Rarely do we see a champion that is played in such a versatile manner at the highest level of play as Riven. While Elise can be built as a tank or an assassin, we rarely see her out of the jungle nowadays. Olaf may go top or jungle, but going full tank (with an occasional Blade of the Ruined King) is the go-to item path. Similar cases are Dr. Mundo, Shyvana, and Rengar, aka the Holy Trinity of Top Lane. Kha'Zix is the closest second, but he always has to go full DPS, or he's just a tough yet useless bug in a fight.
In the current meta, Riven can be built in any way across the damage-tankiness spectrum and still remain completely effective. Not only that, she has the rare ability of putting on the mantle of top, mid, or jungle, and playing that position well. She is a multifaceted pick and a constant threat. Whether from her relentlessness via crowd control and chase power, or her astounding amount of burst potential with her combo, Riven is a fun and interesting champion, which is why the first Deep in the Rift for 2014 is dedicated to the lovely exile.
Riven is a melee champion who is primarily categorized as a Fighter, with Assassin as her secondary type. Her other secondary category, in my opinion, is Tank. Her kit is combo-centric, meaning well-timed execution and weaving of her skills in between her autoattacks is key to maximizing her potential. Though melee, she has an assortment of ways to close the gap, making her threat range farther than it seems.
Taking a look at her skills, we can see that all of them are at the very least dual purpose. Broken Wings is her main source of damage. Using this to cancel autoattack animations after the damage has been dealt allows her to utilize her passive, Runic Blade, to the fullest, giving her devastating attack power. It's other purpose is to close the gap and knock up enemies, leaving them vulnerable to your strikes.
Ki Burst is great for initiations and locking down opponents, and its base damage makes it a good jungling tool or secondary source of burst. Valor is a dash that when paired up with Broken Wings, gives her that surprising threat range. The shield that comes with it makes it especially good for defensive manoeuvres and sustain. Because of its special mechanic (AD scaling shield), building damage actually helps her tankiness.
Finally, Blade of the Exile. A massive power spike skill, this multiplies the potency of all her skills, making her hit much harder and wider. But the main attraction of this is her Wind Slash, usable once per ult usage. A mass execute spell, it can be used as either a wombo combo finisher, or a snipe against a retreating enemy.
Now that I've explained a good bit about Riven, let's take a look at a series that utilized The Exile in three unique ways by the same team. I'm talking about none other than the exciting KT Rolster Bullets and the match against CJ Entus Blaze during the quarterfinals of Champions Winter 2013-2014 last December.
KTB vs CJF (SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED FOR VOD)
Game 1
The first pick Riven here from KTB is a form of strong mindgames, a trend that would continue throughout the series. The bans, however, resulted in CJF being able to answer with Kassadin, who is currently a power pick. The rest of KTB's picks formed a splitpush comp with limited engage, while CJF built a siege comp that can transition into a late game monster.
And a monster did Blaze become. Although the Bullets had a lead throughout most of the game, small mistakes by them slowly turned the game around. Coupled with CJ Blaze's signature teamfighting prowess, Kassadin and Lucian simply became too powerful for the KTB to handle. Riven, while packed with power, wasn't able to capitalize her build due to the better scaling of her opponents come late game.
Game 2
This time, Riven was picked midway, after Annie and Olaf. Even so, the similar champion pools of inSec and KaKAO made KTB's draft unreadable. Both teams went for a more teamfight-oriented lineup, with KTB having a stronger AoE burst and CJF having better disengage.
While Riven wasn't the true star of this game (that award goes to Ryu's Orianna), inSec still managed to make an impact with her through drawing pressure. Not only that, the bruiser itemization and inSec's mechanics allowed the team some good multi-angled fights via flanks and chokes.
Game 4
The drafts went well for KTB, as CJF reverted to the siege comp they had in Game 1. KTB's was similar as well, but with a crucial change: The mid was a high-burst mage; and the jungler, which was KaKAO on Riven, became a tanky initiator instead of a surprise burst champion.
While this game won the Bullets their ticket to the semis, it was also the hardest. The game was one big uphill battle, as it seemed that CJF was slowly winning step by step. However, now that KTB's team comp is simply better in major teamfights, they bided their time and waited for the opportunity to take them down in one fell swoop.
BERSERKER
Rune Setup:
9x Attack Damage Reds
9x Flat Armor Yellows
9x Flat Magic Resist Blues
1x Attack Damage Quint
2x Lifesteal Quints
Skill Max Order:
During the first game, Riven was built with one thing in mind: Damage. Abusing the power of her AD ratios, Ryu was planning to make quick work of his opponents. Though the game ended in defeat, you can see the potential this raw power Riven can dish out.
The rune page focuses on surviving the laning phase. The armor seals and magic resist glyphs are standard, as are the attack damage marks. The two lifesteal quints are there to keep her sustained against harassment and ganks, which are aplenty when playing mid. As for the masteries, there are three that should be noted in particular. Double-edged sword amplifies her already high damage output at the cost of taking more damage, and usually the damage you deal should offset that deficit. Spell & Blade Weaving synergize perfectly with her kit, making them a must.
Maxing Broken Wings first spikes Riven's damage output as early as possible. This makes her dangerous to duel against, especially so when she hits 6. After that, Valor is next in line to be maxed, as a lower cooldown means she can get into killing range more often, as well as survive a bit longer with more shields.
