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Thresh Build Guide by Deluxe Sandwich

Support [S4]Thresh - Nobody Escapes the Chain Warden

Support [S4]Thresh - Nobody Escapes the Chain Warden

Updated on November 4, 2014
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League of Legends Build Guide Author Deluxe Sandwich Build Guide By Deluxe Sandwich 11 1 340,429 Views 24 Comments
11 1 340,429 Views 24 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author Deluxe Sandwich Thresh Build Guide By Deluxe Sandwich Updated on November 4, 2014
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Quick Synopsis

Quick Summary

1. Introduction
Just a little hello to my readers =)
2. Pros and Cons
Insight to the Strengths and Weaknesses of Thresh
3. Masteries
Ideal Mastery Setup for Thresh

4. Runes
How to get the most out of the Chain Warden
5. Summoner Spells
Standard Summoner Spells to consider
6. Skill Sequence
How to determine what order to level your skills

7. Ability Explanation
A breakdown of Thresh's toolkit
8. Ability Combo Sequence
How to execute the perfect engage
9. Items
Finding the items that suit your play style

10. Matchups
Who Thresh can beat and who he can beat even harder
11. Lane Partner
Who will be your partner in crime?
12. Lane Behaviour
How you and said partner will approach your opponents?

12. Thanks and Questions
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Introduction



Hi and welcome to the Nobody Escapes the Chain Warden guide featuring the amazing support Thresh. My name is Deluxe Sandwich and I am a Diamond 1 support in North American servers. By reading this guide I hope you guys will be able to see just how powerful and versatile the Chain Warden can be.

This is my first MOBAFIRE guide so I am always open to criticism and tips on how to improve my guide and gameplay =)

Onwards...
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Pros and Cons

Pros

+ Tanky Stats
+ Ranged High Damage Poke
+ Provides Solid Escape
+ Strong Lane Control
Thresh is a great default pick for supports. His tanky stats can cover for a mistake or two, while his Death Sentence + Flay combo can easily secure kills and control the pace of the laning phase. His Dark Passage is an amazing skill, allowing you to safely bring allies into the battle, or away from certain death. Used correctly he has amazing team utility, and can easily swing games in his favor. Also running around grabbing souls is pretty neat.

Cons

+ No Armor Growth
+ Hook Windup Time
+ Ulti can be avoided
+ No sustain
Of course not everyone is perfect, and Thresh isn't complete without his weaknesses. Thresh can struggle to stay in lane early game with his lack of sustain and his non existent armor growth. His ultimate, The Box although powerful, can be easily avoided by flashing or staying away. His Q + E combo takes some getting used to and can easily miss without proper timing and experience.
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Masteries

Different Mastery Options


There are quite a few different setups you can run, I will try my best to cover all possible sets, with advantages and disadvantages of each. The order goes down from the most preferred to least preferred (for me)

Case #1 - 0/9/21 My Favourite

Defence and 21 Utility

Thresh has enough tank stats to work with only 9 points in Defence, and the 21 in Utility allows him to generate enough gold and roam effectively to be relevant in the mid/late game phase.

Case #2 - More Defensive Build 0/15/15


If you want to feel more safe you can also run something like:
Defence and 15 Utility setup. It still offers the gold generation, but you lose the movement speed and CDR bonus at the end of the tree. However you have access to slightly more tanky stats.

Case #3 - All out Defense 0/21/9


This setup is also very common on supports who want to take an all out defensive route:
Defense and 9 Utility setup that is also used quite often with defensive supports. This setup sacrifices some utility to boost Thresh's already strong defensive stats to turn him into a beefy support, and a strong off-tank in the mid to late game phase.

Case #4 - Combat Spec 9/21/0


And finally the last mastery setup that is also often utilized:
Offence and 21 Defense setup that emphasizes combat and trading. With his Flay scaling, the flat damage offered by adding 9 points in offense greatly increases his trade potential. However this completely sacrifices utility, and I tend to not run this setup often.

