Long story short, Yes learn him. Hes really easy to pick up the basics on but hard to master but once you do hes a strong champ. I would invite you to check out the champion analytics here http://na.op.gg/champion/ryze/statistics/mid you can sort things like masteries and items based on winrate to see what the players who are actually winning with ryze are building.
My personal experience with him is that ghost is an amazing summoner ability, take it and flash. and while learning dont be afraid to do some weird plays and get ridiculed. my first couple of games using ghost I flew way past my enemies and missed skill shots from the speed. but once I got used to it,it had become my greatest assest and its on low cooldown too.
other advice- try to get a catalyst and then rush archangels if possible, the power spike is amazing and by that point in the game you shouldnt need to build tank items yet
- You should build tank items on him. I personally reccomend frozen heart if your taking a beating from ad, abysal if your taking a beating from ap or both if its a rough match. try to complete your roa before completeling a tank item so it can stack but dont be afraid to buy the first part of a tank item (such as negaton cloak or glacial shroud)
-If your way ahead or they only have one damage type grab that deathcap, its passive combined with ryzes passive and the archangels passive creates a secondary power spike that will blow opponents away.
- q-e-w-q is a great defensive combo, as it will deal damage give you a shield and move speed and hold your target for an extended duration. but if you are in trouble just use e-w-q the extra damage will mean squat if you couldnt save your self from dying quick enough.
- if your going to do an e-q combo on the enemy make it a q-e-q combo. the e will instantly refresh the q giving you a tiny bit more damage.
