Hello all! Welcome to my guide. I would like to introduce you to my build of Thresh, the Chain Warden. This is what I always use for him and it works out great for me. Any helpful comments will be looked at in order to help this guide further.
Thanks for reading!


Revised Version 1.2:
Edited the Rune page.


Revised Version 1.1:
Changed AP Carry build to show Fiendish Codex instead of Needlessly Large Rod to follow up on season patch.


Revised Version 1:

Fixed certain Chapters to look cleaner and better.
Added summoner spell page
Added a few more pros/cons.
Changed the Skill Sequence page to the Champion Abilities and Skill Sequence page while adding more information.
Changed the Team Work page to Gameplay and Team Work page and added more information on playing style.

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Pros: He can switch from support to carry and vice versa. Great support combos. Able to stay in his lane for a longer period of time. Great initiator of team battles and ganks.

Cons: Having lack of communication or knowledge of dark passages' ability when playing with people. Can be squishy during the early game. Does not have a heal or stun ability like other supports (like Kayle and Lulu.

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For offense, I use Summoner's Wrath , Sorcery, Blast , and Arcane Knowledge to get that extra ap power and cooldown reduction to damage the opponent better when supporting or carrying.

For the defense, I build health from Durability and Veteran's Scars to keep from using my pots too early in the game. I applied Hardiness for that little boost in regular armor and used Resistance because Damnation only applies to strengthening ability power and regular armor.

The utilities are for that extra support and sustain for Thresh that the atk and def masteries won't give. Gettting a mana boost from Meditation and some cooldown reduction from Mastermind really helps during the game. I've tried using Biscuiteer because it lets you stay in lane for a little bit longer, but it really isn't a must have item so you could move it to either Greed for a bigger boost in gold, or anything else you want to use.

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These are the runes I use for any of my AP champions (like Ahri). I simply increase AP a little and work on health and mana regen along with armor and magic resist. I use scaling, but the regular tier 3 runes will work too. Comment on the guide for rune ideas and I will test run them! :D

Support Spells: ...

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AP Carry Spells: ...

PLEASE NOTE: I HAVEN'T USED ANY OTHER SPELLS OTHER THAN THESE FOUR. IF YOU WANT TO SUGGEST OTHERS THAT WORK FOR YOU, THEN I WILL TRY THEM OUT.

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causes minions and heroes to leave their soul behind. When you pick these up, your ability power and armor will increase. There is no limit to how many souls you can collect, but there's a catch. Riot Games has made a system that makes a "price" on a soul. The value of a soul starts at 1 and steadily decreases until it caps out at 100 souls, making every soul after that worth only a 0.5 point increase for your ap and armor.

attack to deal AD magic damage (yes, ad and not ap, making him possibly an adc as well) 1) how many souls he has collected and 2) the time that has passed since his last attack. What do they mean by his last attack, exactly? Well, for when he uses Death Sentence, you can see that the picture for the passive effect above the stat bar turns red, then yellow, and back to it's original color. This is to show the length of time that has passed since his last attack so the player knows how much extra damage is being put into their auto attack.

passage did for ally champs. With Dark Passage ready to go, Thresh tosses out the lantern. Once tossed, any nearby allies at the drop of the lantern gain a shield that absorbs damage starting from 60 to 180 until it disappears. The second effect allows an ally champion to grab the lantern and return to Thresh, gaining the shield in the process. While this ability is active, Thresh can also gain the shield by either being next to the lantern when it is dropped, or by moving out of the radius of the lantern for it to come back to him and give him the shield. SOMETHING TO REMEMBER: AN ALLY CHAMPION CAN ONLY GAIN THE SHIELD ONCE!

His fourth ability, Flay simply pushes enemy minions or champs in the direction Thresh is facing while dealing damage to your enemy as well as slowing them for 1.5 seconds. This is a good way to stall your enemies to have you and other allies to flee from the scene. It can also be a great combo with Death Sentence to get those pesky minions out of the way that you may grab when using death sentence. I suggest maxing this second or last to make better use of this ability.

Finally, his ultimate, The Box (what a very generalized name), Thresh summons a square cage that kinda looks like a boxing ring. When active, any enemy champion that tries to go through the walls are heavily damage and are their movement speed is slowed by 99% when hitting the wall. You can activate his ult and use either Death Sentence to bring an enemy champion inside of it, or use Flay to keep an enemy inside or throw them into the wall.

Summary:

• Honestly, whether you're carrying or supporting, your Death Sentence and Flay are your best friends. It gives you the best control over the lane and the second ability of Death Sentence is situational. Don't use it unless you know you can live, or pull off your ult for the team battle.
• With Dark Passage, no one really knows what it does. You're best bet is maxing this second or last because of the armor protection. When people start to understand what it does they will start to utilize its ability to return to Thresh and out of harms way.
• Flay is a very nifty ability to have. Just remember to always have flay ready after using Death Sentence to keep your enemy close for either you or the carry to take them out.
• The Box is great for keeping opponents next to you in order for you to deal lots of damage. This also goes great with initiating a team battle if you're close to the enemies. If you're losing the team battle, you can always use your ult to try to help get your teammates out of the team fight, but at the risk of you dying for the cause.

*This is a generalization of the skill sequence. Just max death sentence first, passage and flay second or third, and obviously maxing the ult normally.

Starting Items for Carrying: ....

