Welcome to the League of Legends Champion Spotlight featuring Thresh, the Chain Warden.
“What delightful agony we shall inflict!”
Thresh is a short-ranged beefy support champion who excels at manipulating the position of himself, his enemies, and his allies.
Thresh can bring in an ally to gank from far away, save them from peril, or dive into the action himself.
Thresh’s passive is Damnation. Unlike other champions, Thresh does not gain Armor per level.
However, when nearby enemies die, they drop souls that Thresh can collect by walking over them.
As Thresh collects these souls he permanently gains Armor and Ability Power.
Death Sentence has a passive and an active effect.
Passively, Death Sentence causes Thresh’s attacks to deal bonus damage based upon the number of souls harvested, his total attack damage, and how long it’s been since his last attack.
When activated, Thresh throws out his scythe, damaging and pulling in the first enemy it hits.
After hitting an enemy, Thresh may re-activate Death Sentence to pull himself to his target.
I recommend a point in Death Sentence at level 1 and maxing it by level 13.
Dark Passage throws Thresh’s lantern. If an ally near the lantern clicks it, Thresh will pull his ally and the lantern to himself.
Any allied champions who walk near the lantern are also granted a damage-blocking shield for a few seconds.
I recommend taking Dark Passage at level 2 and maxing it immediately.
Flay damages and slows all enemies in a line, both in front and in back of Thresh.
All enemies struck are also pushed in whichever direction Thresh cast the ability:
Thresh can either push enemies away, or pull then toward himself.
I recommend placing one point in Flay early but maxing it last.
The Box is Thresh’s ultimate. When cast, Thresh creates a prison of spectral walls around himself.
Enemy champions who walk through a wall are damaged and massively slowed for a short time, but break that specific wall in the process.
Let’s start with Thresh’s laning. Always make your best effort to collect the souls that drop from enemy minions in lane.
However, some players may make this difficult. Fighting against Taric and Tristana, they do a good job of playing aggressively.
Never collect a soul if you’ll take too much damage for it. When fighting against Thresh, always punish him if he overextends to pick one up.
Once the minions do push up, Thresh can easily collect them, but they will eventually die off.
Many of Thresh’s abilities can be used to save allies or himself. Here as Trundle comes in for a gank, Thresh casts Flay toward Trundle.
This knocks him back, allowing Thresh and Ashe to escape.
Thresh is also good at securing kills in lane. Despite missing Death Sentence, Thresh gets into a battle.
He deals some damage to Taric, and then casts Flay backwards, pulling Taric in and granting Graves a kill.
Flay combos nicely with Death Sentence. Thresh walks up to Soraka and pulls her back with Flay.
The slow makes it easy to land Death Sentence, allowing Nocturne a quick kill.
Because Nocturne’s low on health, The Box is used, keeping Varus from chasing down Thresh’s teammate.
Thresh’s full combo can lock down an individual target from full health until death.
As Varus runs, Flash into Death Sentence connects.
Thresh pulls himself in, reels back Varus with Flay, and summons The Box, immediately slowing and contributing further damage.
Despite Varus’s Cleanse and Flash, Thresh’s team picks up the kill.
Thresh has a ton of different uses for Dark Passage:
If you’re ahead of your teammate on the way back to lane, toss it behind you to help him get back faster.
If you have a teammate killing a neutral monster like Dragon without backup, tossing the lantern over the wall can pull him to safety when the job’s done.
In a team fight, you can sit behind a wall and throw it out in the middle of your team. If someone feels threatened, they can hop over to you and complete safety.
If someone gets caught while retreating like this Caitlyn, lob the lantern over to your stranded friend to bring him back to the team.
When you have a teammate coming to gank, have him sit outside of the enemies’ vision range.
Throw it behind you, and have him initiate right after closing the gap. Here, it makes for a quick kill on Tristana.
If you want to get even more intricate, throw it behind you immediately after landing Death Sentence.
This will help your teammate show up directly on top of your intended target. Flay knocks Taric back and The Box ensures he isn’t going anywhere.
Played to perfection, Thresh can save teammates in seemingly impossible situations. Dark Passage pulls Graves to safety, away from Taric and Ezreal.
Then, as Evelynn comes in, Flay knocks her away.
Still relentless, The Box catches all three assailants, saving the day without using a single Summoner Spell.
Thresh can make the biggest plays when coordinating with his teammates in a fight.
Dark Passage combined with Flash and Flay will pull a Powerballing Rammus into the middle of the enemy team.
Thresh tosses out Dark Passage and runs forward.
The instant Rammus tags the lantern, Thresh Flashes forward, Flays the enemy team back into the battle, and enjoys the resulting carnage as Trundle, Nami, and Ryze are all quickly taken out.
I recommend building Thresh with a mix of durability, cooldown reduction, and supportive effects.
Try Armor Marks, Armor Seals, Magic Resist Glyphs, and Gold Quintessences.
For Masteries, try 1/13/16, taking early Armor, Health, and damage reduction in Defense, plus extra Mana Regeneration, Gold, and consumables in Utility.
Some good Summoner Spells to consider are Exhaust, Heal, and Flash.
These will allow you to shut down key enemies, keep your teammates alive, or re-position to heighten Thresh’s strengths.
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