About the author: Hello everyone, my name is Treido, i am a silver II (currently) player on the NA server. I've been playing the support role since season 1. So now you are thinking "Why in hell should i read this guide if the author isn't even plat at least?". Well for starters, if you are looking for a guide you:

• Don't know how to Thresh
• Don't know how to be a GOOD supp

Ok, now that we have cleared that, this guide will help you (hopefuly) with everything that means to be a good Thresh, and as being a good support as well. Hence, believe me or not, good supports can make lost games turn into an awesome comeback. Only one last thing, this guide will be long. So let's get started.

Pros

• You got 3 forms of CC ( Death Sentence, Flay, The Box)
• You have great poke capability with Flay
• Low mana costs (more mana = more lane presence)
• His kit when well used (not only by yourself but by your team as well) can lead to some diamond-like plays (even in bronze!)
• Highly rewarding when learnt
• Amazing phrases (you will never get used to it) "Poor lost souls..." (Thresh, 2013).

Cons

• Skill-shot based ability (and if u fail at Ezreal stop reading this now)
• Highly dependent on their team to make good plays (who the hell cares if u landed that beautiful blind Death Sentence, if your team has brain death and don't use the lantern to capitalize the kill?)
• Very hard to play in it's full potential
• Thresh's armor at level 1 (without runes/masteries) is 12. This makes trades at level 1 cost your life if u play it wrong.
• No Sustain

x9 Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist: This helps you out through the game, not only in lane phase. Besides, since Thresh has low MR this can help you out.

x9 Greater Seal of Armor: These helps you to survive through pokes in the lane phase.

x9 Greater Mark of Attack Damage: Mordekaiser és #1 (2010) Reported: "Herp derp Thresh is not a damage dealer why do u have this n00b. I report you hue hue hue". First of all, read the Flay tooltip. Done it? Ok, now you know why you run these runes.

x2 Greater Quintessence of Armor: More armor = less damage recieved.

x1 Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage: With this rune plus your other marks, you get +11 extra AD at level 1. More AD = more damage with Flay, simple math.

I normaly take , and .

So why do i pick this? Simple, Flash has so much utility on Thresh (besides the fact of escaping... more on that later) that this is a must have. On the other hand Ignite in my point of view is the better one to have. It gives you more kill potential in lane and denys the enemy adc lifesteal.

Skill order

> > >

About 80% of the games you will want to go this skill order, however if for some reason your adc has brain death and can't avoid pokes and/or the enemy support is hyper aggressive, therefore i HIGHLY suggest you to go over , because, you will have a lower cooldown on your shield and a bigger one aswell assisting your stupid adc to survive and be useful late game. Another way to help you win an easy lane (one that the enemy adc/supp are just sitting under the turret) is by leveling Death Sentence first. This allows you to have lower cooldown on your hook. And because you can't always go in the range for an empowered auto from Flay it's worth to take.

REALY IMPORTANT: NEVER USE YOUR Dark Passage TO GET SOULS (there are a few moments like when you are going to base that it's ok) BECAUSE YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN YOU WILL NEED IT TO SAVE YOUR TEAM.

You will always want to start with Doran's Shield + 2 Health Potion or 1 Stealth Ward. The Doran's Shield will give you the early tankiness that you need to survive through pokes in the lane phase, gives you some health regen (that have a great synergy with your both masteries) and flat health. Even after the nerf i still feel that this is a good start as Thresh.

After your first recall, you should aim to buy either Sightstone or Ancient Coin depending on how are your lane is going. If you and your adc are playing deffensively go for Ancient Coin/ Nomad's Medallion, if aggressively you should go for Sightstone (namely because you will waste less money on wards).

But remember, when you get Sightstone TRADE YOUR Stealth Ward FOR A Greater Lens (to deny vision from your enemy is integral part of a good support).