As for her itemization, Brutalizer is a great first core item. It has everything a growing Riven needs: Cooldown Reduction, Attack Damage, and Armor Penetration. It also transitions to Black Cleaver, which is a great mid/late game item for her. The Bloodthirster, when fully stacked, gives her even more sustain and burst, as well as making her shield much more powerful. While Ryu bought Spirit Visage next (Randuin's Omen is the alternative if the big threat is AD), you could build another damage item, such Last Whisper, if you're feeling lucky.
The Berserker is a burst-centric initiator. You act as a powerful vanguard, diving into the enemy team and either hurting as many as you can, or deleting one of their carries immediately. Even with your shield, you won't survive long if you get focused. This means that you need to get the upper hand at the very start of the teamfight, or take immediate advantage if the opponents decide to target somebody else.
WANDERER
Rune Setup:
9x Attack Damage Reds
9x Flat Armor Yellows
6x Flat Cooldown Reduction Blues
3x Flat Magic Resist Blues
3x Attack Damage Quints
Skill Max Order:
The second game featured a more hybrid Riven. A true bruiser, if you will. She can go toe-to-toe, and could probably take a beating, but she isn't made for instagibs or becoming a brick wall. She is flexible, and is well-suited for many tasks, in particular splitpushing and flanking.
Rune-wise, there isn't much difference, except probably going full AD on quints and getting cooldown gylphs. In my opinion, one can opt for either this or Ryu's when choosing this path, and vise versa. It all boils down to preference. This applies to masteries and skills as well.
One of the two things that sets the Wanderer apart from the previous path is Riven's itemization. After the Brutalizer, inSec immediately goes for tank items. The Mid and ADC would handle the heavy lifting. This Riven is built to give that extra push in damage, but more importantly to brawl in the midst of the fight and survive for as long as she can.
The second important aspect in this path comes from the title itself: Wandering. With a bruiser setup, this Riven has the option to splitpush, drawing pressure towards herself, allowing her teammates to take objectives. Another option she has is flanking. Because she naturally roams around the map past laning phase, she can get around her opponents and trap them. Even if the enemy team decides to take her out first, her semi-tankiness can deal with the hurt as her teammates close in for the kill.
GUARDIAN
Rune Setup:
6x Attack Speed Reds
3x Attack Damage Reds
9x Flat Armor Yellows
6x Flat Cooldown Reduction Blues
3x Flat Magic Resist Blues
3x Attack Damage Quints
Skill Max Order:
The fourth game showcases a radically different form of Riven. Sacrificing her damage potential, the Guardian focuses a different aspect of her kit: Crowd Control. Protecting her teammates and locking down opponents is the key goal.
The rune page setup adds attack speed marks for better jungle clear. You need to make ganks early and often in order to get your lanes snowballed and to make optimal use of your skills. The mastery page is drastically different as well. Being tanky is more important than being damaging. In a more supportive role, it makes sense to get Expose Weakness to help your carries. Hardiness and Resistance (with their corresponding unlocks) are dependent on the enemy team comp, though Evasive is a great choice when everything is raining down on you.
The Guardian emphasizes crowd control, so maxing Ki Burst is crucial. The more you stun your opponents, the happier your team becomes. It also helps a lot with the jungle camps, giving you better sustain while clearing them. Valor is still a good second skill to max. Though your shield is weaker, your item build should make up for it.
Speaking of item builds, KaKAO went of the Spirit of the Ancient Golem as his first must buy. He followed it up with Aegis of the Legion (and later, Locket of the Iron Solari) and Ionian Boots of Lucidity. Getting big cooldown reduction is as important to the Guardian as strong defenses. Overall, this Riven build can be classified as a support tank, going for more utility than damage, while acting as a sturdy wall that enemies can't simply pass through.
I know that after looking at these builds, trying it out in solo queue or a team ranked, or normal games even, is already on your mind. That's great, but simply copying the pros isn't enough. Ranked queue is different than professional play, and to help you guys from being raged at, here are some tips that you could use. Remember that even though some of them are written with a particular position in mind, that doesn't mean they apply only to it.
Top Lane
-DPS builds are okay, as long as your team is aware of it. Top lane recently is reserved for the tanks, so there is a chance that your team is expecting such. It's best to tell them in champ select what you are planning to do.
-However, if you are behind, don't force it! It becomes more and more difficult to build for damage when you lose lane. You can still do it, but by that time your lane opponent would probably hurt more than you, so switching to bruiser or full tank might be better.
-Roam if you can. Riven is extremely mobile. This allows her to move around the map with ease. Use this to your advantage when you are able to push deep in the lane to create some powerful ganks!
Mid Lane
-Communicate with your jungler. Mid lane is very volatile and easy to snowball due to how junglers have many angles of attack. Coordination between you and your jungler is the key to victory and making sure you outscale your opponent first, especially if he's an assassion champion.
-Help other lanes, whether you're ahead or not. Since you are positioned in the middle of the map, you have the most access to the other lanes. If you get behind, sometimes it is a better option to just roam and make counterganks or take objectives.
Jungle
-Spirit of the Elder Lizard is a good alternative if your team lacks damage. This item is great for either helping with the team's DPS or capitalizing on being ahead.
As a final note, I would like to say something about a topic that has been popping up since Riven changes appeared in the PBE. As of this writing, I am aware of the possible nerfs to her in the 3.16 patch, namely the damage to her Broken Wings and the shield duration of Valor. Well, Nidalee got a slew of nerfs before, and she is still a strong pick. The change in Broken Wings simply means that you can't pubstomp easily, and the Valor change just forces you to play smarter. The skill floor has been raised, but the potential she has in the game is pretty much the same as before.
Thank you for taking the time reading this feature. I hope that you learned a thing or two about Riven, and if you have any questions or feedback, don't be afraid to respond.
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