@RiotRepertoir: Some Thoughts and Questions about Ryze

So in the Mage Update thread Meddler said Riot is hoping to make some changes to Ryze before mid year. As someone with about a hundred games on Ryze since the rework, I thought I'd share my opinions and ask you for some of yours.

1. Agree / Disagree: Ryze is a strong LCS pick, but a weak pick below top tier play; buffs would make him too good in competitive, nerfs would make him too weak for the vast majority of the player base. So, just changing his power level is probably insufficient to fix him, and his kit will need to be tweaked to some degree.

2. It seems like the main frustration other players have with Ryze is his ability to chain snares. Because of this ability, a lot of fights between Ryze and melee champions can boil down to a check of whether Ryze runs out of mana before his target runs out of HP. On the other hand, the real chain snaring doesn't kick in until teamfights, at which point you have the option of CCing him and focusing him down. Is the chain snare something you would consider changing? Do you have other major concerns about his kit you hope to address?

3. If you were to get rid of his snares, you'd need to compensate him somehow. You could reduce the limitations (range, mobility) that made him need that chain snare in his kit in the first place, but that would run the risk of making him less distinct. You could also give him new strengths (more defense, CC that is situationally as strong as the chain snare but has more counterplay somehow), thought that also risks drifting his identity. Hypothetically, if you were to remove chain snares, what directions would you investigate to replace that abilty?

These questions are open to everyone, although I'd especially love to hear from Repertoir!