Ryze Counters: Who Beats Ryze

Updated for patch 26.21. Ability details come from Riot’s official game data for this patch.

Ryze counters are mid laners who reach him before his rotation gets going, dodge Rune Prison, or out-range him outright. He’s a 550 range battle mage who chains Overload, Rune Prison and Spell Flux into constant cooldown resets, roots targets marked with Flux, and teleports his team with a portal ultimate. He has no dash, so the picks that beat him either jump on him or never come close.

Five mid laners follow, each picked through named abilities on both sides. Win-rate sites weren’t used.

Ryze counters: Ryze, the Rune Mage, splash art

Why is Ryze hard to counter?

Arcane Mastery (passive): his spells deal extra damage based on bonus Mana, and Ability Power raises his maximum Mana by a percentage.
Overload (Q): a line of energy that hits the first enemy, dealing extra damage and bouncing to others marked with Flux; his other basic abilities reset its cooldown, and two charged runes give a burst of Move Speed. Cooldown 5 seconds.
Rune Prison (W): a cage that damages and slows a target, or roots it if the target carries Flux. Cooldown 11/10.5/10/9.5/9.
Spell Flux (E): an orb that damages an enemy and marks everyone nearby with Flux, giving his spells extra effects on them. Cooldown 3.5 seconds at rank 1, 2.5 at rank 5.
Ultimate (R): passively boosts Overload against Flux targets; on cast, he opens a portal, and after a few seconds allies near it teleport to the target location. Cooldown 180/160/140.

Ryze’s damage is a loop. Spell Flux marks, Rune Prison roots the marked target, Overload resets and bounces between everyone with Flux, and the cooldowns keep coming back because each spell refunds the others. Given time, he out-trades almost anyone in a long fight (that’s his whole identity). That’s the key phrase, though: given time. His burst is modest, his range is 550, and nothing in his kit dashes. End the fight fast, or dodge the root. Either breaks the loop.

Which champions are the best Ryze counters?

Fizz

Playful / Trickster (E) hops Fizz onto his spear and makes him untargetable. Rune Prison needs a target, and for that moment Fizz isn’t one, so Ryze’s root (his only crowd control) whiffs. Urchin Strike (Q) dashes through Ryze, Seastone Trident (W) adds bleed damage to his attacks, and Chum the Waters (R) sticks a fish to the first champion it touches and knocks them up when the shark erupts. Nimble Fighter (passive) cuts a flat amount from every hit, which adds up against a champion whose damage comes in many small spells.

Zed

Death Mark (R) makes Zed untargetable as he dashes onto Ryze, and 3 seconds later it repeats part of the damage dealt in that window. Ryze’s rotation needs a few seconds to wind up; Zed’s burst doesn’t. Living Shadow (W) sends a shadow ahead that he can swap with, which slips out of Rune Prison range. Razor Shuriken (Q) fires from every shadow at once, and Shadow Slash (E) slows anyone a shadow slashes. Contempt for the Weak (passive) adds damage to attacks on low targets. In practice, Ryze dies before his loop starts.

LeBlanc

Distortion (W) dashes LeBlanc in and lets her return to her starting point within 4 seconds, so she can trade and leave before Rune Prison lands. Sigil of Malice (Q) marks the target, and the next ability detonates it for extra damage. Her chain, Ethereal Chains (E), turns into a root after 1.5 seconds tethered, and a champion with no dash rarely breaks it in time. Mimic (R) repeats one of her basic spells. Mirror Image (passive) turns her invisible and creates a decoy below 40% Health. Who does Ryze root then? A copy, sometimes (and honestly, that’s the funniest outcome).

Xerath

Xerath doesn’t need to get close at all. Arcanopulse (Q) is a long-range beam, Eye of Destruction (W) slows and damages an area from afar, and Rite of the Arcane (R) fires several long-range barrages while Xerath stands still. Ryze has to walk into his own 550 range to start the loop, and every step costs him Health. Shocking Orb (E) stuns the first enemy hit. Mana Surge (passive) restores Mana on attacks. The catch is Ryze’s ultimate: a portal can bring his whole team to Xerath, so ward the flanks.

Malzahar

While Malzahar hasn’t been damaged or disabled recently, Void Shift (passive) gives him heavy damage reduction and crowd control immunity, lingering briefly after a hit. Ryze’s opener (Spell Flux into Rune Prison) bounces off that shield. Call of the Void (Q) silences champions, which stops Ryze’s rotation outright for its duration. Nether Grasp (R) suppresses Ryze over a damaging zone, and since he has no dash, he can’t leave it. Malefic Visions (E) and Void Swarm (W) add steady damage while he waits.

How do you play the lane against Ryze?

Dodge Spell Flux. Rune Prison only roots targets marked with Flux; otherwise it just slows.
Spread out from minions with Flux. Overload bounces to every nearby enemy carrying it.
Trade short. His cooldowns refund each other, so he wins long trades and loses short ones.
Watch for the portal. His ultimate teleports allies near it to a target location after a few seconds.
Remember he has no dash. A Ryze who overextends can’t escape except with Overload’s brief speed burst.

Which items counter Ryze?

His damage is a stream of magic spells, so Magic Resist items that grow with repeated hits fit well. Force of Nature gains 70 Magic Resist after 8 instances of magic damage, and Ryze’s loop triggers that fast. Mercury’s Treads add Tenacity to shorten the Rune Prison root. One Spell Shield from Banshee’s Veil (or Edge of Night, for AD assassins) can swallow Rune Prison whole. Maw of Malmortius adds a magic shield when you’re low. Every stat is in our League items database, and tanks can add Kaenic Rookern for a magic shield.

When is Ryze at his weakest?

Early. His rotation depends on cooldowns and Mana, and before items it doesn’t hit very hard. Assassins and lane bullies should press before he scales.

The second window is when Rune Prison is down. It’s his only crowd control, on an 11 second cooldown at rank 1, and without it he can’t stop a dive. Look, a Ryze with no root and no dash is just a mage waiting to be caught. His ultimate has a 180 second cooldown at rank 1 too, so a portal used for a roam won’t be there for the next fight.

New to mid lane? Our guide to LoL roles breaks down what mid laners are expected to do. His cosmetics are on the Ryze skins page, the guide hub covers other champions, and the Ryze ARAM guide shows him in a single lane. Long story short, Ryze counters end trades fast, dodge the root, and punish a mage without a dash.