Thresh, Master of Offense and Defense

The Chain Warden

We will start at the beginning. The beginning of season three. The LCS was in its infancy, Olaf was still a contested jungler, and supports were not really contested picks. 

Then came January 23rd, 2013. The official release date of Thresh. Thresh was much different than most supports. He didn't have a heal like Taric or Sona. He wasn't designed as a tank like Leona or Alistar. Thresh was in a category of his own. Thresh has everything: extra harass on auto-attacks, a ranged CC, a "box" that slowed, a displacement, and a lantern that added a mechanic never seen before. Thresh has the tools in his kit to allow for some of the best plays ever seen. 

Thresh has gone through changes since his release, but he is still a very strong support. In today's meta, Thresh thrives with team synergy and when placed in pick compositions. However, Thresh is still remarkably powerful in skirmish and teamfight compositions. Playing Thresh well requires knowledge and practice. In this guide, I will present Thresh in an analytical manner. There are certain combos that I will highlight that will show the true power of Thresh's kit. This guide is not for the beginners looking to learn Thresh's core kit, but for those who know his kit and want to learn how to use it to its potential. 

Each one of Thresh's abilities is versatile and can be used for both defense and offense.

(Q) Death Sentence 

Thresh's Death Sentence (Q) is a ranged "hook." It will stun the first target he hits and tether them. There is a short delay of 0.5 seconds before the ability can be re-activated to pull Thresh to the tethered target. However, there is no delay when tethered to a minion or monster. Either way, if you plan on pulling yourself in: spam Q. 

Offensively: Thresh hook is the bread and butter of all bot lane ganks and mid/late game picks. Not only does it stun a target at range, but also "tugs" them toward Thresh. This "tugging" can be used to pull the target int teammates and into the box (There are even reported accounts of enemies getting tugged over terrain). Thresh hook alone cannot kill enemies. It is mostly up to teammates to act upon the stun. The hook can also be used as a gap closer when trying to engage on enemies. (only in certain situations) You would have to use minions or monsters as a stepping stone to get closer to the enemies. 

Defensively: Thresh hook is still a stun, and any form of CC can be used to stop an engage. Stunning a tanky enemy might just keep him off your back line. Thresh hook is also very useful for escapes. Thresh hook can be used on jungle monsters and enemy minions to escape after re-activating the Q. This makes for some pretty awesome escapes through Dragon pit. There is also the mechnic of "tugging" that can be used to move enemies in the direction you want them to go. You don't necessarily want to tug a Fiddlesticks ultimate toward your team. If you position youself correctly, you can manipulate the movement of the enemy. 

An Example of  Using Death Sentence Defensively

 

 (W) Dark Passage

Thresh's Dark Passage (a.k.a. the Thresh Express) is Thresh's lantern. It will grant vision, gather souls, and transport teammates to your position. The Lantern is arguably the most important part of Thresh's kit as there is no other mechanic like it in the game. There is also a lot of versatility to the Lantern and it can be used in several ways that can give you an advantage over the other team.

Defensively - The primary use of Thresh's Dark Passage is to save a teammate in need. The Lantern can be thrown a certain distance away from Thresh in order to save a teammate from enemies. It can be thrown over terrain to help the jungler escape a smite-steal, or it can extract a teammate who is in a positional disadvantage. 

An example of using Dark Passage Defensively

Offensively - The secondary use of Thresh's Dark Passage is to kill an enemy. Dark Passage can be used offensively (usually in the laning phase) to take enemies down. The Lantern can be thrown behind Thresh in order to close the gap between you and your jungler. This move is paramount for early lanining as Thresh. Thresh doesn't have sustain so he will most likely lose against poke lanes and since he will most likely lose in trades against a sustain lane, Thresh's only advantage comes from ganking power. However, it isn't super easy to pull off ganks as Thresh. There are a lot of skillshots involved in a gank with Thresh. It is important to use the Lantern to bring in the jungler and to use your cc to lock down your lane opponents as the jungler rides in on the Thresh Express.

An example of using Dark Passage Offensively
 

Vision - The Lantern will grant vision around itself. It is very useful as temporary vision. It is much safer to check a brush with Dark Passage, than it is to check the brush with your face. 

 

(E) Flay

Thresh's Flay is a very interesting form of cc. It slightly pulls or pushes enemies in a certain direction and then slows them for 1 second. This is Thresh's main tool to manipulate an enemies' position. Like Thresh's other abilities, Flay can also be used as an offensive and defensive spell.