All in all I have listed the masteries going down in the order that i prefer to use them. Try experimenting with all of these to see which one suits you best
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Runes

Runes of Choice


Runes

Precision
Press the Attack
Lethal Tempo
Phase Rush

  • Greater Quintessence of Armor: Thresh desperately needs armor runes since he has no armor growth other than from his passive, and with the nerfs to armor seals, armor quints + hp seals are a better combination.

  • Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage: This can be interchanged with the last armor quint, it depends on whether or not you play a more aggressive or defensive Thresh

  • Greater Mark of Attack Damage: These provide thresh with the damage to harass his opponents in lane, with Flay scaling the attack bonus becomes even higher.

  • Greater Glyph of Magic Resist: All around a great rune, with most supports being AP harassers in the current meta, these runes are a necessity for you.

  • Greater Seal of Health: With the recent nerfs to armor seals, flat hp seals have taken over as the dominant defensive seal.



A More Tanky Approach

Runes

Precision
Fleet Footwork
Phase Rush

  • Greater Quintessence of Armor: This time, use three of these to cover for his weak armor at low levels, remember this is for a more defensive build.

  • Greater Mark of Armor: These give Thresh added resistances against ranged champions that he has trouble approaching such as Lulu or Zyra who can constantly harass hin with auto attacks.
  • Greater Glyph of Magic Resist: All around a great rune, no need to change this one, with most supports being AP harassers in the current meta, these runes are a necessity for you.

  • Greater Seal of Health: With the recent nerfs to armor seals, flat hp seals have taken over as the dominant defensive seal. Again no need to change these ones either.
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Summoner Spells

What Spell to Take?


No, not that one.



Recommended spells:

  • Flash is pretty self explanatory, this spell is taken on just about every champion, it provides a good escape/engage when necessary.
  • With the recent changes to Exhaust, it's becoming the more dominant between the exhaust or Ignite debate, as it provides a great amount of MS and AS slow, and damage reduction.
  • Ignite is the classic "Kill Lane" summoner spell. Withstanding the test of time, it has proven itself to be a potent summoner spell many times over. The true damage and heal debuff it offers is just amazing.
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Skill Sequence

What skills do I level first?


Obviously


This is my Recommended Level Order Death Sentence max into Dark Passage max)
Ability Sequence
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

This my first and recommended skill order because it is the most effective in the current roam based meta. Leveling Flay first is great for those level 2 rushes at are so dominant in the bot lane meta now. It gives him the damage needed to help cs (if he starts Relic Shield, or harass at level 1. Get Death Sentence next to pull off the flay/hook combination (explained in theAbility Combo section). Max your death sentence first and then your Dark Passage next. However sometimes people will max Flay over dark passage, and that's fine depending on whether or not you will be using flay a lot. Maxing death sentence will reduce its cooldown and increase the damage, which will allow you to hook more frequently and be more of a threat in lane and across the map.


Alternate Skill Leveling Scenario

Scenario #1 - Ideal Conditions in Lane (3 points into Flay followed by Death Sentence max)

Under ideal situations put three points into your Flay, and then max out your Death Sentence. The reasoning behind this is that the first three points into flay and death sentence grant similar amounts of damage, but from the fourth point on, death sentence's damage scaling is much higher than flays, and the added cooldown reduction will ensure that you get the maximum damage out of trading. The skill order setup is as follows:
Ability Sequence
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Scenario #2 - Brawlfest in lane ( Flay max followed by Dark Passage max)


This setup used to be my favorite and go to skill level setup before the roaming meta became so dominant. Maxing Flay first increases the active damage on it, as well as the passive auto attack damage it gives. If you find yourself in a lane against people who will like to get grabbed and fight, such as Braum and Graves, maxing flay will allow you to trade with auto attacks more effectively, and braum's Unbreakable cannot block and negate the flay damage as it would to Death Sentence. Use Dark Passage before you go in to trade for the added shield to ensure that you come out ahead.
Ability Sequence
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
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Skill Explanation

A breakdown on Thresh's toolkit

Passive: Damnation - Thresh runs of a unique soul system, which increases his armor, ability power, and Flay auto attack damage permanently with every soul he collects ( droppped from enemy minion/champion death). However he does not have any natural armor growth, and can be baited into collecting souls. Be very careful when collecting souls in the early game.

