Hello, I am Cutest, a Diamond V Riven main on the NA server, and this is my first guide on Mobafire. Riven has been my favourite champion ever since I started watched streamers like Best Riven NA and BoxBox. In Season 2, I was around 1500 Elo before I discovered Riven and that was when I climbed to Diamond in Season 3. I have a 72% win rate with Riven and she is my most played champion.

Riven is a high mobility champion that can be played both Top and Mid. She can push very well and kill anyone in her way. Her role as a champion is to be a assassin and kind of an AD offtank. She has 2 CCs, 1 knock up and one instant stun. Riven is an easy champion to start playing but has a extremely high skill cap. She is able to outplay very hard and also jump over certain walls if you master your 3rd Q. If you watch players such as Best Riven NA, you can see that she is limitless and can easily 1v5 the other team.

Pros:

+High Mobility

+High Damage

+Assassin like burst

+Strong laner

+Single Handedly Carry Games

+Snowball out of control

+Can outplay very hard


Cons:

-Banned a lot now :(

-CC is very strong against her (Rammus and Fiddles)

-Is kind of useless when behind

Counters:
These champions will give Riven a tough time in lane, or in general.
Fiddlesticks:
(Jungle/Support)
CC is very strong against you (Although fear got nerfed).

Rammus:
(Jungle)
Same as above, 3 second taunt is deadly.

Jax:
(Top/Jungle)
Jax is a very strong laner who is extremely powerful post-6 (like Riven); however, Jax's trading past a certain point is unbeatable and his counter strike counters your most of your damage (your passive).

Karma:
(Top/Mid)
A lane against Karma is brutal. She can kite you for as long as she likes while dishing out tons of damage. Her kit allows her to push, kite, and have a strong presence in teamfights. This is a hard match up.

Heimerdinger:
(Top/Mid)
This champ, if played right, is very strong against Riven. He just pushes you to tower and if he takes barrier, you can never all in him.

Syndra:
(Mid)
This is a known counter pick to Riven. Syndra has insane post 6 burst and can punish any mistake Riven makes. In lane, she has a lot of harass and can easily disengage Riven as you attempt to all in her. The way to deal with Syndra is to wait for her spells to be on CD and force an all in. You have to outplay her but once you get a few kills, you will snowball out of control.

Leblanc:
(Mid)
In my opinion, Leblanc is actually a stronger counter than Syndra. Leblanc's burst post 6 is even higher and she has a silence which counters Riven. The best to do is to either push out Leblanc and roam or outplay her --> wait for Leblanc to burn her spells and force an all in.

Renekton
(Top)
Renekton is another known counter to Riven you usually find him playing top lane early laning phase is extremely hard Renekton should be able to beat you and push against you all day you want to take a early level of E and try to survive laning phase. If Renekton builds damage you can beat him past mid game. If he builds defense just beat him in teamfights.

Synergies:
Riven works in any teamcomp but some champions work especially well with her.
Amumu:
(Jungle)
Lots of CC and tanky. Can soak up damage and make sure other people won't kite you.

Nautilus:
(Jungle)
He has 4 CC spells and serves the same purpose as Amumu.

Riven farms very easily with her abilities. After a few levels on your Q, you can clear waves almost instantly. Combined with Hydra, your CS should be pretty high.

Broken Wings Q is your bread and butter spell. It is your main damage source and your best method to setup your passive. If you get better at Riven, you can use Q to cancel your auto attack annimatiom. This is a video BoxBox made to show you how to cancel auto attack animation with Q



The third part of your Q can jump over walls and ledges same way a nidalee W can. This takes practise but I think it can jump over the same walls that nidalee can. This is a video showcasing the walls you can jump:



Ki Burst W is a instant nuke that stuns. Nothing much to talk about it except that it can be used along with your Q to clear wave

Valor E is a very op spell and the reason why Riven suddenly got so much hype. At max cdr ranked 5, with some AD, you get somewhere around a 500-600 shield that lasts 2.5 sec and is on a 3 sec cooldown. That is just broken.

Blade of the Exile R is your executioner move. It gives you a Bankai that gives you even more stats. More AD and more range on Riven's abilities. This makes it hard for other people to kite you. The second part of your ult is similar to a Jinx ultimate as it does more damage the lower health your enemy is so you use it as an execute.

Riven is a very hard champion to master because she has so many combos. Your basic all in combo is to Q and then auto attack and then Q again. Rinse and repeat. Make sure you auto attack because I see way to many FotM (Flavor of the Month) Riven players that just spam the Q hoping to do damage. That is the wrong way to play Riven. Her damage comes from her passive so you must auto in between spells. Unless of course you are chasing in which case it only makes sense to use your Qs to catch up. Another mistake I see new Riven players make is that they under estimate Riven's damage and ult only to use the second part of her ult. Use the second part of Riven's ult kind of like Garen's (as an execute). This comes with practise but Riven's ult gives her increased range on her AA and spells so it makes sense to use it before you blow everything.

If you master the following video, you become a Riven master. I haven't completely grasped all of the combos showcased.

Riven is the current FotM. She is frequently getting banned in ranked matches thanks to Faker, but there are other reasons why she is banned. People in Solo Queue can't deal with champions that can snowball and carry by themselves. Champions like Nasus and Kassadin are a prime example. If you are lucky enough to be able to play Riven in ranked, you are going to have a good time. She is very fun to play and there are so many hidden combos you can pull off. I hope you have as much fun playing Riven as I have had over these years!