A long time ago people were complaining about how Ryze's book did not fit in lore wise. That was around the time of his first visual update, but it turns out Riot was playing a long con.
After so many reworks, Ryze himself has trouble keeping up with what his abilities do. In order to promote competitive integrity, Ryze makes sure to reference his patch notes. I imagine he does this in a way of going "oh, time for a Q, let me see if this is supposed to proc true damage." Ryze is an incredibly powerful bald man
