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Thresh Build Guide by

Hook, Line and Sinker V0.9 - Patch 4.9 Thresh guide

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Thresh Build Guide By Updated on

Guide Discussion (7) More Thresh Guides

Spells:

Flash

Exhaust

Items

First buy option #1

First buy option #2

Core

Boot uprade into any

Finish build with the best item for your situation

Final build against 1 AP

Full build against 2+ AP

Full build against Full AD team

Ability Order

Thresh Passive Ability

Change log

V.0.9.1

Added summoner spells, updated masteries and edited cheat sheet

V.0.9.2

Updated Heal notes for 4.6 and Also letting you guys know I should have items finished by the end of this week

V.0.9.3

Started to add my item descriptions. Also cleaned up a few formatting details.

V.0.9.4

Finished Item descriptions and working toward lane matchups.

Introduction

Guide Will Be Constantly Updated V 0.9

Hello and welcome to my first ever mobafire guide. I hope this guide is helpful to anyone who would like to learn the basics of thresh. Please feel free to leave feedback as I plan on adding to this guide constantly over the next few weeks.

In this guide I shall discuss the basic of , as well as going into detail about how to react in certain situations. I will also brush over how to play support and why supports are actually incredibly important during team-fights. Don't feel overwhelmed by all the information as learning a champion takes time, and I would not expect anyone to remember every detail from this after 1 read.

A lot of learning a champion comes from playing it yourself, so please take this guide with a pinch of salt as we may not have the same play style, so what I suggest may not work with your mentality.

Pros / Cons

Pros
- Can disrupt some jumps with
- Good disengage with + talisman of Ascension combo
- Strong pick potential
- Can save stranded team mates with ease due to
- Arguably has some of the strongest Peel
- Infinite scaling AP and Armor

Cons
- No click to win skills
- can take some getting used to
- has a windup time
- Can suffer from mana issues before
- No base Armor
- You're expected to upstage madlyfe

Masteries

I urge you, if you are not 100% satisfied with 0/30/0 masteries to read over what each point does carefully and come up with a page that you feel complements your play style. You may have to experiment over several games to find a mastery page that you feel most comfortable with, however for many 0/30/0 is great way to learn thresh.

Runes

Precision

Fleet Footwork

Dark Harvest

Phase Rush

I like this rune setup because it allows for strong poke from flay passive as it deals both magic and physical (Passive + AA). Other marks that you could run would be 9 . I've experimented with attack speed red's, but found they only are noticeable if you end up in a prolonged fight.

The 9 choice is pretty straight forward. You start with no base armor, so we stack flat armor.

Glyphs I only consider to be useful for MR on thresh. I run scaling MR unless I am against an annie or other bursty AP support. Most lulu's and nami's start with alot of AP also so you can run flat MR against these champs also. It's pretty much all about the lane matchup when it comes to glyphs I feel. Laning against AP run Flat MR. Laning against no AP run scaling MR.

Runes

The health regen quints compliment the 0/30/0 masteries quite well. You can opt for different quints such as gp5, movementspeed or extra health if you so wish, but I like to control the lane so regen quints help me the most.

Runes

Precision

Press the Attack

Ability details

Passive: Innate: Thresh does not gain armor per level. Instead, Thresh collects the souls of dead enemies by walking near. Souls permanently grant .75 armor and ability power. Champions and large minions always drop a harvest-able soul. Small minions only sometimes drop a soul.

A soul will only drop if the enemy unit dies within 1900 range of Thresh. Souls are visible to allies, and only become visible to enemies if the enemy team has vision of Thresh.

How do we use this ability?

's passive is incredibly useful as it allows him infinite scaling (The number of souls caps at 999,999, at which point Thresh will have 749,999 bonus armor and ability power.) for both ability power and armor. To collect a soul simply walk over it or throw on it. Souls are important to thresh, however I advise not taking harass in lane over 1 soul. Sometimes you will need to leave a soul so you can remain level in lane.