Q: Death Sentence - One of his many playmaking abilities, if landed it tugs at the enemy for 1.5 seconds, Thresh then has the option to activate it again to fly at the target. TIP: Thresh tugs at his opponent twice when the hook lands, so if you want to fly in, do as after the SECOND tug, as this allows more time for your partner/team to react and leaves the victim immobilized for a longer period of time.

W: Dark Passage - Another playmaking ability, Thresh's lantern allows him to pull his allies towards him to start a teamfight, or he can use it to save allies from certain death. It can also be used to automatically collect any nearby souls on the ground. TIP An ally who grabs the lantern will fly to Thresh's current position, so you can flash/fly at your death sentence while your ally flies at you to help your friend traverse an even greater distance. TIP : When using Dark Passage try to place it slightly ahead of your ally, so they can grab it as they run to it, instead of running back to get it.

E: Flay - Thresh's best skill in my opinion, he pushes the target in a specified direction, dealing damage and slowing the target. It also passively makes Thresh's auto attack damage scale with his current AD ration + souls collected. TIP: Flay has amazing playmaking potential IF TIMED CORRECTLY as it can be used to interrupt so many different dashes ( I will explain more in the Ability Combo Sequence section)

R: The Box - Thresh's ultimate ability. Assuming you know the shape of the ulti, it can be used to hold many key choke points, and is also an amazing engage tool, slowing multiple targets. It can be avoided easily with the use of flash, but then your enemies will be down a crucial summoner spell, making it easier for your allies to close in and secure kills.
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Ability Combo Sequence

What you've all been waiting for

Thresh can utilize his abilities different orders to create amazing plays for his team. Here are some basic examples:

A.) The level 1 Flay: This can be broken down into three easy steps, 1.) auto attack,
2.) flay towards you, 3.) auto attack again. This allows you to attack the slowed enemy as they try to walk away, and you deal a good chunk of damage at level 1.

B.) Flay into Death Sentence: This is the easiest way to land a Death Sentence broken into three easy steps, 1.) walk into flay range, 2.) flay towards you, 3.) use your Death Sentence on the slowed target in front of you.

C.) Death Sentence into Flay: This is a little harder then the above combo because you need to land your Q before you can E this time. TIP If your enemy has a dash, use your Death Sentence to grab him, and wait until he tries to use his dash to flay. If timed correctly you will interrupt his dash and keep him in front of you.

Time to get real

Alright now I'm going to list some more complicated things to do with thresh

A.) Flash into Flay: This is a tough maneuver to master, but once you get the hang of it, it is an amazing skill to have in your repertoire. Flash towards an enemy and flay Towards you, and then follow up with a Death Sentence or even The Box. It's a great way to catch your enemies off guard. You will have to practice this quite a bit, as flay is extremely tricky to master

B.) Flash into Death Sentence: Another flash combo, but instead you use Death Sentence if they happen to be further away. This is very risky because the windup time of Death Sentence potentially gives your enemy time to dodge. If you land it, you can follow up with a Flay into The Box which is an amazing combo.

C.) Death Sentence into Dark Passage: This is used for immobilizing the target while allowing an ally to close the distance with you. Open with your Death Sentence, and while you're tugging, throw down your lantern for an ally. Alternatively, if you're feeling really confidant, you can throw your lantern down first, walk forward a bit for maximum effectiveness, and then grab the enemy.

D.) Dark Passage into Flash: WTF? Sounds weird right? Let me explain how this works. As I've Mentioned in the Previous Section, an ally who grabs your lantern will end up at your current destination, so you can throw a lantern down, and when your ally grabs it, Flash next to the enemy. That will put both you and your ally next to the enemy to follow up with a potential Flay, Death Sentence, or even The Box. If the enemy flashes away, your jungler should (in theory) still have his own flash available.

