Ryze Has Been Forgotten by Riot

Reworks are an essential part of balancing champions in League of Legends, meant to improve or adapt a character’s playstyle to fit the current meta. These reworks can either tweak a champion's abilities or completely overhaul their gameplay, all with the same goal: to make the champion more viable and enjoyable for players. However, while most reworks succeed in refreshing old champions, some struggle to find their place. Ryze, the Rune Mage, stands out as a champion who has undergone numerous reworks but remains unbalanced and problematic. Despite Riot's many attempts, Ryze has never reached a stable state, often shifting between being too powerful and too weak, depending on the patch.

Ryze's Troubled Rework History

Ryze has become infamous for his constant reworks, more than any other champion in the game. Introduced in 2009, Ryze has seen his kit altered multiple times, with each rework attempting to fix the core issues of his design. However, these changes have only made his situation worse.

His damage potential, mana scaling, and spammable abilities made him either a powerhouse in pro play or a failure in solo queue, creating a large gap between his performance at different skill levels. Riot has admitted that balancing Ryze has been a challenge, as he often requires either a full rework or constant tweaks to make him work within the game's evolving meta.

For newer players, Ryze has become the champion that Riot just can't get right. His reputation as a high-damage, low-counterplay mage has led to multiple complaints from the community. Ryze's role as a burst mage was overshadowed by his ability to deal sustained damage with his spam-heavy playstyle.

However, every attempt to fix his issues seems to either overshoot or undershoot the mark, making him too powerful for professional players or too weak for casual players. His fluctuating power level has become a running joke in the community, as Riot continues to struggle with finding a stable version of the champion.

The Early Days of Ryze

In Ryze's early days, his kit was far simpler than it is today. His abilities were mostly point-and-click, making him easy to pick up for newer players. Overload was his bread-and-butter damage ability, while Rune Prison allowed him to root enemies in place, making it easy to follow up with his other spells. Spell Flux reduced enemies' magic resistance, amplifying his damage output even further.

The simplicity of his design, while effective, also made him a nightmare to balance. With each ability relying on basic stats like cooldowns and mana, Ryze was often either too strong when his numbers were high or too weak when they were low.

Ryze's passive, which reduced cooldowns with each spell cast, made him a champion that could spam abilities more often than most. This gave him a unique playstyle, allowing him to consistently cast spells in quick succession, but it also made him highly reliant on raw stats.

As a result, his balance hinged on small number changes that could either make him a dominant force or leave him completely unplayable. This early version of Ryze became notorious for being a stat-check champion, meaning his effectiveness depended entirely on his numbers rather than any complex mechanics or strategies.

The struggle to balance AoE damage

One of Ryze's key design challenges was his ability to deal area-of-effect (AoE) damage while still functioning like an AD carry. His ultimate, Desperate Power, amplified his spells, allowing them to hit multiple enemies at once. This turned Ryze into a champion capable of dishing out massive damage to entire teams, making him a significant threat in team fights.

However, this AoE potential made it nearly impossible to balance Ryze's damage output. Unlike AD carries, who can only hit one target at a time, Ryze could shred through entire teams with his empowered spells.

Balancing Ryze's AoE damage became a recurring issue with each rework. The developers tried to tone down his power by making his abilities more skill-based, but even then, his damage potential remained high. By giving Ryze the ability to hit multiple targets, Riot unintentionally created a champion that was difficult to contain.

His damage could swing entire fights in his favor, but at the same time, his reliance on mana and cooldown reduction made him a ticking time bomb, capable of overwhelming opponents once he hit critical mass in the late game.

Reworking Ryze for complexity

As the game evolved, Ryze's second rework aimed to make him more complex and interactive, but it only added to his issues. Overload was turned into a skill shot, adding a layer of difficulty to his playstyle. This was meant to make him less of a stat-check champion, giving players a chance to outplay him.

However, his passive, Arcane Mastery, allowed him to spam abilities even faster. This made it harder for opponents to deal with his constant barrage of spells. His new kit was built around managing cooldowns and timing abilities for maximum effect, but this also made him harder to balance.

The second version of Ryze introduced new problems with his build path as well. Ryze's mana-scaling allowed him to build tanky items like Frozen Heart, giving him both survivability and damage. This made Ryze one of the most oppressive champions in the mid-to-late game. His tanky build and AoE damage could dominate team fights.

While Riot tried to tone down his power, Ryze's ability to spam spells and deal sustained damage made him a problematic pick in competitive play, where his strengths were magnified.

The Final Rework and its Complications

In 2016, Riot introduced Ryze's third major rework, with the goal of modernizing his kit while retaining his core identity as a high-damage mage. Overload became a spell combo tool, and Spell Flux was given additional effects when bouncing between enemies. Ryze's ultimate, Realm Warp, allowed him to teleport his team across the map, adding a unique utility aspect to his kit. While these changes added more depth to Ryze's gameplay, they also made him much more difficult to play, resulting in a massive skill gap between casual and professional players.

This final rework highlighted the core issue with Ryze: his skill ceiling. In the hands of experienced players, Ryze was a monster, capable of outmaneuvering opponents and dealing consistent damage. However, for most players, Ryze was too complex, leading to low win rates in solo queue.

This disparity between pro play and regular matches created a champion that was either a must-ban or completely ignored, depending on the patch. Despite Riot's best efforts, Ryze remained a problematic champion, with his performance swinging wildly based on the skill level of the players using him.

Ryze's Uncertain Future

Despite the numerous reworks, Ryze's core identity has remained the same: a high-damage, spell-spamming mage with AoE potential. However, finding the right balance for this identity has proven to be a near-impossible task for Riot. Ryze's fluctuating power level has left him in a state of limbo, with each patch either making him a dominant force or a forgotten pick. As the game continues to evolve, Ryze's place in the meta remains uncertain, and without further changes, he risks being left behind entirely.

Currently, no major changes have been made to Ryze, suggesting that Riot has perhaps concluded that Ryze is a failed champion. Despite being a character for whom they designed a prestigious Worlds skin and one famously favored by their best player, Faker, it seems Riot may have forsaken Ryze. His lack of presence in competitive play indicates that the developers may no longer want to see Ryze on the big stage, leaving this once-iconic champion sidelined in both solo queue and professional scenes.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Ryze's troubled history of reworks highlights the challenge of balancing complex champions in a constantly changing game. While Riot has tried to modernize Ryze's kit and address his balance issues, the champion's fundamental design has made it difficult to find a stable version that works for both casual and competitive players. For now, Ryze remains a cautionary tale of how even the most reworked champions can still struggle to find their place in the game.

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