After the third back, upgrade the one u didn't upgraded before (if you gone for Sightstone go for Nomad's Medallion and so on)

When you get both of your core items, lane phase should be over and you now need to upgrade your Nomad's Medallion into a talisman of ascension to bring utility to your team. Buy your boots and upgrade it into a Mobility Boots, because your job is to ward, be there for your team and to peel for your adc. How can you possibly do all of this if u aren't fast enough?

Now that you have finished all your important items, all you need to do is to be the right guy for the team. The enemy Jinx is fed? Don't worry get yourself a Frozen Heart and job's done. Enemy LeBlanc is fed? Get yourself tons of health through Warmog's Armor to deny her the chance to burst you down. The team needs more utility from you? Get a Locket of the Iron Solari and the problem is solved!

BUT REMEMBER, TO BE A GOOD SUPPORT IS NOT ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT, IT'S ABOUT WHAT THE TEAM NEEDS.

The difference between a good support and an awesome support, is how he wards (IF he wards). To ward effectively is highly connected how the game is beheaving. For example, if the enemy team is pushing hard you will want to put defensive wards (i'll explain). However, if your team is the one who is pushing hard you'll have to put some offensive wards. Now to the ward spots:

THIS IS FOR WHEN YOU ARE IN THE BLUE SIDE.



THIS IS FOR WHEN YOU ARE IN THE PURPLE SIDE.




Yellow: Key points to use Vision Ward.
Blue: Wards in the lane phase. You always want to ward the tri-bush and the river. These are the most basic wards.
Green: Defensive wards. These wards covers the most taken paths in the jungle. Ward those places if your team is playing defensively/losing.
Pink: Offensive wards. Just like the defensive ones, but these gives you HUGE map control over the enemy and the possibility for ambushes if your team is winning you will want to use these.
Red: Baron and dragon. Nedlessly to say.

This part will cover the supports that Thresh should have a minimum to no problem at all.

2: He is so easy to deal with (in my opinion) that he shouldn't be banned from ranked games. His mana costs are so high that on level 1 he can only pull twice ( Rocket Grab costs 120 mana and Blitzcrank have only 240 mana at level 1). Try to always be behind minions to avoid being grabbed. If he is playing passive, try to not go any further than the little mountain of the tri-bush (if he is in the blue side) and you should be ok.

2: 90% of the times Tarics will be passive. His sustain is really good, however if after each cast you deny him a minion hit (easily seen by the blue graphics on his hand) this will significantly reduce his heal output. Exploit that to initiate on every opportunity (hence if he is laning with Caitlyn then you should be careful).


If you dodge spears 2, if you fail 5: She shouldn't pose any threat to you at all. Nidalee always want to be at back throwing Javelin Toss all day. Try to force engages on her and be aggressive, this will lower her damage output through Javelin Toss, because she will have to waste more mana on healings. Her sustain is not that big and her mana costs with her Primal Surge are pretty high, even at level 1 (cost 60) if you and your adc goes aggressively she will run out of mana fast.

3: She is a little tricky after 6 because of Monsoon. This is a good disengage for her if the things goes wrong. Jannas Howling Gale is easy to avoid (always remember if you are trying to avoid skill shots, use a chaotic walking, like zig-zags). There's nothing much about her, she has good disengages but lacks in initiation tools. Play aggressive.

4: She denys your Death Sentence with Black Shield making engages a bit tricky until you know her cooldowns. As you can see her Black Shield at level 1 has a 23 cooldown, so exploit that by playing aggressively when you know that her shield is off. Once she hits 6 her Soul Shackles can literally destroy you because of the stun. Again just go aggressively when you know that this is on cooldown. By the way Banshee's Veil pretty much deny her the possibility to lock you up.

This part now will cover the hardest supports you will face as Thresh you can say that they are your counters in lane.

???????: I've never ever laned against Zilean. But as far as i know, he has greater AA range than you, and his poke is casted on-target so this makes easy for him to deal damage while keeps the distance. After 6 he will get Chronoshift which makes him so annoying. Basically a free Guardian Angel every 180s (dont forget his Rewind that lower ALL his cooldowns by 10s. Be careful.

a good one 6, a noob one fairly 3: Soraka is just annoying. She is simply a no base return card. A good one will poke you all day and heal up if u try to fight back. A noob one will simply try to heal her adc and give him/her mana and be passive all day. The best tip i can give is to try to see how further you can go with her. If she is playing passive go aggressive and so on.