Interesting fact

"On Summoner's Rift, the drop rate for souls from small minions is 33%. However, the probability adjusts dynamically. If you are above or below your expected quota of soul drops from small minions, the probability lowers or rises by a small amount until you are back at your quota of drops. It is worth stressing that this only takes into account souls dropped, and not souls collected." - http://leagueoflegends.wikia.com/wiki/Thresh

Q: : ACTIVE: After a 0.5 second wind-up, Thresh throws out his scythe in a line and forms a tether with the first enemy hit, dealing magic damage and stunning it for 1.5 seconds. Upon hitting an enemy, Death Sentence's current cool down is reduced by 3 seconds.
While the tether persists, Thresh cannot attack and he will periodically tug on the tether, each time pulling the target a short distance toward himself. After 0.5 seconds, or instantly if he hooks a minion or monster, Thresh can reactivate the ability to use Death Leap.

ACTIVE - DEATH LEAP: Thresh pulls himself to the bound enemy. This removes the stun but allows Thresh to attack again. Thresh loses the ability to activate Death Leap when the tether breaks.

RANGE: 1100 COOLDOWN: 20 / 18 / 16 / 14 / 12 COST: 80 MANA MAGIC DAMAGE: 80 / 120 / 160 / 200 / 240 (+50% AP)

How do we use this ability?

or hook is a single line skill shot. What you want to do with the hook in the lane is flay the enemy first. This slows then and if you flayed them towards you gives less travel distance for the hook. Once they have been flayed it should be a lot easier to hit . Once you have an understanding of the cast time and travel time of death sentence you can then attempt and successfully land long range hooks.

In teamfights there are 2 ways to play thresh. One way is as the initiator. I am not a big fan of this, but if your team lacks an initiator you need to hook an enemy champ, preferably a carry or squishy. Once you land the hook press Q again to activate death leap. Once you land in the middle of the enemy team quickly and then use , throwing out to your team for them to come in.

The second way to play is as an actual support. This is way I recommend playing thresh when you can. Thresh offers incredible peel. All his abilities are great at keeping the enemy off your carries. What you need to do is position yourself infront of your carry. When the enemy assassin or bruiser comes in to kill your carry you need to be in their way. Flay the enemy back and hook them. If multiple enemies jump onto your carry them off and use , have your carry run out the back of the box while you run the opposite direction (most likely towards your frontline which is most likely killing the enemy backline) throw them a lantern and have them re-position back with the team. This is the ideal situation if they are jumped on by multiple enemies.

W: : Thresh throws his lantern to the target location where it remains for up to 6 seconds. If an ally right-clicks the lantern, they will pick it up and will be pulled to Thresh's location. If Thresh moves more than ~1500 units away, the lantern will return to him.
For the next 6 seconds, allies who come near the lantern (even while Thresh is holding it) gain a shield that absorbs damage for up to 4 seconds. Allies can only receive the shield once per cast.
RANGE: 950 COOLDOWN: 22 / 20.5 / 19 / 17.5 / 16 COST: 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 / 70 MANA SHIELD AMOUNT: 60 / 100 / 140 / 180 / 220 (+40% AP)

How do we use this ability?

is pretty simple to use. Throw it very slightly in front of where your team mate is running to and begin walking. In team fights lantern can be used to re-position a player or just to shield someone. Threshes lantern is similar to a temporary ward. It reaveals fog of war and allies can use abilities such

E: : PASSIVE: Thresh's basic attacks deal bonus magic damage on each hit. This value is equal to the total number of souls collected, plus a percentage of his attack damage based on the amount of time since his last attack.
BONUS MAGIC DAMAGE: Souls + up to 80 / 110 / 140 / 170 / 200% AD

ACTIVE: Thresh sweeps his chain in a broad line towards a target direction. Enemies hit take magic damage, are knocked in the same direction as the chains, and are slowed afterwards for 1.5 seconds.
ACTIVE MAGIC DAMAGE: 65 / 95 / 125 / 155 / 185 (+40% AP)
SLOW AMOUNT: 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40%

How do we use this ability?

Flay is an incredibly strong ability. Flay's active is a point-blank, line area of effect. The direction of knockback is determined by the direction of the line. It also passively grants Thresh an on-hit effect. When his on hit effects are fully charged his hook glows green, and the buff icon becomes red. Try to poke the enemy down with this on hit effect, and then flay into a hook for the kill.

