The OP Ryze-Zhonya combo is back in LoL and no one knows why

A Ryze combo that was removed back in 2018 has suddenly made its return with League of Legends patch 11.13 and it’s hard to figure out why that is. 

In a recent video, it was discovered that the infamous Ryze-Zhonya Hourglass combo is back in the game. What doesn’t make sense is how it’s back, as Ryze nor Zhonya’s have seen any changes in the recent patch 11.13. This likely means that the combo is back unintentionally and it will only be a matter of time before Riot removes it again. Until then, players will be able to play Ryze knowing that it’s possible to pull off the combo.

The combo was commonly used back in 2018 when playing Ryze. The combo is pulled off by casting Realm Warp (R) and then going into stasis with Zhonya’s Hourglass or a Stopwatch. This combo lets Ryze get away safely with his ult, without a chance for enemies to target him and interrupt the cast. 

Riot ultimately found this combo to be too strong and completely removed it in February 2018. It was removed by making self-stasis cancel the Realm Warp channel, which was a big hit to Ryze. This was big enough to have an impact on Ryze’s playability. 

Is Ryze good in LoL?

Since 2018, Ryze hasn’t been a common pick in either solo queue and competitive play. While that isn’t just because of the removal of the Stasis combo, it certainly affected the way people had to play Ryze. On the previous patch 11.12, Ryze had a 47.45% win rate in the mid lane, making Ryze a fairly weak pick. 

Ryze is still seen in some rare cases on the professional stage but is often outperformed by other picks. With the stasis combo back in the game, players might pick up Ryze more often and perform better with him. Players shouldn’t get too excited though, as Riot will likely remove this combo again as it doesn’t seem to be intentional.