Starting Items for Supporting: ....sight ward

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Can't Forget About the Boots! ....

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Core Items for AP Carry:

Core Items for Support: philosopher's stonekage's lucky pickemblem of valor

PLEASE NOTE: CORE ITEMS WILL TAKE YOU FROM MID-GAME TO LATE GAME!

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Early Gameplay:

wards, your pots, and your bead. When you get to your lane, lay your wards down in each patch of grass: the one in the start of the river to the top, the closest grass to your tower, and the grass closest to the enemy's tower (keeping in mind that you should be careful because the enemy champs in the lane could be hiding in the grass). During the early game, try to use Death Sentence whenever your ally is nearby and you have a good shot of the opposing champ. Try not to use it too much because of its big use on mana and having a big cool down in the beginning of the game. If you get enough money, on your first recall (or death) start building the philosopher's stone. I'm usually able to build either all or most of it in one swoop because I'm able to last longer in the lane.

you get the satisfaction of trolling your ally when a kill steal occurs. But, if you decide to go mid, get Death Sentence and use the same technique you would do when you would be in bot lane: hook them in (or jump on them) attack them, and combine with ignite to get an early game kill. The easier way is to wait until you get Flay at level two and use it after death sentence. Obviously, you would've brought your beginning carry items Boots and 3 Health Potions. When you get the advantage in lane and do the first recall (or die first), buy yourself the Amplifying Tome that will build up to either Deathfire Grasp or Void Staff depending on if you do enough damage to the enemy or not.

Mid Gameplay:

save up on gold and help anybody that needs it. As a support, you should (hopefully) already have a philosopher's stone, kage's lucky pick, and Ionian Boots of Lucidity. You should be starting to get the emblem of valor or the captain upgrade on your boots. The emblem will build up to your aegis later in the game and will bring some more support along with it. After your emblem, buy the Kindlegem to start building up to Shurelya's Battlesong when transitioning to the late gameplay.

Void Staff and moving on to Rabadon's Deathcap if you haven't done much damage in early game. Just keep harassing with death sentence and land killer blows with the death sentence and flay combo. Trying to buy deathcap will be done right around when late game starts. You should have at least 70 or 80 souls (maybe less) to get a lot of AP and armor so I don't think about any items that you need for defense. Defense items change from time to time in certain situations. Getting Thornmail when getting wrecked by melee heroes like Tryndamere, Garen, Darius, or tanky melee heroes like Volibear, Sion, or Blitzcrank. For either one of the support and carry classes, try setting up some ganks and team battles when it appears that your allies are ready to rush late game and shut down the enemy quickly.

Late Gameplay:

class. First, you won't have shurelya's reverie or locket of iron solari when carrying. These two items saves lives! Reverie can get your teammates out of battle as quickly as possible and Iron Solari gives your teammates a barrier so they can take extra damage. On the other side, you should have either Lich Bane, Iceborn Gauntlet, or both. This gives you movement speed, mana, armor, AP, and the ability to slow enemies you hit because of gauntlet. The support class seems to be the better choice when in team fights, but most of the time you can't get away with your team.

want to grab the carry or support (NOT THE TANK!) on the other team with Death Sentence and follow through with Flay. If you don't need to use those and are already in the middle of the team fight, throw down his ult, The Box, so the enemy champions take massive damage and lose their ability to flee for a second or two. When outside or inside of the battle, you can always use Dark Passage to give your teammates armor and set up a way for one of them to flee from the battle efficiently. In combination with your Iron Solari, you give your teammates some pretty good boost to take damage from enemy attacks. By the end, you may have a lot of deaths and assists, but you are the one who tries their best to control the team battles to give the advantage to your team.

Gameplay and Team Work Summary:

• With Thresh, you can be ap mid being a lone laner, or even be ap bot with a teammate while on the support class. When with a teammate in a lane, try not to take too much farm. The souls will show up even if you don't get the kill. As long as you keep a good amount distance so you don't get hit, but can still use Death Sentence to keep the enemy in range for your teammate.
• Assists aren't a bad thing! Sure, not getting IP at the end of the game sucks, but you get the job done with helping your teammate in lane with the kill, while reaping the souls for your benefit in the late game.
• While fending off enemy champs, not many people understand Dark Passage will save their life! So, you can sometimes try to stay in the back a little to use Flay when the enemy gets near to have your allies get to saftey.
• Once team fights start, I am usually the one to initiate team battles with whoever I work with. With Thresh, I just wait until I have a clear shot of either the opponent's carry or support, like Sona, Draven, Annie, Lulu, etc. to get the advantage on the team fight. You will usually die if you get stuck in the middle, but try to fire off your ult at that time for your allies to try to get away, or continue to put the pressure on the other team.
• Locket of the Iron Solari is another great way to pause the enemies onslaught when your allies who are starting to get their health taken out. Giving your allies the shield from it will bring some sustain to the team fight. You can also use Dark Passage in combine with locket for an ever stronger shield.
• If the enemy is getting away or your allies are trying to run, and you're not dead from initiating, use Shurelya's Battlesong to get your teammates out of there as fast as possible. It really comes in handy!

I really enjoy playing Thresh! I'm really happy that they made him for League. This is what I try to do when I am playing a game. I tried my best explaining the reasons behind the build and hope it works out for you. All comments are welcomed to help benefit this guide!