R: : ACTIVE: After a 0.75 second delay, Thresh summons 5 spectral walls around him that last up to 5 seconds. Enemy champions that touch a wall take magic damage and are slowed by 99% for 2 seconds, but break the wall. Once one wall is broken, the remaining walls deal half damage and apply half the slow duration. An enemy can be affected by multiple walls.
RANGE: 450COOLDOWN: 150 / 140 / 130COST: 100 MANA
MAGIC DAMAGE: 250 / 400 / 550 (+100% AP) REMAINING WALLS DAMAGE: 125 / 200 / 275 (+50% AP)

How do we use this ability?

The box can be used in multiple ways. It can be used to box your carries preemptively, can be used to escape chasing enemies and can be used to lock the enemy down if you can land a death sentence.

Skill Sequence

Level 1! I do NOT recommend taking a point in any of your skills before you are certain you are not getting invaded or deciding to do a late invade.

Doing this means you can get a point in when you go to invade or grab a point in to save a caught team mate in the event of an invade.

Standard

Ability Sequence
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18

This is fairly standard on . Maxing gives you the greatest poke and overall damage, and also increases the slow percentage. Max second to reduce the cool down duration and increase the base shield amount. gets maxed last because only the base damage and cooldowns are affected by putting points into it. is taken at 6,11,16 always.

If something happens and you find yourself getting heavily poked down, and its predictable poke you can get away with maxing over flay. I'd only really recommend this if you have good reflexes and can use the lantern to absorb any incoming damage.

MAXING DEATH SENTENCE FIRST

Ability Sequence
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18

However as shown on the cheatsheet I've been experimenting with other ways of maxing threshes abilities. I stumbled upon a commonly used skill sequence which is used by many pro players. This is more for support players who like to throw hooks as often as possible to create pressure and if you can land them consistently I would suggest you take this route.

Summoner spells

Flash

is taken because it is a great spell for fleeing or going agressive. Whether you want to close a gap or make a gap flash will assist you in doing this. Flash is especially great on thresh if you can pull off a flash flay or flash lantern where you throw your lantern to an ally, wait for them to click it and flash over a wall to safety. I don't see a reason for you to not take flash as it is a very solid spell against all opponents.

Secondary summoner spells

is great on thresh and supports in general. For those who don't know exhaust Exhausts target enemy champion, reducing their damage dealt by 50% for 2.5 seconds and reducing their attack and movement speed by 30% for the duration.
Simplified this means that it reduces the damage delt by enemies to half of the orginal no matter the source and takes away just under 1/3 of their attack speed. Great against ADC's and can even be used on AP assassins who may try to instagib your ADC. Overall a pretty solid spell to take on supports.

is great on thresh in kill lanes. By kill lane I mean thresh is paired with a strong early game ADC such as or who can quickly deal a lot of damage off one landed hook. I do like taking ignite when paired with strong early game ADC's, however if I am against a very safe lane, such as - I would opt for or .

The recent buffs to have brought it back from a spell you only saw pre 30 to a spell that is taken on either ADC or Support very often. For those unfamiliar with the changes in patch 4.5 heal received a very nice buff:

Total heal was increased to 95-475, up from 75 + (15 × level).

Range of heal was increased to 700, up from 300 but only affects one champion which is determined by whoever is the closest to your cursor

Cooldown reduced to 240, down from 300

Healed targets are cleansed of healing reduction effects and gain 30% movement speed for 2 seconds after being healed. 4.6 reissued a 35 second debuff that reduces all subsequent Summoner Heal spells by a half.
Overall some very nice buffs have made heal a very viable summoner spell. I recommend taking heal if you don't feel you will be able to kill your opponents and your carry takes , or you can run double and attempt to bait the enemy lane into a fight they cannot win.

Items [NOTES ONLY]

Vision Ward

No, this isn't the first item I suggest you buy. It's first here because the amount of people that I see forgetting these disgusts me. Try to keep a pink ward on the map at all times. Why? It's a ward with an infinite timer and reveals stealthed things around it. These wards are exceptionally cost efficient. If everyone on your team buys these and places them in bushes, you are going to have sufficient warning for any movements the enemy will make. If you don't keep one of these on the map and one in your inventory at all times as a support don't expect to climb quickly. Vision is knowledge.

