How to win lane as Malzahar against Ryze · 59.32% win rate over 2,279 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Malzahar | Ryze is a bottom-tier level-1 champ, so your Q and auto harass win the opening trade. |
| Level 2 | Even / skill | By level 2 both are farming with cooldowns down—an even, non-committal phase. |
| Level 3 | Even / skill | Level 3 stays even as neither has the tools to force a decisive fight yet. |
| Levels 4-5 | Malzahar | Levels 4-5 your E shove and voidlings out-pressure his mana-hungry early Q. |
| Level 6 | Malzahar | Your level-6 R cleanly answers his root all-in and he can't escape it. |
| First item | Ryze | First-item Tear/Archangel's makes his Q chains spike and briefly out-damage you. |
| Two+ items | Even / skill | By two items your suppression and shield outscale him, evening then favouring the fight. |
Level 1 is yours—Ryze is one of the weakest level-1 champs and your Q plus melee harass can win the first trade before either of you has waveclear. Through 2 and 3 it evens out as both of you are farming and neither wants to commit without cooldowns, so focus on last-hitting and shoving with E.
The full Malzahar vs Ryze report continues with the mid-game plan, the late-game and teamfight plan, every power spike to play around, and the win conditions for both sides — plus cooldown tracking and the live enemy-jungle tracker inside the app.
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Playing the other side? Ryze vs Malzahar guide →
All Malzahar mid lane matchups →