E.) Flay: Oh flay..you deserve your own section in the playmaking area. That's just how good you are. Flay can be used to interrupt many dashes when timed correctly, such as lucian's Relentless Pursuit, Tristana's Rocket Jump, Grave's Quickdraw, and even Shyvanna's Dragon's Descent. There are countless other things that can be interrupted, but I can't list them all. I also don't want to crowd this section with GIFs of Thresh's combos. However i will provide some links below of some amazing flay plays.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_rrHSEteqg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vssqcVnx6G0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ng2uYVU8Bw
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Items

What buy??? What get??

Yes.Plz


Thresh's versatility is also in the fact that he can pull off many different item paths depending on what play style you choose to run. I will try to cover as many starting/ending builds as possible. HOWEVER none of these builds are absolute, as it varies with the enemy team comp, your own team comp, and how the game is progressing.

I have already posted build order in the beginning of this guide, in this section I will explain the reasoning behind the item selections
Item Selection Explained



face of the mountain
face of the mountain

This is for people who want to start with a more combat oriented laning phase. The combat stats and execute heal that it provides allow for strong trading, and when built into face of the mountain, the shield is a lifesaver and it gives a strong chunk of health and HP regen. The CDR is nice too.


Mobility Boots


This is a pretty common choice for supports, the movement speed that it provides out of combat along with the MS mastery bomus from the utility tree allows you to perform strong mid game roaming, which will allow you to make plays - something that Thresh excels at.


Sightstone


Do I even have to explain this one? It's a fairly obvious choice, allowing you to place wards on the map and giving you bonus health.Tip: If you are up against a invis jungler such as Evelynn, or someone that will not gank frequently such as Master Yi, buy your Ruby Crystal first and then finish your face of the mountain before upgrading to the sightsone, making sure to buy wards along the way. The reason behind this is because the sightstone does not give more hp than a ruby crystal, so the extra 400~ gold can be used to buy another ruby crystal for your face of the mountain, giving you another 180 hp to tank with.


Frozen Heart


The armor and A.S slow aura it provides is amazing. The extra mana it provides really helps with Thresh's mana issues if you spam. Along with the 20 percent CDR it provides, you can max out your CDR with face of the mountain and another item such as Locket of the Iron Solari. With your Death Sentence at max rank, everytime you land a grab you can throw another one in about 4 seconds. Add your tug duration to that, and you can lock someone down every 3 or so seconds if you consistently land your Q.


Locket of the Iron Solari


As I mentioned above, the CDR it gives helps round out your build. It also provides a solid amount of hp and magic resist. This item is a staple item among supports or junglers as it provides the team with a magic resist and hp regen aura. The active shield (at max level it provides everyone with a hefty 230 shield) is an added bonus as well.


Banshee's Veil


A solid tank item to pick up against a team that has a good amount of magic damage/catch power. The hp and magic resist make you more tanky, and the passive shield gives you a "get out of jail free" card every 25 seconds (provided you took no damage). The health regen that it grants upon taking a hit is an added bonus. This item outshines Spirit Visage on thresh because of the shield that it gives him, and that he doesn't need the CDR from spirit visage because it should already be maxed with the above items.




Situational or Interchangeable Items


Mikael's Blessing


This item should be taken if the enemy team has a lot of stun/slows or anything of the sort. With your role as a peeler for your adc you will need to make sure that they stay healthy at all times. It also provides as hefty heal. Take this if you feel that your adc is having trouble staying alive.


Randuin's Omen


You can pick up this item in place of Banshee's Veil if they lack magic damage, or even replace your Frozen Heart with it if you feel that you need the extra HP. The attack speed / Movement speed debuff is very good, so feel free to switch this one in and out to see if you prefer it.


Spirit Visage


I don't see why you would need this one in place of Banshee's Veil unless you really need the extra CDR if you swapped out some items. It gives defensive stats that are slightly less than B. Veil, although it does give added hp regen...All in all i wouldn't take this, but hey if you like it feel free to use it.


talisman of ascension
talisman of ascension

This item can be taken in place of face of the mountain if you feel that you already have the defensive stats and would like to use the utility that this item offers. The active movement speed increase is amazing, and can allow you to engage the enemy team or chase down stragglers. Combined with the likes of Sivir's On The Hunt, and you have a scary combo indeed. The 20 percent CDR it provides is also very strong, and the mana regen slightly mitigates and mana issues you may potentially have.