7: Ok this can be seen a lot these days, but regardless of her having Exhaust 99% will build ap and will not even have a Sightstone. So map control shouldn't be a problem for your team but, Thresh is highly susceptible to magic damage (remember your passive Damnation only grants you armor and ap, not magic resist), so play safe early game and try to not search for her bear. "Have you seen my bear tibbers?" (Annie, 2009).

7: She is extremely annoying to deal with. A good Sona will make you return to base faster than you can possibly imagine with her pokes. The good thing is that she is squishy as hell. Land a hook and kill her, because if you don't she will heal up and keep the poke real.

8: Nami is one of the hardest to deal with as Thresh. She has a good sustain and an awesome CC via Aqua Prison and Tidal Wave. If you hook her adc she will throw an Aqua Prison on top of him and you just lose the trade. To avoid this, try to engage her when Aqua Prison is on cooldown (it has a 14 seconds cd) or try to bait her skill and then you engage. "Hmm... Something is fishy" (Fizz, 2011).

8: Imagine a Sona, increase her range with spells plus adding a skill shot based one that explodes for even more damage and you have Karma. She is extremelly hard to deal as Thresh. Your best call is to play under the turret and make plays with your jungler.

8: Well, if you are laning against a really good one, she will deny your Death Sentence with a well timed Rampant Growth plus Grasping Roots. She can deal a good amount of damage with a single combo. This lane can be hard, so by the start so ask for early ganks from your jungler and play safe.

a good one 10, a noob one 8: A good one is almost impossible to poke as Thresh and the reason is, she has a greater range than you, she can slow you down before you even reach the range to Death Sentence, if you try to poke her Lulu will simply use Help, Pix! on you followed by Glitterlance on you and your adc. If you try to hook any of her teammates she will cast Wild Growth and that good engage becomes an easy kill for her team if you don't have Flash. Play really defensive and ask for early ganks because, when she hits 6 its almost impossible to kill her or the adc.

10: Let's get to the facts. Alistar have sustain, while have none. Alistar is by far, at level 6, better tank than you are. Alistar can screw your Death Sentences by simply Pulverize/ Headbutt combo. He can initiate fights from a little distance with the same combo as above. Your best shot here is to wait until both Headbutt and Pulverize are on cooldown to engage, because if you don't, you will became his adc's farm.

10: It doesn't matter if she is a good one or a bad one, if she lands her Zenith Blade be prepared to recieve lots and lots of damage (believe me it's even worst if its a Ezreal/ Leona comp the burst damage is REALLY high). At level 6 her Solar Flare is so annoying that she can set up ganks from a distance while safely aim for Zenith Blade/ Shield of Daybreak combo stun (did i said that if all of this lands it's a 3s stun?). The best you can do is to play defensively against her, another good tip is when you see her starting to use Zenith Blade on you (easily noticed by the activation of Shield of Daybreak followed by Eclipse), use your Flay on her. As a result, if this ability used in the right time, this can buy you precious seconds to Flash or run.

This section will cover the most played adcs in the current meta. Maybe in the future (if you guys really want to know) i can do with every adc in the game (even Quinn).

: He doesn't have a escape tool and his AA range is 550, so make use of this average range to play aggressively at EARLY levels. His Spinning Axe damage spikes when he gets any expensive ad item. However you can still exploit the fact that Blood Rush is just a speed and AS steroid and not something that drastically alters his position, so just be sure to land those Death Sentences.

: His Relentless Pursuit have 18 seconds at level 1, so try to bait this skill and Death Sentence him. He has the same AA range as Draven, however if he tries to fight back at early levels (1~6) he will run out mana very VERY fast.

