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Recommended Items
Spells:
Exhaust
Flash
Items
Ability Order
Damnation (PASSIVE)
Thresh Passive Ability
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

Hi and welcome to the Nobody Escapes the Chain Warden guide featuring the amazing support

This is my first MOBAFIRE guide so I am always open to criticism and tips on how to improve my guide and gameplay =)
Onwards...
Pros
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+ 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 ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Cons
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+ 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, ![]() |
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
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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
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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
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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
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And finally the last mastery setup that is also often utilized:
Offence and 21 Defense setup that emphasizes combat and trading. With his

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
Runes of Choice
Precision
Press the Attack
Lethal Tempo
Phase Rush
Runes





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
Precision
Fleet Footwork
Phase Rush
Runes




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.
What Spell to Take?
Recommended spells:
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.
What skills do I level first?
Obviously
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.
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:
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.

Obviously
This is my Recommended Level Order
Death Sentence max into
Dark Passage max)


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This my first and recommended skill order because it is the most effective in the current roam based meta. Leveling





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


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Under ideal situations put three points into your


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


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This setup used to be my favorite and go to skill level setup before the roaming meta became so dominant. Maxing






A breakdown on Thresh's toolkit











What you've all been waiting for

A.) The level 1

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.)


C.)


Time to get real
Alright now I'm going to list some more complicated things to do with thresh
A.)




B.)




C.)


D.)






E.)





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_rrHSEteqg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vssqcVnx6G0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ng2uYVU8Bw
What buy??? What get??

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. |
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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 ![]() |
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![]() ![]() |
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 ![]() ![]() ![]() |
|
![]() ![]() |
The armor and A.S slow aura it provides is amazing. The extra mana it provides really helps with ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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![]() ![]() |
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. |
|
![]() ![]() |
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 ![]() |
Situational or Interchangeable Items
|
![]() ![]() |
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. |
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![]() ![]() |
You can pick up this item in place of ![]() ![]() |
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![]() ![]() |
I don't see why you would need this one in place of ![]() |
|
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 ![]() ![]() |
Final Item Summary
Defensive Start (Face of the Mountain)
With the defensive









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


Who is Thresh best suited to play against?
![]() ![]() |
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 ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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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 ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Difficulty 3/5 = Pain in the ***. What a pain in the ***. Her ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Difficulty : 3/5 = Skill matchup. Zyra has amazing engage and counter engage with her ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Difficulty 4/5 = Tough. Karma has a fairly strong kit. She has a strong shield in her ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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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 ![]() ![]() |
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Difficulty 3/5 = Tough to kill. Braum is extremely difficult to kill. His tank stats surpass leona's, and his ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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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 ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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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 ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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![]() ![]() |
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 ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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![]() ![]() |
Difficulty : 2/5 = Fairly easy. Taric is a walking tank. With his ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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![]() ![]() |
Difficulty: 2/5 Fairly easy. Blitzcrank is like a melee, more mana heavy version of Thresh. His ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Who Will Be Your Partner In Crime?
![]() ![]() |
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 ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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![]() ![]() |
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 ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Synergy : 3/5 Solid synergy. Draven likes to push to get his ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Synergy : 4/5 Lots of kill pressure. With Twitch's ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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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 ![]() ![]() |
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Synergy : 3/5 Feeling some chemistry here. Thanks to ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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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 ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Synergy 3/5 Pretty solid. Sivir works very will with a talisman of ascension build thresh, because of her ultimate: ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Synergy 3/5 Strong laning phase. With her recent buffs, Miss Fortune can definitely dish out some solid harass with her ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Synergy 4/5 Strong throughout the game. Ashe and Thresh have surprisingly strong lane synergy due to her ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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Synergy 3/5 Strong All-In power. At level two you two have amazing kill potential with a ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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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 ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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




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



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

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
Deluxe Sandwich
Thresh Guide
[S4]Thresh - Nobody Escapes the Chain Warden
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