Final Item Summary

Defensive Start (Face of the Mountain)



With the defensive Relic Shield start, Thresh has more tanky stats to play with, allowing him to trade with the enemy laner(s). Relic shield also provides Thresh with a small amount of sustain, as he heals a little bit every time he executes an enemy minion. The Ruby Sightstone is an obvious choice, as you need to be warding constantly. Locket of the Iron Solari provides nice teamfight stats and a decent shield on top of your Dark Passage, while Frozen Heart and Mikael's Blessing round out the rest of the build. However Mikael's or even Frozen heart can be swapped out for the likes of a Banshee's Veil if the enemy team is more magic oriented, or even a Sunfire Aegis or Randuin's Omen if you feel that you need the extra health.


Utility Start (Talisman Of Ascension)



This start provides more utility and map coverage with the talisman of ascension at the cost of tankiness. You can run this build if you feel that your team is more chase and pick oriented as opposed to teamfight oriented, although this build will work just fine in the latter situation. Without the added tankiness of the face of the mountain, you have to resort to buying another tank item in place of the Mikael's Blessing, or you can swap out another item, like i said this build isn't absolute. The map coverage offered by this build allows you to make plays, or rush quickly to allies who may need a Dark Passage.
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Matchups

Who is Thresh best suited to play against?



Janna


Difficulty : 3/5 = Manageable. Janna is one of the strongest disengage champions in the game, and can negate thresh's skill kit fairly well. She can use her Howling Gale to disengage against the enemy carry if you manage to hook her carry, and her Monsoon can completely nullify a The Box all in or a jungle gank. However she also does not have much kill pressure on you either, with her Zephyr being her only harass skill. Wait for her to use her howling gale to harass you, and then flay her in and hook her for the trade.


Nami


Difficulty : 3/5 = Skill matchup. This matchup can go either way, Thresh has more damage, but nami has a strong amount of sustain with her Ebb and Flow ability. Do your best to bully her out in the lvl 1 - 2 phase and then try to land a Death Sentence into Flay to finish her. She lacks tank stats as well so an all in works nicely. Bring Ignite if you're feeling really mean.

Morgana

Difficulty 3/5 = Pain in the ***. What a pain in the ***. Her Black Shield negates the tug of Death Sentence and Flay if timed correctly. Hell it can even be used to waltz out of The Box if it was timed right Thankfully due to the nerfs to her damage and shield strength, she is easier to lane against now. So how do you play against Morgana? Just remember that your flay gives your auto attack bonus Magic damage, so bait out the shield, either by grabbing or playing aggressively, and then auto attack her to weaken/break her shield. Once that is done you're home free. BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL IN THIS MATCHUP, HER DARK BINDINGS ARE SCARY AS HELL. But so are you.


Zyra


Difficulty : 3/5 = Skill matchup. Zyra has amazing engage and counter engage with her Grasping Roots and Stranglethorns. Her spell and auto attack range give her amazing harass potential. However all you have to do is whack her a couple times and watch her hp drop. Without a sustain ability a solid Death Sentence can easily be the death of her as well. Wait until she uses her grasping roots to walk in and flay her. Don't risk using death sentence unless you have a clear shot. You might grab a plant or something silly.


Karma


Difficulty 4/5 = Tough. Karma has a fairly strong kit. She has a strong shield in her Inspire, her Inner Flame hits quite hard, and she can disengage/engage with her Focused Resolve. On top of that her Mantra can empower her abilities, allowing her to powerhouse her way through even more. So how do you play against her? You have to dodge her Q first of all, which is a huge damage source for her. Be careful when going against her in the early stages, as she is actually at her strongest at level 1-3. Wait for her to miss her Q, or for her to use an empowered ability, then go in for the kill.


