What is a QuickGuide?

This guide is not meant to be a full-on guide for Thresh, but it is rather to introduce you to the champion and provide the safest runes and items to get you started. The goal of this guide is for it to be a quick read and get you playing the champion as soon as possible. If you want a full on guide, you can look at my ultimate guide for Thresh or one done by another Thresh master.

Prepare for Cruelty | Ultimate Thresh Guide

Runes

Guardian is a great rune because it protects teammates in close proximity and fits into Thresh's playstyle. Font of Life heals enemies if they strike teammates that you immobilize for a short period and is easily activated with your Q. Bone Plating is a good rune for the laning phase and prevents damage in short trades that you will be making early game. Unflinching is a rune that resists CC and will make it easy to survive in extended trades as you gain more tenacity the lower health you are. In the Inspiration tree, we bring Biscuit Delivery for sustain in lane and Cosmic Insight because Thresh is a champion that is highly reliant on ability cooldowns.

Spells

Teleport is a standard spell for Thresh because you can roam around with it and return back to lane quickly. Flash is a mandatory spell on Thresh, as he can pull of ability combos with it.

Starting Items

Always take Steel Shoulderguards as a support. The active warding once you level up your item is key to playing Thresh. Vision is very important. This is also why bringing a Control Ward as a starting item is useful to establish a vision advantage over the lane.

Main Build

Mythic:
After your starting items, you should prioritize your mythic item, Locket of the Iron Solari. It provides armor and magic resist as well as ability haste and health. The passive grants allies extra resistance and the active grants them a shield, which makes this item great for keeping your teammates alive in extended trades.

Boots:
Your safest boots are Mobility Boots. They allow you to get to teamfights and your ADC fast, as well as provide roaming potential for you to help other lanes.

Legendary Items:
Knight's Vow is your first legendary item. It provides major health buffs and will make it easier for your tethered teammate to survive and dish out damage. The key to using this item is to stay out of taking damage while your teammate is tethered and taking punishment so that you can make most of the active ability. Your second legendary is Zeke's Convergence, which is like Knight's Vow, but empowers damage instead of health. Redemption is your finishing item, and it can really turn teamfights around. The best part is you can use this item while dead and support your teammates even if you aren't there. The item heals teammates and damages enemies after a channel of 3 seconds.

Buff Item:
Elixir of Iron is the only elixir viable on Thresh. Paired with Mobility Boots, you can lead your team into battle by boosting their movement speed if they follow behind you while simultaneously making you tankier.

Situational Items:
Always take Thornmail if the enemy team has high sustain because the way Grievous Wounds reduce healing. If the enemy team has a high AP composition, take Abyssal Mask which provides magic resistance and pairs well with your Q because of its passive which makes enemies vulnerable if immobilized. Spirit's Visage is also a great option against AP champions that you can take if you prefer health and health regeneration over a damage buff. Take Frozen Heart against Auto Attack reliant champions like Jax or Trundle for example. It reduces attack speed and has a high amount of armor. The mana buff is nice too. Randuin's Omen is a good choice if the enemy team has a high AD composition because of how much armor it provides. The AOE active is useful in teamfights to nerf enemy damage for a few seconds and help your teammates win the trade.

Passive: Damnation

Minions, monsters or champions that die around Thresh drop souls that he can collect, granting him permanent armor and ability power.

Q: Death Sentence

Activating this ability flings a hook in the direction of your cursor no matter which way your champion is facing. If you hook an enemy champion, you immobilize them and gain a recast of the ability after a short delay. If you choose to recast the ability, you will be able to pull yourself towards the enemy champion. Maxed first.

W: Dark Passage

Flings a lantern in the direction of your cursor. Those in proximity to the lantern can click it and dash to you and grant both of you a small shield. Maxed last.

E: Flay

Thresh knocks up and displaces champions in a set area in the direction of your cursor. Passively, Thresh's first basic attack deals more damage the longer he waits between attacks. This ability can interrupt all channels. Maxed Second.

R: The Box

Thresh summons a pentagon of walls around him. Champions who break a wall will be slowed for 99% for a short period and dealt magic damage. If a champion breaks an additional wall, they will not take damage but still be slowed. Put points into this ability whenever you can.

Jungle Camp Escapes
Near midlane, Raptor and Wolf camps can be hit with your Q. You can Q to hook and Q2 to escape from a deadly situation. W before you Q2 if you want to bring another teammate with you.

Minion Engage
Your Q can be used for more than enemy champions. If you are out of range of an enemy, Q + Q2 a minion to get into a teamfight earlier where it might just turn the tide. You can also Q + Q2 to a minion and then E in the opposite direction to potentially catch an enemy off guard and bring them closer to you or your teammates for a free kill.

Lantern Shield
Your W doesn't have to be solely for your teammates. If you are in a 1v1, the shield from a W might just save you. W on yourself for an extra shield if no teammates are around to assist. There are many ways to use your W, and this is one of them.

The Box
Here are a few tips:

- You can Q or E someone back into The Box to break a wall and slow them.
- Using your ultimate to escape or save teammates can be a great option. If your team is low on health and being chased by the enemy, use your R in lane to slow down the enemy. Just keep in mind casting your R will stop your movement for a brief period of time, so make sure you can survive, or plan to sacrifice yourself for your team.
- Ultimate under an ally tower is a powerful tool in the earlier stages of the game. There are countless times where I have baited and taken out enemy champions by casting The Box under the protection of a tower. Trust me, it works, and is especially useful in the early game right after you hit level 6.

The Most Powerful Combo: Q + E
This is Thresh's signature combo, and there is a reason behind it. First of all, it is on a very low cooldown late game, so you can abuse it as such. Second, it can keep an enemy champion under crowd control for an insane amount of time. If you allow your Q1 to fully animate before hitting Q2, you can extend the max amount of time your victim is helpless. Using your E immediately after extends that duration even more, and by the time they are free from CC, you will have given enough time for you teammates to bring their health down by over a half. Flay the enemy towards you to make it harder for them to escape, unless they are the ones pushing your team.

The Engage Combo: Q + W + Q2 + E
When going for an all-in-push, this combo is your best friend. Q an enemy, W to allow your teammate to dash to you and become shielded, and Q2 to close the distance, followed by an E towards your team to make it harder for your enemy to escape. You can throw in your R somewhere here if needed, but you usually want to save it for teamfights, not assassinations, so just keep that in mind. You can Q through walls and Q2 to dash through them if you hook something. Throw a lantern before your Q2 if you want to bring a teammate with you.

Helpful Video

I embedded this helpful video done by another Thresh master. The video is not my own but it sums up perfectly what a pro Thresh does with his abilities. Please support the creator of the video.

Play Video

End Guide