A guide to Ryze, the Rogue Mage

I. Introduction (AKA stuff you probably won't read)

Ryze has changed quite a bit since this game was first released for testing. His role in the current game is as a nuker, and quite a nasty one at that. He's not terribly difficult to play, as anyone can pick him up, cast nukes, and obliterate people with this champion. However, don't let this fool you into thinking he isn't a very good champion. Sure, he can be a bit boring and lackluster since all he does is nuke-nuke-nuke(literally), but he can still play an important asset to the team.

II. Why play Ryze

Burst - Ryze can burst down a single hero at lightning(lolpuns) speeds. Build him enough and he can devastate an entire team.

Disable - Okay, rune prison isn't quite a STUN, but it does the job(most of the time). I'll elaborate on it later.

Pushing ability - With his new ult, Ryze can clear a lane like nobody's business. And due to his passive, it is rarely down for long.

III. Stats

These are Ryze's stats. I'm not too big into theory crafting, since it takes a game and turns it into EVE, but I'll go ahead and put it here, if that's what floats your boat.

There you have it, Ryze's stat progression. Of course, you could just go to leaguecraft and find out what the stats are at certain levels (and in a nice and neat format, too) but this puts those numbers into a different perspective.

IV. Spells

Ryze's spells are pretty straightforward, but I'll elaborate a bit on them in depth as I bring them up.

Your big nuke. Overload can easily do 400 damage late game. I've had it going for almost 600~700 at times, but those are those rare games where I had my Mejai's at 20 charges and built a Zhonya's. Simple and straight forward, you hurl a ludicrous amount of your energy at the target, and they disintegrate into nothingness. I know, I like fireworks too.

This is your "disable". Now, I use that term loosely because it doesn't disable, per se; it's a snare. As the spell says, it'll keep a champion from moving or attacking, but that's it. Champions can still cast spells while snared, so a Tristi will rocket jump away, a Corki can Valkyrie the **** out of there, and ults will still be channeled. Now, not to say that if ults are being channeled, you still might obliterate them with your nuke combo, but keep that in mind.

Also, the length of the stun SCALES. THAT'S RIGHT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, at level 1, it's just a mere annoyance. Which is why you might want to level this ASAP to get more utility out of it.

Ryze's ult in beta, they downgraded it to a basic skill. Which is fine by me. This is spell possibly THE reason Ryze is so dangerous one-on-one. Sure, it doesn't seem like a lot of damage, but if it's only you and ryze, you're gonna eat this three times. Okay, so you take a moderate nuke. What now? Every spell after this is gonna steamroll your opponent's face in. Basic spell resistance is 35, which comes to 25% spell damage reduction (for those DotA players out there, this is a very familiar number). Each spell flux your opponent takes reduces their magical resistance by -15. So, if they eat this 3 times, they lose 45 Magic Resist, coming down to a total of -10 Magic Resist. I have no idea how much more magic damage they'll be taking sitting on -10 Magic Resist, but I do know that your spells are dealing a third more damage than normal, and then some, to the enemy champion.

Okay, so that isn't really the official description of the skill. But, it's pretty accurate. This is your can of whoop-ass. Open it up, and unleash a world of pain. The great thing is that it seems to always be in stock.
(The rest of the guide is unfinished. SURPRISE!)

such a tease!