I haven't played much Ryze almost at all this year, but I'll give you the limited knowledge I have. In general, it's pretty normal that you don't win a lot of fights in the early game. He's meant to get stronger as the game goes on, being a monster to face 1v1 or even in team fights late game.
For combos, I don't remember the specifics of how his runes work but I think the Q>W>Q>E>Q is a good one for dueling/going for short-ish trades. Also, Q>E>W>Q plus an auto at the end is good if you're facing a melee champ, so they can't get close to you. Another, more risky one, is Q>E>E>Q>W>Q. That last one is harder to pull off because you have to wait for your e twice, but I'm pretty sure that's the combo that gives you your shield. Like I said before, I'm not much of a Ryze player at all, so it would probably be best to check out a combo guide or something on YouTube. I hope I was at least somewhat helpful, though.