Riven Minor Easy win, you can auto and e her constantly, take w second and try to bait her to q into you and your creep wave. Empowered snare her once she auto's you since she will now be tanking the wave, and harass her for free. this just becomes easier at lvl 3 since you can E-W-Q or W-E-Q constantly. Never stop autoing and running in brush or behind your creep wave, and be careful at 6 until you get a seekers armguard or glacial shroud.

Fiora Tiny Same as Riven, pretty much unwinnable for fiora until 6, at 6 try to bait out fioras ult and then ult away. She has no way of canceling it, and trading ult for ult is vital in this matchup.

Tryndamere Tiny Trynd is great at cheesing players who let him auto the wave and build up rage. Don't let him do that. This matchup you want to completely spam e on him level 1 and auto him, do whatever it takes for him not to get lane control, then empowered snare and auto on cooldown. Post 6, he really can't do much since you can empowered snare him and run away. He also can't cancel your ult, and his w reduces attack damage, so you're fine. This might be ryze's best matchup in the game if you play lvls 1-3 correctly. Build Frozen heart especially if youre behind

Jax Tiny Super easy early game, jax usually starts e however, so starting w in this matchup is fine since he will likely try to auto you, start his e while tanking the creep wave, and run straight into you. since you have a point and click slow, he shouldn't be able to get close to you, and you can keep autoing him. He can outduel you late game, but this lane is a massive stomp in Ryze's favor, although you're quite gankable in this lane since he has pretty decent cc since his q range and our slow range are relatively similar. Abyssal mask and frozen heart make duelling him exceptionally easy through the mid game.

Nasus Tiny Just a farce of a lane. This was a problem post patch 7.5 and pre runes reforged since we would run out of mana before we could kill him, but with the extra mana-free damage from scorch, and the mana regen from manaflow band, he should never even get close to the wave level 3 and later. He is still a raidboss with his ult, but this is a very easy lane since he can't punish you at all. Phase rush is mandatory.

Pantheon Minor A relatively easy matchup. Slightly harder than other melee bruisers since he has more early game damage, and will often run ignite, however you out-trade him at all points as long as you are in good position. Level one start e and dont be afraid to take a q as long as you can get an e auto off. Panth likes to stand in the wave autoing creeps while q'ing the other laner, but level 3 onward you can constantly e him and choose to spread it and push the wave while harassing him, or run around the wave, empowered snare and q, then run away with passive movement speed. Panth scales a lot better after his rework, but once you complete frozen heart and seraphs you should be able to duel him. only real concern is if he cheeses you with ignite or ults bot and gets a double

Gnar Even Compared to most other tops, ryze is actually one of the best matchups into gnar since we can outkite him until he gets mallet. focus on farm until level 3, then look for Q-E-W-Q's. He can't respond since you trade faster than he can get three autos off, which is made better if he is running press the attack. To deal with mega gnar in teamfights, always look for an empowered snare before mini gnar gets off his double jump and transforms. Frozen heart is fantastic against gnar for the attack speed slow.

Camille Major Harder bruiser matchup, since you can't use your ult to get away from her. Early laning you want to start e and harass, and then go w so if she jumps into you you can empowered snare her in the creep wave. building Zhonyas to use during her ult is a useful tactic, also be careful not to start your ult while her ult is still on. Sometimes even if you start it a split second too early while her ult is still around you, your ult won't bring you anywhere even though her ult has disappeared. This matchup isn't innately difficult, but Camille's damage early is just too much for Ryze. Stay away from walls, and watch out for e-flashes when she is just out of range for her e to hit and you are low. One of the few matchups i build both zhonya and frozen heart.

Gangplank Minor Easy, he can't damage you in lane, but he outscales you quite hard if you don't win lane. Levels 1 and 2 you want to get him to try to run up and q you and auto + e, or auto +e then snare at lvl 2, since he likely won't go w second. Once you get q, just try to trade as often as possible. Always bait his w before going for a kill, it heals more the lower health he has. hit his barrels.

Irelia Major A really scary matchup for ryze, conventional knowledge gets reversed for this one. Early levels you still harass when she farms, however she heals quite a bit and will likely start corrupting pot so you can't win lane off of it. Post 6 be EXTREMELY careful as she can blow you up, especially in your creep wave. Basically, you have to harass without using w so you have it to either escape, or properly trade with her if she jumps on you and doesn't start ulting. Our ult doesn't help much since she can burst you. This matchup is actually considerably easier since the rework in my opinion, but it's still scary. Abyssal and frozen heart are mandatory against her.

