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Welcome to my Thresh guide. This is my first guide, so try to cut me some slack.

So Why Play Thresh?

Ever since Thresh was released, the supporting game has changed. Thresh is in my eyes the strongest support at this current moment. Whilst using Thresh, you will notice your fellow lane partners are always much friendlier as he is just an easy champ who makes it almost impossible to not earn kills.

Alright, So lets get into it.

Pros

+ Very Tanky Mid to Late Game
+ Great Initiation with Death Sentence
+ Can save a teammate in nearly all situations with Dark Passage
+ Very easy to secure a first blood
+ Death Sentence is a great jungle invade ability


Cons

- Very squishy between levels 1 and 5
- Death Sentence Can be easy to dodge
- Thresh has no heal and lacks sustainability
- Relies on the ADC to follow up with your abilities
- Collecting Souls can cause you to be heavily harassed by the enemy ADC or Support

I've noticed that many Thresh players take his Dark Passage first. I personally would only take this if the enemy team has strong early game invasion capabilities. However I don't know about you guys, but whenever I play league it tends to be my team that gets invaded.

The reason I get Death Sentence first is purely for invading the enemy jungle. However If you want to play more defensive and protect your own jungle, I'd recommend grabbing your Dark Passage as it is a great ability to counter that early invasion. If you do grab your Dark Passage first, then I'd recommend you get your Death Sentence second followed by Flay.

It is important to upgrade your Dark Passage first as it will basically shield no damage if not maxed first. Next you should level your Flay as this will be your damage ability and Death Sentence doesn't do as much damage when levelled.

Most Thresh players tend to reactivate their Death Sentence right after landing the hook. Activating your hook straight away can prevent Death Sentence's maximum potential. Try to drag your opponent closer by walking away, reactivating Death Sentence at the last possible moment. After being flung towards your opponent, activate you Flay. By doing this your AD Carry will have nothing other than right clicking to worry about.

If you are really looking to get fancy, then I'd suggest throwing out a Dark Passage to where your ally will be heading. Doing this before a Death Sentence will cause your team mate to end up basically right on top of your victims.

Warding is one of, if not THE most important job to a support. Why is this? This is because that is what your team expects you to do. If you don't do it, then no one will. My starting items are built up of two Vision Wards, and Explorer's Ward and a Sight Ward. The reason I have picked this ward combination is simple, Sustainability. With this setup of wards, you are pretty much covered and safe to play how you like without worrying about that level 2 gank. However, by placing your Explorer's Ward you can determine whether or not your enemy support has placed a Vision Ward in the brushes. After your Explorer's Ward has been countered and destroyed by the enemy Vision Ward, just place your Vision Ward in the brush and you have full vision and are ready to get a helping hand from your Jungler.

Ward-Countering Early Game

Just because you have bought your wards the first time and the enemy jungler came nowhere near your lane, doesn't mean he wont be there later. This means that you still need to keep the vision happening. So after you have recalled grab as many Vision Wards as you can. It's more important you buy at least two of these instead of the item you went back for. I tend to place these two Vision Wards in the river brush, and the tri-brush. I also like to only put Sight Wards in the lane brushes as if both teams have a ward there, it doesn't make a big deal. I suggest only placing a Vision Ward there if you have the money.

Where To Ward

Vision Ward should always be placed in six locations.
These locations are -
Your Blue Buff, and the enemy Blue Buff,
Your Red Buff, and the enemy Red Buff,
Baron Nashor,
And Dragon.

The reason these should always be Vision Warded is because it is generally the main warding place for the enemy team as well, and getting your Dragon stolen when you've been trying to obtain it for the past minute or so is very disappointing.

Sight Wards should be placed throughout your jungle, and the enemies. Try to place them inside brushes as it gives you more vision on them and you know if there is any enemies within it.

If you have enough gold to start buying Oracle's Elixirs then go ahead an buy them as they are a great way to counter wards. However, do not buy this if you KNOW your opponents are not warding. I'd recommend only buying an Oracle's Elixir at about 20 minutes into the game as that is when the warding starts to happen globally across the map. Vision is the key to winning, so make sure you continue to ward the map while dismantling enemy wards also.

Alright so as a support I strongly recommend Exhaust as it really gives your ADC the edge when your having a fight with the enemy duo bot lane. Flash However can be substituted for many other summoner spells.

Exhaust > Flash > Heal > Ignite > Teleport > Barrier > Ghost

Other Viable Summoner Spells

Barrier can be a good spell for when you initiate into a team fight giving you that extra tankyness.
Heal can be a great to sustain your lane presence and is reasonably good for late game team fights as well.
Ignite is despised by most but is actually a good form of harass or counter to enemy support Volibear's and Dr. Mundo's
Ghost can be a great way to get back to lane or for when you are in a really aggressive lane.
Teleport gives you really good map mobility, one second your bot and the next you've scored a double assist in mid.


Not so Viable Spells

Smite for obvious reasons.
Clarity is kind of useless as most of the time you won't be lacking mana and late game it will be practically useless.
Revive is a thing of the past and I strongly recommend you don't take this spell.
Cleanse is pointless as most of the time your ADC will be copping all the CC and not you.
Garrison requires no explanation.
Clairvoyance is generally a last resort pick if you really think you will need it and know you will be short on gold for wards. I recommend not getting this Spell unless your entire team agrees and wants it as it is just not worth taking.

Teamwork is a big part of playing Support. Having an Ace bot lane requires perfect synergy, and that is why it is important to know your ADC's capabilities. Thresh relies on his ADC and/or Jungler to follow up with his abilities. Thresh's unique ability to not only throw himself into battle, but also bring your allies full force to the unsuspecting enemies can really be a game changer.

The thing that irritates me the most about playing Thresh is that your Dark Passage relies on your allies to click on the lantern. I swear 70% of the world don't know how to use it. So just remember that some team members might not click your lantern so be ready to assist in any way you can. It's better you die rather than your AD or AP carries.

The above image was borrowed from www.deviantart.com

Alright so now we have covered the Team Work section of things, it's time to talk about which ADC's are the best matchup for good ol' Thresh

Ashe is a really nice pick for Thresh as her Enchanted Crystal Arrow can be a great way to easily hook Thresh's Death Sentence.
Vayne is another good pick due to her ability to stun enemies with Condemn
Varus can be a good pick because of his Chain of Corruption
Ezreal is a good pick when you land your abilities as it gives him an easy time at hitting all of his skillshots.
Caitlyn is my preferred ADC when playing Thresh. This is purely due to her range and Yordle Snap Trap.
Draven can be a nice pick for the same reason as Ezreal, it makes it easier to hit his abilities.
Graves Smoke Screen can be a great way to slow down enemy reactions and make it much easier for Thresh to land his Death Sentence.

In my eyes Thresh is THE strongest support in the game. He is a mix up of Leona, Blitzcrank and Lee Sin with a little secret spice chucked into the brew. His abilities work in perfect synergy when versing any enemy opponents.

There are two more things I can think of which lead to him being an excellent support. The first being his harass potential. You can harass the enemy ADC or Support without receiving a scratch. The second thing being his ability to escape enemy ganks whilst also being able to get your ADC out of the danger zone as well.

Hopefully you enjoyed my Thresh guide. IF you want dislikes my guide then please leave a comment or PM on how you think I could improve it. Thanks for reading, now go support your team.

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