: She has 500 AA range (this is pretty low), so make use of that by making the pokes real with Flay. Try to avoid by all costs her Boomerang Blade, ad when she activates Ricochet try to not stay close to the minions as you become free poke for her. Her shield has 22 seconds cooldown so try to bait it with something BEFORE you cast Death Sentence.

: She will simply push the lane really fast because of her Switcheroo! and try to land a Zap! whenever she can. Try to dodge the Zap! and land a Death Sentence on her. She has no escape, hence if she wastes a flash/barrier its a total win trade (even without the kill).

: She will try to poke you every time. You are going to grab a soul? Take 2~3 shoots before you leave my range. Seriously it's annoying, and believe me it's even worste with a Sona or Karma. That being said she has a weak spot, only one dash backwards via 90 Caliber Net which has a big cd and can be exploited as any of the dash/shield based skills already said.

: She will try to poke you with Explosive Shot every time you get into her range. If you land a hook on her, pull yourself (if your adc is well positioned) and Flay her backwards right away, this can deny her jump mid-air and putting it into cd forcing her to waste Flash. However if your adc don't follow you, well i have some bad news.

Thresh goes well with EVERY adc but, there are a few that truly shines with him.

: Yes, it is true that he killed his wife but still, there are no better support than Thresh with him. Since Lucian's Piercing Light plus Ardent Blaze can be maximized when Thresh is holding enemy champion. Another use is when both champions get level 6. When Thresh hits 6 your The Box can slow people down for full damages with Lucian's The Culling. Finally, as a defensive move thresh can use replacement soul no jutsu, switching positions with lucian in order to either aim for a kill or to prioritize Lucian's life, which contradicts a bit the lore but that's how awesome it is.

: With your Death Sentence he will have the easiest Piercing Arrow of his life. At level 6 his Chain of Corruption plus your The Box can lock the 5 members of the enemy team with ease. And since Varus have no escape tool your Dark Passage becomes essencial for him to avoid dangerous situations.

: She cleans the minions so fast that the enemy adc/support will have nowhere to hide from your Death Sentence. The enemy jungler come to gank? Don't worry with her On The Hunt and your The Box you both can flee without problem. And like Varus save your Dark Passage for her to escape.

: He has to be at close range to deal his maximum potential damage and thats when you enter with Death Sentence plus a meat shield for him. In team fights your The Box on top of the enemy team plus his Missile Barrage will set up Tons of Damage.

: Thresh and Vayne is more like a deadly relationship. Thresh ability to hold enemy champions give some seconds for Vayne to repositioning. For instance, this movement allows Vayne to Condemn targets against the wall in order to get free kills. Another strategy that matches with Vayne is fighting in the slow shadows. Since Thresh has a strong cc in his The Box a good possibility is to position the The Box together with Vayne's Final Hour. Since targets will be affected by the slow when looking for Vayne, it will give her the possibility to ace the enemy team. And at last, one of the best escaping movement is if a team fight goes wrong there is a high chance Vayne can run with her Tumble plus Thresh's Dark Passage.

: "Draven does it all, with style." (Draven, 2012).

Yeah this is a guide about support but, a little more information is always useful. I can't say how important is to know the buff's spawning times, dragon and baron nashor . Everyone knows that the dragon and baron nashor gives to your team a huge advantage early, mid and late in the game.

A dragon gives to your team 190 extra gold and 400 exp (both global) and baron nashor gives to your team the baron buff (the most important part of it) HENCE, it also gives to your team 300 extra gold and 900 exp. This being said, if your team gets 3 dragon s in the exact time that they respawn (not uncommon in high elo plays) this will be 2850 gold lead for your team. For one person only (you for exemple) it'll be 570 extra gold and 1200 exp (basicaly a free level).

Okay, now that we know what happens if we kill them, the team is only missing one thing, their timings. Their respawn timings. The respawn timer for dragon is exactly 6:00 minutes after he has been killed and baron nashor it's 7:00 after. For example, dragon has been killed at 10:29, the respawn will be at exactly 16:29.