Illaoi Even Pretty even matchup, harass early, dodge tentacles and NEVER try for a gank if you and your jungler aren't both full health and she has ult.

Galio Minor Low difficulty tank matchup. You outdamage and outharass early, but he will likely be more relevant during teamfights. Trade constantly in lane but be extra careful of ganks, galio can easily lock you up for 4 seconds and you probably wont be able to turn the gank for a 2v1 against this meat wall. Abyssal is great in this matchup.

Jarvan IV Major AD jarvan top outdamages you early, and you can't harass or trade until level 3, where you can E-W-Q him and run away for small trades, or you need to be confident that you can dodge his flag and drag. Late game you outscale, this is a good matchup to get zhonya so you can survive his initial ult burst.

Malphite Minor Lame champ, lame matchup. You will have some kill pressure before the first back, after he gets mr this is a farm lane where you might as well poke him but there's not much of a point. Late game have your finger on zhonya if he is lurking with his ult, its much easier than flashing out and is on a much lower cooldown. You do have kill pressure early and if you can avoid his ult hes useless. Building straight damage in this matchup is situationally desirable.

Maokai Major One of the hardest tank matchups for ryze, he has too much sustain for you to opress with your harass without going oom, he has damage, and crazy crowd control. Go void before rabadons for your last items. You won't lose the game for your team, but it's unlikely that you will win this one for your team. Harassing aggressively is dangerous because of how well he sets up ganks, and how much he can heal.

Kayle Minor different than most other matchups since kayle is primarily ranged, but similar since you can constantly trade and there's not much she can do. Kayle actually scales slower than you, so you should beat her easily until lvl 11. Early on, kayle relies on chasing down top lane kills by slowing and whacking her opposition. You completely negate this by E-W-Qing, especially if she is trying to tower dive you with her ult.

Aatrox Minor standard melee matchup garbage, just keep autoing and e'ing and don't forget to move to the side when he jumps on you so you dont get knocked up. He heals more when he is using his ult, other than that there's not much to say. The one down side to this matchup is that he can pretty easily interrupt your ult if you need to escape.

Cho'Gath Tiny Super easy matchup, he can't chase you down, or do any significant damage to you, and you can auto, e him constantly. The lane gets better once you are level 3, and taking q second here is the best since you pretty much just need to do enough damage to get him to stop standing in the middle of the wave tanking you and farming.

Dr. Mundo Even Pretty easy, but he is one of the few champs that you likely can't outkite since he gets so much movement speed and he can reduce yours with cleavers. You can still harass quite well, but god damn does he outscale you like a motherfucker.

Akali Major Scary matchup, feast or famine. Pre-6 you can e-auto and E-W-Q lvl3-5, but lvl 6 youre best to try to trade ults with her. Getting a neg cloak earlier isnt bad here, as well as early seekers. Spreading e off minions into her shroud will only get you so far, just save mana, dont feed, and outscale her. This is the only matchup other than maybe diana that taking barrier is a worthy trade-off.

Darius Even I would rate this as an extremely easy matchup, but darius is the noob killer of league. You out kite him, and you can poke him constantly at all points of the game. Getting zhonya to cancel his ult is important. It is also important when he successfully pulls you in, to start your ult immediately since that is his one shot at canceling it. Just another reason to take ult at 6. The reason i put darius at even difficulty instead of easy is if he brings ghost you really cant push up past the halfway point of the lane, and you have to just farm.

Ekko Minor This can be a difficult matchup if you don't know what you're doing, and ekko will be able to outburst you late game if he is full ap. However since this is top lane, he MAY go tri force and is tank. Just harass early, and if he starts q'ing the wave then go q level 2 and match his push. Be sure not to outpush him however, as pushing top in general isn't a great strategy during the earliest stages of the game as Ryze.

Garen Tiny You can harass him to death before the first back, afterwards he will be too tanky to even try. On the plus side, he can't get to you and has no ranged abilities so he should do literally 0 damage in lane without using flash.

Gragas Minor He heals from using spells, has a ton of cc and mobility, and can do quite a lot of damage from low amounts of ap. although you outdamage him early since you are ranged, but always care since he sets up ganks really well.

Graves Even not often is graves top, but he can be pretty annoying when he is. He will constantly push the wave and probably not miss cs, so your job is to match his push and wait for late. Harass with E-W-Q when you know where the enemy jg is.

Heimerdinger Minor e-q his turrets as soon as he drops them when possible, and always watch out for his stun. if it hits, you're usually dead. This matchup is extremely easy for Ryze however since you can freely clear heimers turrets, and if you get onto heimer he has no escapes and is super squishy. Heimer can block Ryze q's by quickly placing turrets however.