Leona


Difficulty : 3/5 = Skill matchup. Leona is a all in melee support. You my friend are a ranged tank. Walk up to her and smack her around for a bit at level one. Be careful of how many creeps have died or else if she hits level 2 before you do things will be disastrous. At level two make sure to stand between leona and your carry. As soon as she activates her Zenith Blade flay AWAY from you. That will interrupt leona's dash and render her useless. Continue to harass. DO NOT HARASS WITH FLAY or else she will dash to your carry and he is as good as dead. At level 6 put good distance between you and your carry at all times, or else she will use her Solar Flare to stun you both. If you fail to interrupt her dash do not flay her towards your carry. I mean yes it damages, but that's like giving someone chapstick because his head is on fire.


Braum


Difficulty 3/5 = Tough to kill. Braum is extremely difficult to kill. His tank stats surpass leona's, and his Unbreakable is amazing at disengaging with. His passive Concussive Blows is scary, and Winter's Bite grants him a decent amount of ranged harass. However his Winter's Bite is quite costly, so dodge a couple and he loses a lot of harass potential. Tip : Although his Unbreakable stops skillshots, he can still be grabbed by Thresh's Death Sentence, so feel free to use it if you see an opening. Chances are you wont be killing him, but chances are he wont be killing you either if you play it right.


Annie


Difficulty : 2/5 = Fairly Easy. Ever since the nerf to Annie's damage in the early game, she has quickly fallen out of her throne as the queen of supports. Due to her lack of sustain and beefiness, you can easily harass and bully her out of lane with a couple auto attack and Flay's. Be careful of Pyromania though, because if she pulls off a good stun the enemy lane can still do massive damage to you. She also has a very high attack range, so don't just stand around and let her whack you. Be careful once you hit 6, as she will most likely all in you with Summon: Tibbers and Ignite.


Lulu


Difficulty : 4/5 = Fairly difficult. Lulu, like many others i have listed, lack sustain and beefiness, however she makes up for it with her amazing utility in Help, Pix! and her Whimsy, allowing her to control the pace of the matchup relatively well. Your carry cant follow up if hes a squirrel. Her Glitterlance can hit hard if she connects too many, and it has a relatively long range, which will allow her to keep you under control, so like many of the above supports, try your best to dodge those. Auto attack / Flay when you can, and then Death Sentence to finish. Be careful at level 6 though, as she gets her Wild Growth, which can swing the tide of the fight if used correctly.


Alistar


Difficulty : 3/5 = Skill matchup. Alistar is a melee support, so you can easily harass him in the early stages of the game. However as he levels up, he gains access to his signature Headbutt and Pulverize combination, allowing him to engage fairly easily. His headbutt is one of the few gap closers that cannot be interrupted by flay (I believe), and he also gains the Triumphant Roar ability, giving him amazing sustain on top of his tanky stats. If you manage to land a Death Sentence, he can headbutt your carry out of the battle, or just pulverize you and butt you away. It's difficult to kill him, but he doesn't have much kill potential either without the help of a jungle gank.


Taric


Difficulty : 2/5 = Fairly easy. Taric is a walking tank. With his Shatter's passive armor bonus, it is pretty tough to kill him or even his carry, since the armor bonus is an aura. With Dazzle Taric has a guaranteed engage, although short of going all in with shatter and Radiance, he has very low kill potential on a healthy champion. Even going all in his damage is quite lackluster. He plays out similarly to the Alistar matchup in the sense that he has sustain through Imbue, and a decent disengage with his stun. Try to harass him a bit, and wait for him to use his abilities, then try your best to all in. Running Ignite in this matchup isn't a bad idea as well. Alternatively you can try to distract him with some truly outrageous gems while your carry whallops him from behind.


Blitzcrank


Difficulty: 2/5 Fairly easy. Blitzcrank is like a melee, more mana heavy version of Thresh. His Rocket Grab has a very long cooldown at lower levels, and is really his only source or lane presence. If you manage to dodge 1-3 grabs you will find that he should have low to no mana remaining, making laning against him very easy. Thresh's skill set is just made to work against blitzcrank, with his Dark Passage nullifying the rocket grab, and then his Flay to make sure blitzcrank stays away. Constantly harass him or the adc, and then use the Flay + Death Sentence combo to secure easy kills.
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Lane Partner Synergy

Who Will Be Your Partner In Crime?