The easiest way to calculate the respawn timer is (while in game) press esc > interface > turn on time tables. This way if you have vision when any of them has been slain you will have the exact time when he will be up again and this, can give to your team the position advantage over the other team. The buffs is normaly jungler's problem however, its worth to know that both of them (blue and red) have a fixed respawn timer of 5:00 minutes after they have been slain. "Make Haste!" (Zilean, 2009).

These are a few tips of Thresh that can be exploited to make a difference in the Fields of Justice.

Death Sentence + Dark Passage: Really basic setup for ganks, but not the ideal one. With this you can hook the enemy adc while you throw the Dark Passage backwards, and pull yourself to the enemy while pulling your jungler/adc with you.

Death Sentence on a jungle monster: Another basic one. Simply pull yourself into a jungle monster to make some sweet escapes.

Dark Passage + Flash: A good setup for ganks. What you do is simple, you throw the Dark Passage to your jungler, then Flash into the enemy adc/support. This setup allows your jungler to be on top of the enemy without wasting a single cooldown, while gives you the opportunity to hook the enemy back IF he flashes away. Many people doesn't know this but if you Flash while your teammate is using the Dark Passage, he will travel the whole distance with you. Same as Death Sentence + Dark Passage.

Dark Passage as a scout: You can use Dark Passage as a scout tool (it reveals areas in the fog of war) before you face-check that nasty bush with a Garen inside, DEMACIA! "Screw you Teemo" (Garen, 2010).

Flay as a dash interrupt: While playing against Lee Sin or any other champion with dash based skills, you can interrupt their dash with a simple well timed Flay. This negates for example, the Resonating Strike (second Q activation) damage. But again this needs to be REALLY well timed to work, and many good Lee Sins wait until you waste your Flay. This can be used as well to cancel Caitlyn's 90 Caliber Net, or Lucian's Relentless Pursuit.

Flay + The Box: 70% of the time your box's walls will not be on top of the target. But you can Flay them into the wall to cripple them while doing some heavy damage.

Death Sentence reveals invisible enemies: This sounds a bit obvious but, if u have good vision of the game you can deny the opportunity of Twitch, Evelynn or Shaco to gank or be invisible. If you hook any of them while they are invisble, it'll make them visible again allowing your team to make good work out of it.

The Box to screw invisible people: If someone goes invisible and you are on top of them, try to use The Box. This will allow you to see where they are going, because the wall is broken if someone passes through it, by doing it you will know exactly where they are heading to.

These are the few i know. If you know more tips feel free to leave on the comments.

Phew. Finally this guide is over. I hope you have enjoyed the read and have learnt something useful about what is to be a good Thresh, and how important is the support role for the team. And seriously, it pisses me off when people say "Support is the easiest role of all" or "support is totaly useless" (Toxic player #43750, 2014)

After this reading i really hope that you now see supports in a whole new light. And of course learnt something useful about Thresh. Share your thoughs with me and i promise i'll read them and keep this guide updated. See ya! =D


Published by: Mobafire
Writter: Treido
Dedications to: Kanarkam, Enram and Zyjax.

Annie (2009) "Issues faced by a child in league of legends", Vodoo-lands Inc.

Draven (2012) "How to be DRAVEN?!, a guide to self understanding and draviness", Republic of Noxian press.

Fizz (2011) "Fishing in a teamfight, how to close gap targets", Seaworld press.

Garen (2010) "Understanding Demacian", Demacia kingdom press.

Morderkaiser (2010) "How to br with Mordekaiser", Shadow isles Inc. Vol.Hue, chapter #1.

Thresh (2013) "Keeping souls, problems in the afterlife", Shadow isles Inc.

Toxic player #43750 (2014) "Tribunal reports, a guide to find toxic players", League press.

Zilean (2009) "Understanding time in effect", Urtistan press.

This section will cover any update in the guide.

02/15/2014: Changed Runes section, and runes used. Changed Matchup section for a more clear visual and added more supports matchups. Changed Warding spots section for better visualization. Added Adcs matchup section.

02/27/2014: Minor change on the items section