Jayce Extreme A really bad matchup for ryze, especially after the first back. Jayce can out poke you and all in you constantly, the best way to play this lane is to get an early seekers and go right into frozen heart. Save W as much as possible, and if you use E-W-Q dont stay to auto jayce, just start running after you've finished your combo. You will outscale him, but he can be nasty pre lvl-11

Kennen Even You have several ability counters for kennen, but overall he's just really strong early. He can poke you from range and has damage reduction, as well as a stun pre-6. I suggest farming out the lane and poking him with just ranged Q's when you can since he is a squishy champ. Late game always empowered snare him when you see him start his ult.

Kled Major Kled is a really, really hard matchup for ryze since there is no real point where you can lock him down once he engages. i still suggest harassing with autos early, but be super careful of ganks especially post-6. Frozen Heart and Abyssal are mandatory here, Abyssal for the melee range damage increase since he will literally be on top of you during engages.

Mordekaiser Even He can't get to you, but has a lot of sustain. Keep autoing and dodge his abilities. He can cancel your ult, which is pretty useless in his death realm anyway. I'd rate this matchup as harder than even, but Ryze is actually better into this monstrocity than most top laners, meaning hes a relatively viable pick even though the matchup isnt that great. even if you're 5-0 and he's 0-5, he can 1v1 you easily if his abilities land. Get abyssal mask before finishing tear item here.

Nautilus Even Nautilus does surprising amounts of base damage and is a cc monster as well as a tank, so the best way to shut him down is to auto the life out of him early and always E-W-Q phase rush out when you are comboing him so he can't retaliate with his anchor.

Olaf Even This used to be a very hard matchup, and it still is but with your empowered snare you can separate yourself pre-6 pretty easily. Post 6, be ready to W-E-Q quickly and run if he uses his ult. Phase rush is a life saver against Olaf, and frozen heart is vital.

Ornn Even This matchup was much worse before Ornn got nerfed, but its still not great for Ryze. Ornn does much more damage than you would expect, and can set up ganks like no other. Abyssal Mask first item here, as well as merc treads. Getting an early void can be useful, but i usually play this matchup as a farm lane then build to beat the rest of the enemy team.

Poppy Minor We don't see poppy almost at all right now, but this is another matchup where she's just too tanky to kill, especially post 6 since she can send you flying. just farm and E-W-Q if she doesnt have her shield.

Quinn Minor The reason i think this is one of Ryze's best matchups is that Quinn is generally an oppressive laner especially into melee matchups. 90% of Quinns will initiate trades against you, and you can win them everytime if you dodge her blind and E-W-Q when she vaults. It's important to see which keystone she runs, if its press the attack you can go for an empowered snare and a prolonged trade after her initial engage, but if its lethal tempo its best to back off after shes jumped on you. Frozen Heart negates almost all of her damage

Renekton Even Renekton is the standard for early game bullies, you want to harass him when you can and deny him from stacking his rage, and when his bar turns red back off and look to empowered snare him after he dashes in, ideally in the middle of the creep wave forcing him to use his aoe on the wave. Post-6, don't try to trade unless he has used his dash, or he has 0 rage. Don't defend tower if he still has ult and you are below 50%, even if you empowered snare him under turret you're dead and he's almost definitely alive. Zhonyas is useful here, stopwatch early especially to avoid getting dove.

Rumble Even Rumble is played top for the exact same reason ryze is: great into melee matchups. Since you are ranged, he has a tougher time, but post-6 the slow on his ultimate is actually a decent gap closer and does a ton of damage. levels 1 and 2 if he starts harpoon stand behind your melee's and e-auto, if he starts flame spitter try to space it properly so you can e him without taking damage and try to push the wave. Taking q second is probably better in this matchup unless he is playing super aggressive. Rush early MR items because he will build full pen.

Shen Even Too tanky to kill without jungler pressure, he can out-trade you quite hard if his taunt lands, and if he has flash he can set up ganks from halfway across the lane. harass him with autos as much as possible, but make sure you always have a quarter mana so you can disengage if need be. He will almost definitely use ult between lvls 6-8, so either save your tp or use it immediately after your first back to continuously push the wave and punish him when he ults. This way you will see when he ults and can chase him and cancel his ult if he tries to use it.