Caitlyn


Synergy : 3/5 - This lane combo has low burst and kill potential, but makes up for it in the fact that they both have relatively high range and can harass the living hell out of just about anything in lane. Land a good Death Sentence and Flay onto a Yordle Snap Trap and they will struggle to stay in lane. Remember the key to working in this lane is to constantly poke, trying to burst them down with only the Piltover Peacemaker will not be enough. Work them down until you can get a sure kill.


Vayne


Synergy : 2/5 A little here and there. Vayne needs a strong early game to get going. While Thresh can give her that, it all comes down to who you guys are laning against. Something like Caitlyn and Nami would just be hell, bacasuse of the sheer amount of harass they bring to the table. Thresh's Dark Passage increases Vayne's mobility, and The Box can give her a good amount of crowd control. Just be careful not to get too agressive or else Vayne will take too much damage.


Draven


Synergy : 3/5 Solid synergy. Draven likes to push to get his League of Draven stacks. Thresh like to push to get souls. Everyone wins. They both have high auto attack damage, and with the play potential of Death Sentence and Flay, if Draven can get 1-2 kills, the lane is won in your favor. Be extra careful of jungle ganks, and keep the river/bushes constantly warded. The increased damage that Draven deals with quickly push the lane and the enemy jungler may try to gank him to reduce his stacks.


Twitch


Synergy : 4/5 Lots of kill pressure. With Twitch's Ambush, Contaminate, and Thresh's Death Sentence, they have extremely high kill potential. Add that to the fact that Twitch's lack of a reliable escape (with the recent nerf to ambush, he can take up to 6 seconds to enter stealth) is solved though Dark Passage, and you truly have a scary duo. At level 6 Thresh can all in with The Box while Twitch uses his Rat-Ta-Tat-Tat during the confusion to tear the bottom lane apart.


Lucian


Synergy : 4/5 They got something going, but its not all there yet. Once again the double ranged poke is prevalent in this lane duo as well, with lucian's Piercing Light harass, Thresh can easily capitalize on a low hp enemy. When Thresh land's a Death Sentence Lucian can use his entire combo unimpeded if timed correctly, dealing massive damage to the enemy. Minus 1 point for bad relations with his wife though.


Jinx


Synergy : 3/5 Feeling some chemistry here. Thanks to Dark Passage (again), Jinx's lack of an escape is solved. A Death Sentence and Flay into Jinx's Flame Chompers! combined with her high damage is certain death or a huge hp advantage. At level 6 they have fantastic all in potential with Jinx's Super Mega Death Rocket! and The Box. Jinx's Switcheroo! also allows her to change her range/damage, allowing you to harass to your hearts content.


Tristana


Synergy : 3/5 Little this and that. Tristana's shaky early game can be circumvented thanks to thresh's solid baby sitting kit, but you still have to be careful. Tristana can't really take much advantage of thresh's Death Sentence Flay combo other then using her Explosive Shot and attacking a couple times. Her Rocket Jump with Dark Passage can cover a lot of ground, and if played right you two should be relatively safe for the duration of lane phase and bring her to that scary hyper - carry late game.


Sivir


Synergy 3/5 Pretty solid. Sivir works very will with a talisman of ascension build thresh, because of her ultimate: On The Hunt which when put together, grants them a huge mobility boost that can easily catch anyone. Her Boomerang Blade and Ricochet can be used when you land a Death Sentence and deal a heavy amount of damage on the enemy. It wont be enough to kill them, so you need to repeat that combo a couple times.


Miss Fortune


Synergy 3/5 Strong laning phase. With her recent buffs, Miss Fortune can definitely dish out some solid harass with her Double Up, and can stack the slow from Make it Rain along with your Flay. Her lack of an escape is nullified with Dark Passage, and at level 6 you two have an amazing ultimate combination. Go all in with The Box, while she goes nuts with her Bullet Time and people will melt.


