Ryze counters (Mid)

Common role: Mid

The best counter to Ryze in Mid is Lissandra: 58.6% win rate over 590 ranked games on patch 26.21.

A scaling combo mage who roots and chains spells, then teleports his team globally.

What makes Ryze dangerous

Ryze roots you with his W (empowered by his E), chains rapid spell combos for heavy sustained damage, and his ultimate opens a portal to move his team across the map. He's a scaling mage who becomes a machine-gun of magic damage late, but he's immobile and weak in the early game.

How to counter Ryze

• 1Punish his weak early game — Ryze is a scaler with a clunky early laning phase. Poke and pressure him before he comes online.
• 2His root (W) is short-range and needs his E to be reliable — dodge his E-marked spells and don't stand point-blank.
• 3He's immobile with no escape besides his ult portal. Dive him or all-in when his root is on cooldown.
• 4Magic resist blunts his sustained combo. Force fights before he out-scales — the longer the game, the stronger he is.

What are Ryze's weaknesses?

• ✓Weak, clunky early game; scaling-reliant.
• ✓Immobile with no escape besides his ult.
• ✓Short-range root — punishable up close.
• ✓Magic resist blunts his combo damage.

Abilities & how to counter them

What each of Ryze's abilities does — and how to play around it.

• P
  Arcane Mastery

  Ryze's spells deal extra damage based on his Bonus Mana, and he gains a percentage increase to his maximum Mana based on his Ability Power.

• Q
  Overload

  Passively, Ryze's other basic abilities reset the cooldown of Overload and charge a rune. When Ryze casts Overload with 2 runes charged, he gains a brief burst of Move Speed.On cast, Ryze throws a charge of pure energy in a line, dealing damage to the first enemy struck. If the target has Flux on it, Overload deals extra damage and bounces to nearby enemies with Flux.

• W
  Rune Prison

  Ryze traps a target in a cage of runes, damaging them and slowing their movement. If the target has Flux on it, they are instead rooted.

  Strong: a root (empowered via his E) that locks you for his combo. Weak: short range — dodge his E-marked spells and don't stand point-blank.

• E
  Spell Flux

  Ryze releases an orb of pure magical power that damages an enemy and debuffs all nearby enemies. Ryze's spells have additional effects against the debuffed enemy.

• R
  Realm Warp

  Passively, Overload deals even more damage against targets with Flux.On cast, Ryze creates a portal to a nearby location. After a few seconds, allies standing near the portal are teleported to the target location.

  Strong: a portal to teleport his team across the map. Weak: it's a scaling/utility tool — punish his weak early game before he comes online.

Itemization

Ryze is a scaling AP combo mage. Punish his weak early game, dodge his E-marked root setup, and magic resist blunts his damage. Dive him when his root is down; end before he scales.

This guide covers Ryze's core kit and playstyle — advice that holds up across patches.