for another added disable and to stop hard hitting AD carries from mowing you down, but good positioning and teamwork can usually overcome that need. Ignite can be useful for those times that you need a little extra damage early game, especially against someone who heals(kayle, taric, soraka, etc.). The rest are either useless on Ryze or the times when he needs them are maybe once or twice a game. Simply not a better choice than the spells stated above.

Now here's where I will outline the general gameplay strategies that should be employed by a Ryze player. There are two different ways to play a Ryze, and I will outline the differences in the sections. One is for a solo Ryze, and one is for a laning Ryze that has a partner.

1. LANING PHASE(lvl 1-6)

At the beginning, you should have grabbed the sapphire crystal and two potions, a blue and a red one. If you are soloing, you should grab your E first. Your focus as a solo is to farm minions until level 2 when you grab your snare. Then continue to farm while harassing the opposing champ(s) until you reach about 600g. Then return to base after pushing a minion wave to buy tear of the goddess and replenish health/mana potions if possible. return to lane and harass opposing champ(s) as much as possible, gaining mana from your tear. At level 3, grab a second rank of your snare and at level 4 grab a rank in your Q. from there level normally. When you have enough gold, grab your boots.

If not soloing, start with your snare and harass opponents as much as possible. With the extra mana at start, this should not be a problem. focus on the squishy champs that dont heal/regen first. when you have about 600g, return to base and purchase Tear of the Goddess and replenish your health/mana potions. Return to lane and harass opposing champs as much as possible, gaining mana from your tear. Buy boots as soon as possible, then move on to your first RoA. When buying catalyst, buy the health crystal first and then the sapphire to give Ryze a much needed health boost early game. If you were able to successfully kill a champ in your lane, then this should be alot sooner.

2.MIDGAME(lvl 7-13)

If solo, then this is when you'd start ganking the other lanes with your snare. Coordinate with your teamates to find the most easily gankable champ, and give them hell from a bush. Ghost/Flash would be the best to be used here, and your snare should be rank 3 at about this point. And easy kill with two extra teamates. Make sure your lane keeps pushed and you should be able to start your first RoA at this point. When making the Catalyst, first buy the health crystal to give Ryze a much needed health boost to keep up his survivability. If there is no one else who needs it more, grab the blue buff using your ult. Activate your ult, hit ur E at the golem and quickly follow up with W. Then use q everytime its ready to finish him. Blue buff increases your 1v1 power, with your snare coming up more often.

If not solo, grab blue buff if no one else needs it. Use the strategy outlined in the solo section. Now would be the best time to make a move on one of their champs. Pick a target and harass him until he is at about half health. Wait until all your spells are up, and ghost at him. Use snare to hold him still, pop ur ult and blast him with ur E at close range. Follow up with Q and if your lane partner is any good at all, the champ should almost be dead. Hit him again with Q as he's running away, even if it won't kill him. Push lane and hopefully take the tower. You should have your RoA finished now, and have begun on your next one grabbing the health crystal first.

3.LATEGAME(lvl 14-18+)

If solo, should be pretty beastly at this point. You should be starting to finish your second RoA and moving on to finishing your Archangel's staff. Being more leveled than the other champs, you should be able to sucessfully gank other lanes with the blue buff and rack up kills. If there was a snowballing mana item, Ryze would become hands down unstoppable at this point. Dont initiate every team fight, but initiate ones where you are not too afraid of getting swamped. otherwise wait until the other team has picked their focuses and go after their squishies. dont be afraid to use your ult against huge minion waves, this is your greatest farming ability. Your passive allows you to get your ult back quick.

If not solo, then you should just be getting into your full potential here. Your second RoA should almost be finished, then you should be working on your Archangel's staff. Blue buff will be helpful with spamming your abilities to help get kills. Most of your gold will come from assists, so dont be too surprised if your score ends up being 4/2/21. If the game ends up being a really long one, you should be able to get more items into your build as well, such as a Banshee's Veil or a Frozen Heart.