League of Legends' Ryze to receive a Champion Update, can now teleport all allies into my lane

“Bot lane is so fun,” I sarcastically lament whenever the entire opposing team pops up to dive me and my ADC buddy in 5v2 fashion. And now, with the newly announced Champion Update to Ryze, I expect to be pulling out that particular remark with much more regularity.

The perpetually impossible-to-balance Rune Mage has long evaded Riot’s nerf bat, often going near 100% pick/ban in competitive play despite a multitude of small changes to his kit. Riot detailed their latest attempt on Tuesday, and it’s a bit of a humdinger.

The biggest change is that his ult is no longer a stat-boosting damage enabler, but a movement spell. Weird, right? The traditionally immobile mage now has the ability to open up a portal that will teleport him and any allies a short distance. It’s not near-global like a Twisted Fate ult, but imagine the nightmare of an entire team just popping up in the middle of the Baron pit while you’re trying to take down the big purple worm.

As for his other spells, not much has changed outside of Flux. Instead of just being an AOE damage dealer, Flux does that plus enables his other skills. If hit by Flux first, Overload (Q) does more damage, Rune Prison (W) roots for twice as long, and Flux (E) applies the debuff to surrounding enemies.

Hopefully, he won’t be able to one-shot everyone by whipping out his ult, especially due to the fact that any mid lane Ryze players are going to be living in the bot lane. Stay out of my lane and let me 2v2, please. I beg you.

Taylor Cocke is already calling for reworked Ryze nerfs. Follow him on Twitter @taylorcocke.