CORE Items

Doran's Shield

Lets look at the numbers on . It give you +80 Hp, 6hp/5 and its passive reduces incoming basic attacks by 8. Overall a great item for tanky supports such as thresh. The aim when picking up doran's shield is to activly harrass the enemy with basic attacks and fully stacked flay passives while being willing to take some poke back. You should try to position yourself in way that has your adc being able to farm safely. Normally the best position is just behind your melee minions. Once you have out traded the enemy you can begin to zone the enemy and stand close to their side of the minions.

Ancient coin

It is smart to pick up an early as it allows you to get the most out of its bonus gold generation, as well as being almost enough to make your small mana issues unnoticeable. Pick up your after you get sight stone. It builds into Talisman of ascension which is a must on thresh I feel. Overall very minor item, but good to pick up early.

Sight Stone

Vision is knowledge and grants you "free" wards. Sightstone also gives 150 hp which makes it alright in terms of combat statistics. Overall an ESSENTIAL item for any support.

When I buy sight stone I normally sell my and replace it with a as we no longer really need that ward and normally want to gain dragon control once we have the gold for a sightstone.

Boots of speed

make run fast. Fast means chase down targets. Chase down targets means kills. Kills mean open objectives. Objectives mean wins. You can't argue with this logic. Buy boots when you are edging ahead in lane or lane phase is starting to end, as buying them in an equal lane can mean you aren't are strong in combat as your opponents, due to movement speed not exactly being a major combat statistic.

Mid-Late items

Talisman of ascension

Talisman of ascension is a great item for any support and works incredibly well with thresh. This item's active is amazing for engagements and disengaging. Use this item to speed up your team when you lane a hook on the enemy or feel the need to charge them and then flay. It's also a good signal for your team to engage, because as soon as you pop it the enemy have even less time to react to a sudden engagement.

Talisman of ascension

Randuins Omen

is great as peeling tool, due to the movement and attack speed slow its active provides as well as the passive that reduces the attack speed and movement speed of anyone who is attacking you slightly. It's tanky stats also compliment your kit well, as sometimes you may land a hook and want to go balls deep into the enemy team. Strong item against strong attack speed teams.

Mikael's crucible

Pick this up when the enemy has very strong cc and can lock down either your Mid or ADC. Excellent item for protecting carries, as it cleanses most form of cc and also heals your ally. Buy early when you have a fed carry, and the enemy have an easy time locking them down.

Get this as soon as you buy sightstone your going to want to pick up a for controlling dragon. As the mid game presses on and baron becomes a contested objective vision control is paramount. For anyone who follows the NA LCS, Dignitas were notorious for baron throws, which were often the result of poor vision control. Since then they have worked on vision control and find themselves near the top of the table. The moral of the story here is that even some of the best players in the world still struggle when their vision is denied as they can't get a read on your exact location. This item sets up opportunities for bush picks and is a game winning mechanic. Get used to sweeping wards every minute and you will see your ranks rise.

This item was once a must get on supports. Lately however it has only become a solid item when you are faced with 2 enemy ap champions. It's shield is still mediocre, but it does provide a useful magic resist aurora. Overall strong in the right conditions.

Similar item to randuins, except it gives a flat amount of attack speed reduction for enemies within a radius of 1000 units. Rarely would I pick this up over randuins. I only find myself picking this up against comps that go ,,. Strong against full ad attack speed reliant champions.

Zeke's Herald

Zeke's HeraldI don't think I have purchased this item in the past hundred or so games I've played. I don't really recommend this item, unless you have an adc who is having ease kiting and self peeling, otherwise I don't see the need for it. Our job is to protect the carries, and this doesn't really offer any protection.

Zeke's Herald

This item is strange and often you will only find yourself buying this when you cannot keep vision control. Allows you to scout ahead and find isolated enemies. I wouldn't suggest that you go into a game having the mindset that your final build will include this item, however if the opportunity presents itself and you cant maintain vision control pick this item up.