Greetings fellow Summoners!

I ask that you please read the entire guide before voting and judging on it. In this guide, we will discuss Thresh and everything about him that you need to know as a top laner.

1.) Introduction
2.) Pros / Cons
3.) Runes
4.) Masteries
5.) Items
6.) Spells
7.) Suggested Strategies
8.) Conclusion on Thresh

Pros:

-Lots of CC for use in teamfights or setting up ganks.
-High mid-late game damage.
-Decent attack range for minion farming.
-Can be very difficult to gank.
-Gains Armor and AP as souls are collected.

Cons:

-Low early game damage before you start building up your souls.
-Can be difficult to collect souls if you are being heavily harrassed.
-Starts off squishy.

The runes i chose are personal preference, i find the starting AP to help with some damage and shielding as well as extra attack speed for your Q's passive.

Runes are a personal preference as always, and feel free to use what you feel is best.

27/0/3 is what i use because it allows for more early game damage and helps with minion farm.

Combined with the runes i use, this mastery setup gives you 34 starting AP and a .91 starting attack speed. If you choose to use this combination of runes and masteries, you will find it helps to further empower Thresh's late game potential.

I gave a few example builds above and now i will go into detail on why i chose the items i did.

Example Build #1:

A build meant for more all around MR and off-tankiness. Thresh's natural armor gain offsets the need to buy as much armor as an off-tank, and the boots allow you to get out of enemy CC faster.

Example Build #2:

This build was made in mind of more early game damage as well as more sustained damage throughout the game with basic attacks. Wit's End allows you to gain more attack speed combined with Malady and Nashoor's Tooth.. but it also allows for some tankiness in that it gives you some much needed MR. You get alot of Auto-Attack damage out of this build, and end up shredding through opponents fairly easily.


Both builds have incredible potential for mid-late game play, and both have very sufficient damage and CC for teamfights and ganks. They will allow you to help your team, and remember to keep in mind, everything is situational. While these builds are both good all around builds and provide two different builds for two different kinds of situations, they may not be perfect for EVERY match, even though they are designed to be as functional as possible in as many matches as possible.

Main Summoner Spells:

Flash - A good all around escape and initiating tool.
Ignite - Good finishing spell, also good against champions with high hp regen or healing abilities.

Other Spells:
Teleport - A good choice for being able to return to lane, defend, or to setup a gank with another lane.
Ghost - A possible alternative to Flash, though it seems less useful all around than Teleport of Flash.
Exhaust - Good alternative to Ignite depending on what kind of jungler you have.

First.. and most important..

Positioning is KEY with a high CC champion like Thresh.

Starting in lane:

-Try to keep the enemy pushed toward your turret. This makes it easier for you to collect souls, as well as making it easier on your jungler to find ganking opportunities.
-Focus on farming and obtaining souls.
-Attempt to use your Q to drag enemies into turret range, think of it like a blitz pull but a bit harder to pull off.. if you can manage it then it is well worth it.

Mid Game:

-Provide mid and bot lanes with ganks, position yourself so that you can either initiate a fight with good CC, or so that you can END the fight with good CC. This way you are guaranteed to get kills.

Late Game:

-In teamfights, position yourself so that you can target the enemy ADC and AP carries. Use your CC to drag them closer to a fight, or to take them off your own teammates.
-Use your ultimate at a time when your walls will hit the most people, end game your walls will do 1150 per wall, and slow an enemy by 99%.
-ALWAYS make sure to use your lantern early in a fight, end game the shield is very effective at blocking initial damage for the start of a teamfight.

Thresh is a highly versatile champion, when played correctly he has the potential to turn games around and to help get his teammates the kills they need to win the game.

Even as a Top laner, it is important to assist your teammates as you are able. Assists are just as good as kills for you, because you are helping to get your team fed.

Focus on whats important, and i hope you enjoyed my guide on Thresh! Please leave your comments below.