Ashe


Synergy 4/5 Strong throughout the game. Ashe and Thresh have surprisingly strong lane synergy due to her Focus passive, which at level 1 is a guaranteed critical strike. Combine this with the damage provided from the passive/active from Flay and you have a strong level 1 fight. At level 2 your Q + E combo with Ashe's Volley and Frost Shot can easily net kills if you managed to weaken the enemy at level 1. At level 6 you two have great pick potential, with her ultimate Enchanted Crystal Arrow, The Box, followed by Death Sentence and flay, can easily pick off targets that are out of position. Because of the slow active on Ashe and your Dark Passage, kiting is a breeze. Just remember to keep some distance from her while you two kite so she can fly towards you.


Graves


Synergy 3/5 Strong All-In power. At level two you two have amazing kill potential with a Death Sentence, Flay and Buckshot combination. That should weaken them and allow graves to close the distance with Quickdraw to finish. When laning you will have to emphasize all in pressure, because even though you are both ranged, you are both mid range champions, and can be out harassed by something like a Lucian and Karma combo. At level six you have an amazing all in the The Box and Collateral Damage. Be careful of a lane that can take advantage of your relatively low auto attack range though.



Kog'Maw

Synergy 3/5 Requires a lot of synergy. Kog'Maw is a positional heavy marksman, and playing with him requires that you two are on the same page at all times. His early game is decent, with his Bio-Arcane Barrage he can trade with other marksman's and supports fairly safely, and his Void Ooze allows him to slow anyone that tries to get near him. He can use those in conjunction with Caustic Spittle to whittle down anyone you manage to lock down with your Death Sentence and Flay combination. He is a very immobile marksman however, and you need to make sure that you are positioned perfectly at all times to bail him out with Dark Passage. Don't play too aggressive and let him farm up to that scary late game and watch him melt through the enemy team like a knife through hot butter.
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Lane Behavior/ Mid to Late Game Transition

How to conduct your laning phase

Thresh can be used as a aggressive harasser, a tanky initiator, or just as a solid escape mechanism. A lot of your play-making abilities comes with your partners capabilities to follow up with your moves. Try to ping if you are about to engage, or tell your partner how you plan to lane from the start. If the aggressive approach doesn't work, try a more defensive one. Maybe your partner just wants to farm up, and that's totally fine, Thresh can work in many ways. TIP: When you harass, try to wait for the enemy to be last hitting, or when hes backing off to guarantee that they cannot attack you back. See how the enemies lane and adapt accordingly.



Early Game


Thresh has amazing harass potential due to his Flay. The passive and active damage at lvl 1 allows him to control the pace of the lane towards the lvl 2 rush ; something that is used extremely often in the bottom lane. Thresh is strong against champions that cannot all in early, so against the likes of Sona and Janna you should always be trying to force a fight with your E and Q combo. Using Dark Passage before you go in to harass will ensure that you win trades, although make sure you know where the enemy jungler is.



Mid Game


At this point, depending on how the early game progressed and assuming the bottom lane tower has been taken, move around the map and try to make plays. Ganking a friendly lane that is winning is the easiest way to snowball the game in their favor. Keep the map warded with Sightstone while you are roaming around, prioritizing jungle objectives. For example if the dragon is up or about to spawn in the next couple minutes, keep the bottom lane warded and put pressure on the middle lane. Try to be aware of the enemy jungler's movements and roam accordingly to Dark Passage your allies away from potential ganks.



Late Game


The late game movements/scenarios will vary greatly depending on how the early and mid game have progressed. Remember your role in your team is an initiator with your Death Sentence, but also to peel from your carry in team fights. At this point you will generally be roaming as a team. Stay diligent with your warding and try your best to initiate plays for your team.
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Summary and Thanks

And that concludes my guide on how to kick *** as Thresh!

If you have managed to read this to the end I sincerely thank you for taking your time to do so. This is my first MOBAFIRE guide so if you have any feedback/criticism please feel free to comment away. Big thanks to Toobz for helping me write this guide. I hope you all enjoyed reading my guide =)

Say goodbye Thresh



GUUUU GOODBYE
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