I see Ryze being picked up a lot in the top lane meta right now, and usually when I lane against him I get stomped. I feel like I am very ignorant on how to counter/play against him, but right now I'm kind of leaning towards trying someone like 
top.
So, anyone have some useful pointers?
Zarkkast3 votesYorick. His ghouls outrange Ryze and he has infinite sustain.
He's not really in a good place right now and falls of late game, but he can easily win lane if played correctly.
Gragas can counter him too, and he still remains good late game.
Edit: but in all honesty I think that the greatest counter to Ryze is asking your jungler to gank early.
Worgslarg3 votesHeimerdinger top.
You will win the lane so damn hard.
Any other poke champ does well.
For simple counterplay, you need to shut him down before he gets tear + roa, as he will simply scale then into a lategame monstrosity
Jaygo413 votesXin Zhao top if you want to play something that isn't cheese like heimer or yorick... screws ryze
12tales3 votesJayce is Ryze's hardest counter in lane.
More generally, Ryze's tend to zone quite aggressively, which will eventually push the wave - if you can, coordinate with your jungler to 2v1 top once minions start bunching up past the mid way point. Ryze is extremely vulnerable to ganks and dives before level 13 because his snare is such low duration and he doesn't have any mobility.
Teridax683 votes
needs to build mana to begin scaling, and the lack of mana/MR items means you'll innately have an advantage as a magic damage-dealing champion most of the time. He also has a weak early game, so the three champions I'd recommend would be (you can kite, poke and harass him pretty much for free), 
(you'll completely deny his early game and set him back a huge amount) and 
(Ryze's spell spam means Mao can spam heals).
Aside from counter-picking, one thing to know is that, early on, you should not back away after Ryze uses his spells on you. Most people do, for fear of taking more damage, but early in the game at least this is an indication that Ryze just blew all of his cooldowns and is at his weakest, allowing you to let rip on him. Ryze has terrible farming capabilities pre-6, and pushing him to his tower will deny him a lot of CS. He also doesn't handle ganks well, and if he's not pushed to his tower will easily die to a gank or be forced to blow a flash.
In the event that Ryze does get fed, ask your AP and/or burst damage dealers to focus him in a fight, as otherwise he'll deal heavy damage to everyone around. Aside from his root, he has poor crowd control and can be easily focused. Grievous Wounds will also help, as Ryze will heal for a lot while his ult's up. 
and 
are both excellent counter-items to Ryze, and if you're melee 
will allow you to deal a lot of damage to him, even if the armor doesn't do much against him specifically. 
will heavily mitigate his only instance of CC along with his damage, and getting these early will prevent him from exerting too much control over you.
Sire Hippington3 voteseither a snowballing hypercarry like jax or irelia if u know ur jungler will visit top frequently, as ryze dies very easy to ganks. ot if u have a more carrystyle jungler some good cc top like mao or Ali. Or pick Xin, get lvl 2 and erase Ryze from the game....
redniwediS2 votesLulu is a great pick, just remember to grab tenacity boots. Really anyone who can keep up with his move speed while he is ulting is a good pick, particularly if you can build a little tanky.
Mallic2 votesAnyone with poke can annoy the heck out of Ryze. So, Lulu and actually Karma are not bad picks against him. Mundo with sufficient magic resist and merc treads can largely ignore Ryze's whole kit, sticking to him until he dies. And yes, like the other guy said, you have to bully him to the point where he can't get Rod of Ages early at all.
InvalidGuest1 votesAlright, thanks for the tips guys! I will try these out!
Nhifu1 votesDon't lulu top, are you trying to lose?
Choose a champion that can do better in teamfights
Ryze locks down players Jayce is awful late game Lulu is also awful late game
Vlad, kennen, Shyv, Cho'gath, Rumble, Riven
Or try a champion with a shield.
Riven E everytime ryze casts = he will oom. Cho outheals by farming Rumble has a 5-6s cd shield Yorick was mentioned Shyvana is a god at team fights (can 100-0 any adc if you play properly)
The Oasis1 votesWhy has no one mentioned 
? Just farm with cleavers till 6-8 then you eventually you outscale him and you chase him down 1v1 over and over.
Grandfather Time1 votesNo one mentions 
. Take a sustain start and you beat him pretty bad in lane.
Skia Asteri1 votesMost mid lane mages are stronger than Ryze early. If they have Yasuo mid, put a strong fighter against him and take a mid lane mage top to destroy Ryze.
Annie is a good choice for shutting him down early, because when she reaches level 6 her is what will happen if she is played well: Flash > Tibbers + stun > Disintegrate > Incinerate > Ignite. Ryze is now dead if he did not flash away as soon as Annie flashed up to him.
Earl Eulrich1 votespick sth. with cc and call your jungler...ryze is soo goddamn squishy early on.