Alright, so this is my no BS guide for Riven. First off, I've been playing LoL since season three so I have been around for a while. A lot of kids are going to disagree with what I say and what I build but that's fine they can continue to lose if they'd like. Also, I'm not going to get all fancy with the guide here like most people do, screw that. So let's dig in.

First of all, **** runes. I take the default resolve page for every single champion I play no matter what role I'm playing in. Runes and masteries have always been a small boost to playing the game. They mostly affect early to mid game in the lane phase and trading with your lane opponent. I don't care what any of these new players who watch the LCS every weekend say, they will never provide the same impact that two or three fully built items will. So **** 'em they don't matter that much. If you are a good player, you don't need to rely on the small difference they make. Besides the default resolve tree is perfectly fine.

So for summoner spells, I like taking barrier over most of the other summoner spells. Always take flash for Riven. Sometimes I will change barrier out for teleport If I am top lane but most of the time I still prefer barrier because not many people expect it out of top lane or out of a mid lane riven so people who aren't observant won't expect it when they think they have a kill on you. There are also so many ways you can use barrier so it is a nice tool for survival as well as giving yourself a temporary hit point boost when you all in the enemy team. If you are playing jungle riven, obviously take smite and flash. If you support, I still take barrier most of the time but if you are with an ADC that might not have many tools to escape or is less mobile than other ADC's I would take exhaust. For mid lane, again I mostly take barrier because it helps with bursting and executes, but you can take ignite if you want but if you ask me ignite is for *****es.

So items are next I suppose. The build listed here is the same build I will take for every game I play on riven unless I am jungle. This is a solid build and it goes well with Riven's kit. The order that it's in is also the order I get those items. Sometimes instead of taking Death's Dance before Black Cleaver, I might get Cleaver and then Dance if I am against a super tanky opponent such as Shen or Malphite. Most cases you can still get by with Dance first though. If you are jungling, take the red jungle item or even the green one is good sometimes. At final build, you would sacrifice getting Ravenous Hydra. Also, I always take the red smite. It's better in my opinion because if I am going for a gank, then I clearly am confident that I will catch up with who I am ganking so the move speed boost is unnecessary. If you support, grab an ancient coin but don't upgrade it. Just leave it at the first level and then move on to the regular build. As for starting items, I always start Doran's blade if I am laning, hunter's machete if I am jungling, and again the coin if you are supporting.

Next is abilities. By level three you should have all three of your main skills. Get your ult skilled at each level possible. Max Q first, E second, and W last. Q first because it is your main damage and mobility tool. E second because the shield is nice but the cooldown is the more important thing. W last because you really only use the W for the stun. Some people max it second because of damage but it really isn't meant to be a heavy hitting skill, let's be honest it's there because of the stun. So max Q, then E, then W.

That's really all there is to it. You don't need all these fancy explanations people put on here ok? League is a simple game and it's easy as **** compared to other games out there. Don't over complicate it.

People are going to ask about counters I suppose but **** counters. I'll mention the toughest opponents for Riven in my opinion but with a champion like Riven, the has so many tools for outplay it really comes down to skill and good decisions. But the hardest champions to face with her in my opinion are as follows: Rammus, Kayle, Shen, Gangplank, Jayce
Rammus: Taunt is a pain, builds loads of armor, pretty much absorbs everything you got but you can just out push him slowly and win lane through killing towers and out farming him
Kayle: A good kayle will never be in range for you to combo her, she has ult, and can push pretty quickly. You can attempt to bait out her ult and do some flash stun plays but beating a good kayle is going to take a lot of patience and you really can't make any mistakes
Shen: Same as rammus, tanky as hell, lots of armor, and taunt but you can out push him really easily and you cant stun him when he tries to ult to other lanes
Gangplank: Lots of poke, oranges remove your CC, and his barrels make it tough to out push him as well as making trading a lot easier in his favor. To beat him, try to dodge his barrles, use your E when it's necessary to soak up his gun shots, and when you engage him try to engage him near your tower or as far away from his tower as possible.
Jayce: Lots of poke, good pushing, decent sustain as far as mana goes, and he is a champion with no actual ultimate so his main abilities are that much more powerful. To beat jayce you really need to shut him down early and try to make him afraid to farm. You can potentially out push him but if he gets even a small amount ahead, your best bet is to play safe and make it to mid game.

So that's my no ******** Riven guide. Take it or leave it, the choice is yours. Obviously if you would like to do well with Riven, I would reccommend using some of the things mentioned here. I'm not going to go in depth with combos or strats or whatever, you can figure those things out like the rest of us veterans did.