Flay also has a passive. Thresh's auto attacks will do bonus magic damage depending on how many souls Thresh has, plus a percentage of his AD which starts at 80% up to 200% depending on the last time Thresh auto-attacked. (The percentage will fall back down to 80% after an auto-attack) 

 

Defensive - Flay can be used to push enemies away from thresh and slow them. If used at the right time, it can cancel enemy dashes. Xpecial is known for stopping the Jarvan dash at MLG Anaheim 2013. I have pulled this off a couple of times, but never while recording.

An example of a Defensive Flay

Offensive - Flay can be used to pull enemies back towards thresh and slow them. Just like using it defensively, you can use it to stop an enemy dash. Xpecial was able to secure first blood at MLG Anaheim 2013 with this method.

An example of an Offensive Flay

You can also use Flay to push/pull an enemy in your box or to slow them down to land a hook. (Landing a hook is usually easier when the target is slowed)

(R) The Box

The Box is an amazing ability that slows enemies by 99% if they get caught in any of its five walls. The first time a wall is broken, it will do damage to whoever broke it. Subsequent breaking of the walls will just apply the slow and no damage. (Not that you will be killing mny people using The Box anyways)

It is important to note that there is a 0.75 second delay before you push R and the walls come up.

Offensively - You can use the box after landing Death Sentence to place the box around a single enemy (or enemies) to severely inhibit their movement speed. You can also use flash to get into range, or simply flank them.

In order to use The Box effectively in team fights, you have to place the box in an area where the enemies are, or are going to be. Using the box to cut off an escape route, is a great way to funnel the flow of a team fight.

Defensively - You can use the box to stop an engage. If the enemy team has someone like an Alistar who would run at your team and try to CC, you should put down The Box right before he engages in order to provide disengage. Not only does it stop their front line from bearing down, but it also zones out the back line because they do not want to run through the box.

The Box can also be used to secure objectives. If you need to make sure the enemy team leaves you alone while your team takes Dragon/Baron, throw down the box over the entrance to the objective. It will at least slow down any engage they have to disrupt your team from killing the objective. This strategy is also good for buying your teammates a bit more time when taking down turrets. The enemy will be reluctant to chase you off the turret if they know they won’t get an inch because they will hit The Box.

Counter-play

I can’t just write an article about the intricacies of Thresh’s kit without giving some tips on how to counter.

In Lane

Thresh is usually teamed up with a bursty adc and can be really strong in the early game. If Thresh is paired up with a Graves, getting hooked will certainly mean death. Stay behind minions and never give Thresh a direct line of sigh to hook you. That being said, when his hook is down make sure to zone him out and poke him hard. Once his hook is on cool down, you have ~20 seconds to gain a slight advantage. Make sure to maintain vision in the bushes. If you don’t have vision of the bush, then Thresh can use that to throw a hook you can’t see and lock you up. Warding the bush will at least give you an idea of where he will throw his hook because of the direction he is facing when he winds up.

Mid Game

Make sure to ward the bushes around the dragon pit, and around the entrances to the blue side jungle. At this point in the game, thresh is looking for picks and team fights. Make sure to keep areas warded to avoid someone getting picked off. Remember that Thresh can be tanky, but he is not the tank. If you have a window of opportunity, take him down. The enemy team will lost a lot of their peel if Thresh is dead.

Late Game

Keeping the wards up at the Late Game is just as important as keeping them up in the Mid Game. This time Baron is more of a priority, so make sure to keep the area lit up with wards. Thresh doesn’t have much to keep himself alive and he has little mobility. Thresh’s greatest strength of picking people off, can also be used against Thresh. Thresh can be caught out and killed just as easy as a carry, and he won’t have a GA or a Zhonya’s to survive the burst and carry on.

Things to note:

- Position yourself like a carry and try not the be the first one diving in. Being tanky is good, but you are not the tank.
- Just because you landed the hook, does not mean that it’s a good hook to follow up on.
- Clearing wards for picks is just as important as placing wards for picks. You will not be able to catch an enemy out of position if they can see you waiting.
- "You miss every hook you don't throw" really is a poor philosophy when playing thresh. If you can't land a hook, you at least have the threat of landing a hook which can zone the enemies away. The hook has a pretty long cooldown at lower levels. Chose your hooks wisely.

Hopefully this article has given you new ideas to try out when playing Thresh. Now go out there and make those plays!

- TheLanzolini