Suggestion: Ryze Rework

Ryze has proven himself to be a dominant champion lately in both LCS and soloqueue. So dominant that he has managed to crowd out several toplane picks due to his combination of damage and late game scaling in addition to an inherent strength versus melee champions.

We can point to a multitude of reasons for this, such as the prevalence of teleport use allowing him to quickly return to lane with his tear, or the rise of AD mids such as yasuo, jayce, and zed increasing the necessity of an AP top laner, but in the end it boils down to a single widespread opinion - he's too strong with too few weaknesses.

Riot currently has a small nerf to his Q damage proposed on the PBE. I agree somewhat with the philosophy - this reduces his strength in lane without harming his late game scaling too much, but I don't think it's enough and I don't think it's the correct direction to take Ryze.

What Defines Ryze disclaimer, this is purely my opinion AOE, Rune Prison, Tankiness, Mana Scaling

So what follows is an attempted rework that would maintain Ryze's identity while improving on his counterplay, reducing his strength as a blind pick, and opening up more exciting playstyles for him.

Passive: [Altered] Arcane Mastery - Ryze has empowered auto attacks that scale with his maximum mana (not sure how the ratios would balance out here, but I'm thinking something similar to Orianna's auto attack damage)

Rationale: Cooldown reduction from casting spells allows Ryze to spam his crowd control and ultimate later on in the game. This brings back the gate on his cooldowns without removing too much of his damage during a fight (hopefully).

Q - Overload: [Altered] Passive: Ryze gains pasive cooldown reduction (unchanged) Active: Ryze throws a charge of pure energy in a straight line, damaging the first target it encounters. Range = 700 (Damage ratios remain the same)

Rationale: Clicking on people isn't as exciting to do or watch as hitting them with a skillshot. It also provides counterplay for your opponent, especially an ADC who otherwise would be unable to get inside the range of a Ryze player for the risk of being clicked on. This gives champions like Vayne a little breathing room to effectively use their tumble.

W - Rune Prison: [Altered] Ryze creates a slowing zone in a targeted location for 1.5 seconds. Enemies inside the zone are slowed by 70% and are rooted for 1 second if inside at the end of the duration. Range = 700 (Damage ratios remain the same)

Rationale: See above. Allows for counterplay and exciting exchanges for both players. I based this slow and root of of Soraka's rework which looks to be incredibly well balanced as well as useful.

E -Spell Flux: Unchanged except it is now a 700 range skillshot like the other abilities.

R - Desperate Power [Altered] Ryze teleports up to 600 range and unleashes an empowered version of his last used ability. All of his cooldowns are reset when he teleports (except for the ultimate, obviously). Overload: Deals an additional 100% damage to the target Rune Prison: Instantly roots the target for 1.5 seconds. Spell Flux: Deals 120% of the skill's damage to all targets on initial contact, 50% damage for additional bounces. Cooldown: 40, 32, 24

Rationale: In League you need mobility or massive range to stay relevant. Ryze's current ultimate makes him a monster when flash is up to assassinate carries with his combo, but it leaves much to be desired when his flash is on cooldown. This allows him to use his ultimate as a means to engage or disengage an opponent at the cost of a somewhat long cooldown. It also allows for an interesting variety in spell choices from a Ryze - using Prison to catch enemies out of position, Spell Flux for AOE teamfight damage, and Overload for those 1v1 duels.

I'm sure a lot of you are reading this with skepticism. Many of you have probably already stopped reading and moved on for your lives. If that's true then I can't really blame you, I doubt I'm unique in wanting a Ryze rework. These are merely my opinions on what an interesting direction might be for this champion who I believe currently has limited counterplay and an overpowering lategame presence.

Thanks for reading- Nasreth