Singed Minor ryze is actually fantastic into this matchup early with the two second empowered snare, you can do surprising amounts of damage to singed while he is proxying because your snare lasts for so long he will tank several autos from each creep. Late game singed is a nightmare however, and your empowered stun will probably only last .9s depending on his tenacity. Hope your support has a few stuns and your adc is fed, because otherwise this guy is not worth your time after 25 minutes. Early game don't worry about defensive items, rush Archangels.

Sion Minor sions excels in the early game in most matchups due to his high base damages on his abilities and low cooldowns, as well as different options for starting jungler camps and coming to lane with an xp advantage. Sion is actually really squishy early and you can punish him quite hard since he will most likely start corrupting potion due to how easily he runs oom early. Post-6 watch for when he backs and signal your team that he might lane gank with his ult.

Swain Minor you can E-W-Q him pre-6 constantly, and every time he ults E-W-Q him. Late game teamfights always apply your e to swain since he will be frontlining. If he walks back into his team, try to get another e onto him and q for aoe damage. If he walks into your team, empowered snare him and try to get his zhonyas out.

Tahm Kench Even The real unkillable demon king. You can harass him but its pointless, just push lane and dodge his tongue. Abyssal Mask is great against Kench.

Teemo Minor Teemo used to be absolutely garbage against ryze when we could shield and out-trade his damage, but now he actually does Ryze's job of harassing better than ryze early. He wins early trades, but you have better sustained damage until he finishes his wit's end. overall this lane went from a joke to being actually pretty hard. make sure not to be near his creeps when you trade with him, or you'll lose the trade no doubt. One of the few top lane matchups a banshees is really useful.

Trundle Even Trundle catches a lot of players off guard due to his early damage. E-W-Q him if he pillars you, and be prepared to ult to safety if he ults you (you just have to not get knocked up by his pillar). Trading ult for ult is great against trundle. I still build frozen heart against him for the attack speed slow, but having higher resistances means he gets even tankier during his ult. Just build normally and ult away when he ults.

Urgot Minor Urgot is great against melee matchups, you aren't one, so don't be afraid to continuously trade while watching out for his jump. Post-6 make sure to ward because you will die really easily.

Vladimir Even Vlad's not great against ryze, but the number of times ive seen someone get cheese killed lvl2-5 by vlad's e -> flash -> e-release -> empowered q -> ignite, i feel like putting vlad to far down in the difficulty list will bait players into playing too aggressive. If you are both below 50% hp, he wins every fight unless you can burst him before his empowered q is up. He can pool while in your snare, don't bait yourself into flashing on him. Another reason I listed Vlad relatively high on this list is because his early laning is deceptively strong and it takes practice to get used to trading with him. The best way in my experience is to bait his w with your empowered snare, then when your W is ready again let him q you but go for an E-W-Q and chase him down with phase rush. then comboing him. It is hard to get close enough to a good vlad to get an E-W before he walks out of range, so just using you W slow then chasing him down works a lot of the time. Also pushing and forcing him to cs under tower is a good idea.

Volibear Even Voli is super tanky due to his passive early, but he can't run you down that well due to your empowered snare. On the other hand, he can flash flip you reliably so if you're low just back out. Voli top isn't really a thing so this shouldn't matter.

Wukong Even Wukong used to be a night mare before runes reforged, afterwards it's not nearly as bad. I start w in this matchup since he might start his damage-dash in which case you can slow him down in your creep wave. I always stack armor in this matchup, its one of the few i consider swapping frozen heart for zhonyas or both. He is better in disorganized teamfights late game.

Yorick Major Yorick is a busted split pusher right now, and you have no way of escaping his cage, so this matchup can be really rough. His ghouls are actually a nightmare now for ryze, and overall its just a very hard matchup to win, even if you manage to solo kill him. This is one of the few matchups i havent figured out the best way to win, i would say this is one of the worst matchups for ryze top.

Yasuo Tiny This matchup is one of the only matchups ryze has top that is very skill dependent, mostly for the yas. A god-like yas will win this matchup slightly at all stages in the game, but most yasuos get dumpstered early here. This is one of the best matchups for going w second, since you can freeze him in the wave if he dashes into you and q's you, and he will be tanking the entire wave before he has his wind wall. Even if he plays passively you can just W-E-Q him and bait out his wall, then run him down the lane since he can't trade with you without his wall. Just be careful not to get too overconfident, because if yas snowballs and gets strong enough to 1v1 you under tower, your team has basically lost. A lot of ryze players will tell you this matchup is one of ryzes worst, but thats just not the case if you play it smart, trade when his 3rd q and windwall are down, and get a frozen heart and stack Archangels as fast as possible.