It took some time but Ryze has finally taken back the spotlight in professional play. The last time the ability power based champion drew some bans and priority picks goes all the way back to the Season 4 World Championship. After the international event, he was heavily nerfed especially hisOverload's damage (Q). Back in patch 4.19, his Q's damage took a heavy hit, going from 60/85/110/135/160 to 40/60/80/100/120. It was from there on the the top lane bully became the bullied. His Overload, which was essentially the champion's bread and butter when it came to trading, became somewhat irrelevant and easily outtraded in the process. Therefore, the dark age of the Rogue Mage began.

Rework

It took 10 patches, but eventually in patch 5.8, Ryze received a big rework, often branded as a "broken champion" nowadays. His brand new passive Arcane Mastery added more depth to the champion, introducing new dimensions to the mage and adding an additional gap between good Ryze players and great Ryze players. Indeed, basically each of his casted spells stack up to a 5 count, on the fifth spell you gain a shield based on his maximum mana and his level. Also, after triggering his passive, each time you cast a spell, the cooldown of all of your spells are reduced by your Overload's cooldown. It gets rather complicated when you think about how to chain your abilities during fights but, to put it simply, to fully optimize your passive it is preferable for your fifth stack to be Desperate Power (R). If executed properly, during a somewhat lengthy fight, you could astonishingly activate your ultimate up to 2 or 3 times.

With the rework, Ryze's skill order and build also shifted. Rather than maxing your Q first, now it's better to prioritize your skill points in Rune Prison (W) to increase the root's duration. When his W has 5 skill points in it, the root's duration is 1,75 seconds. If you can activate your ultimate 2 or 3 times during a prolonged team fight, it's even more likely that you can snare an enemy champion more than once during a skirmish. Concerning his build, the Rogue Mage still likes to have both Seraph's Embrace and Rod of Ages but he no longer needs tanky items such as Frozen Heart. It's now more important to stack damage items on this champion with items such as Void Staff, Luden's Echo or Rabadon's Deathcap. It is to be noted that since Overload is a skill shot with the rework and no longer a point and click ability, Ryze can cast it while walking in lane for example and stack his Tear of the Goddess in the process. Thus, it accelerates the Seraph's Embrace upgrade with this little tweek.

Meta

Where does this all leave Ryze in the newly forged meta? He actually fits like a glove. Since Ryze is mainly a top lane ability powered mage, who could be the perfect acolyte for the Rogue Mage? None other than the Emperor of the Sands, Azir. This dynamic duo even took part in Team Dignitas's recent win against Team Dragon Knights in week 2, day 1 of the North American LCS's summer split where Youngjin "Gamsu" Noh played Ryze and Danny "Shiphtur"Le played Azir. Naturally, with the fall of the assassins in the mid lane (except maybe LeBlanc at the moment) the lane is now ruled by control mages or, in more broader terms, scaling mid laners which also explains the resurgence of Cho'Gath, Vladimir, Kog'Maw and Ziggs.

Established as a priority pick in the professional scene or even drawing out bans against the proficient users, Azir is an absolute monster in the late game. With his 6 item build, Azir's damage is almost unparalleled in magic damage. That's where Ryze comes in. The last skill that I didn't mention yet from Ryze's toolbox is his Spell Flux (E). The key element in this skill to synergize with Azir is the fact that it reduces the magic resistance of those affected by it. Depending on the number of skill points in it, the reduction scales as follows : 8/9/10/11/12%. The effect can also stack up to three times. That opens the door for Azir to deal some serious ability power damage, especially if he has his Void Staff to furthermore ignore the enemy team's magic resistance. It is important that these two fearful mages essentially have to stick together when sieging or when a team fight erupts to truly synergize their powers.

Counter

For the moment, Ryze shines again. If you're looking for a scaling team composition and these two champions aren't banned, jump on the opportunity. However, there aren't any secret formulas in League of Legends. Before anything happens, there's always a way to win. In this example, where there is a Ryze and an Azir on the enemy team, put significant importance in early pressure. Typically, every scaling champion has a weak early game. Therefore, you prevent them from...scaling. Normally, you need to pin down these champions to a point where you are so ahead, scaling hardly matters.

On the other hand, if you do not succeed in getting a lead substantial enough to cut the game short, remember that Azir is always a vulnerable target especially when his Emperor's Divide (R) is on cooldown. If you can catch him with superior vision control and while Ryze is split pushing another lane, that's the window you need to exploit. Finally, to deal with Ryze specifically, a combo based champion, what better way to beat him than a good old combo breaker to distort his offensive onslaught. Crowd control effects such as a stun, a silence, a polymorph or a fear can effectively stop the Rogue Mage in his tracks so make sure to include those in your team when playing against Ryze.

In conclusion, it would be easier to have this dynamic duo on your side as they synergize very well together and they fit in outstanding fashion the current meta but, as mentioned before, this is not an alarm to be overwhelmed by it. The meta changes frequently, new discoveries about League of Legends come up practically on a daily basis. With that being said, to stay up to date with these changes and further game knowledge, stay tuned for more on www.team-dignitas.net!