(Guide is updated for 13.10 item changes and will be updated in future as well)

Hey guys, I'm Turtle. I've been masters for 2 seasons in a row now while playing at 300 ping on NA servers (due to being in India for the time being). I have also been a Thresh main for a year or two and have a very good understanding of his potential. I've been able to climb to masters consistently now due to having better macro knowledge and match ups understanding. I have also been rank 7 Thresh during season 11 in NA and have finally decided to make a guide to help others climb the ladder as well with this very easy to play champion because of his simple kit. He is one engage support everyone should know how to play.

I hope you find this helpful and if you have any more questions, feel free to ask in comments or come watch me stream and ask there and I will try my best to answer all questions.

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I also do coaching! If you are interested, make sure to check it out here:
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Come by the stream and ask any questions you might have! I try to stream daily, and it always is content as I am climbing the ranks while being on 300 ping!

Thresh is one of the best supports for climbing in solo queue because he has a very aggressive play style and the ability to carry a team fight and even an entire game just by hooking the right enemy champion. However playing him perfectly and carrying your games efficiently requires practice and experience due to his skill celing being very high. Due to this being a factor, there will be other easier engage supports, but Thresh is one of the most fun supports to learn whether you play passive or aggressive.



Pros:

-Strong Engage + Peel
-Aggressive Laner
-Strong throughout all stages of game
-Pick potential is high + Good gank setups


Cons:

-High skill ceiling
-Can be easily punished if out of position
-Skillshot reliant

Pasive: Damnation

Thresh does not gain armor per level. Instead, Thresh collects the souls of dead enemies by approaching them or by placing Dark Passage's lantern nearby. Souls permanently grant 0.75 armor and ability power. Champions and large minions always drop a harvest-able soul. Small minions only sometimes drop a soul. Epic minions drop two souls.

A soul will only drop if the enemy unit dies within 1900 range of Thresh. Souls are visible to allies, and only become visible to enemies if the enemy team has vision of Thresh. Souls disappear if not picked up after 8 seconds.


Q: Death Sentence

Thresh throws his scythe, dealing 80/120/160/200/240 (+50% of ability power) magic damage to the first unit hit and dragging them towards him for 1.5 seconds.
Additionally, he may reactivate the ability to leap to his chained enemy.
If Thresh hits a target, Death Sentence's cooldown is reduced by 3 seconds.


W: Dark Passage

Thresh throws out a lantern that shields the first ally from 60 / 90 / 120 / 150 / 180 (+1 per soul collected) damage for 6 seconds. The first ally to click the lantern with be pulled to Thresh. Allies can only receive the shield once per cast.

The lantern collects nearby souls while out.


E: Flay

Active: Thresh sweeps his chain in a line, dealing 65 / 95 / 125 / 155 / 185 (+40% of ability power) magic damage to all enemies hit and pushing them in the direction of the swing. Enemies are then slowed by 20/25/30/35/40% for 1 second.

Passive: Thresh deals bonus magic damage on each auto attack. The damage is equal to the number of souls he has collected giving 1.5 attack damage per soul plus 80 / 110 / 140 / 170 / 200% of attack damage, depending on length of time since last attack.


R: The Box

Creates a prison of walls around Thresh, dealing 250/400/550 (+100% AP) magic damage and slows any champion that collides with a wall by 99% for 2 seconds.

Once a champion collides with a wall, the wall is destroyed.

Any other walls struck by any other enemy champion slow for half the duration.

Flash is 100% always needed. It will help you get out of bad situations and also be able to set up more picks.

Ignite is more common to take because it allows you to play very aggressively and secure kills early which can help lead to snowballs.

Exhaust is taken when you don't think you have too much kill pressure in lane or if the enemy has some assassins that might need to be exhausted in teamfights.

Glacial Augment procs when immobilizing an enemy champion slowing them with 3 glacial rays by 30% and reducing their damage by 15% against allies excluding yourself for 3 seconds.

This is most common in the current meta for Thresh due to it being great in all situations. It is very good to get picks, while also being able to peel and in teamfights the aoe of the rays can help you win due to the damage reduction.

Can run this almost always, but make sure to take this against enchanters to punish their lack of tankiness and mobility.


Aftershock makes you tanky giving 35+ armor , 35+ magic resist and 80% of your bonus resists for 2.5s.

This rune is taken more into engage supports because it will allow you to be tanky enough to fight or get out of bad situations if caught out. It also helps you engage teamfights because you will get more resistance to survive in the frontline.

Take this rune into mostly engage supports.


Predator

This will help you get picks around the map fast and help the team snowball the game. Very risky to take this.

Only take this when you have a lot of experience on Thresh and good knowledge of when to roam and punish enemies.


Glacial Augment > Aftershock > Predator

Invade Potential:
At the start of the game, make sure to know if your team has enough damage to be able to invade the enemy jungle, but also make sure to check that the enemies don't have a better level 1 comp. Good invades can lead to strong starts which can help you snowball and close out your games faster. YOU DO NOT NEED TO INVADE EVERY GAME

Laning Phase
Thresh has a very strong level 2 power spike which almost always guarantees a kill or a lot of summoner spells will be used. Try to prioritize getting the push in lane first to reach level 2 before the enemy bot which can get you a very strong lane prio. Remember to not force level 2 too fast otherwise the wave will be too close to their tower and they are allowed to play safely.

Sometimes the lane phase is not the best so you will have to play it a bit more passive and wait till the enemy makes a mistake. Once any mistake is noticed, then you want to punish it and take over that lane.

The key to laning with Thresh is to have patience and know when the perfect time is to make your move.

Thresh is easily able to control waves and apply pressure by just sitting in bushes and zoning the enemy because they have to respect your engage, so sometimes you want to be thinking about just applying pressure rather than hard commiting to a play.

Roaming
This champion was made to be able to roam and help teammates easily due to the kit being so good. You have options to help teammates get kills in other lanes, or help them away from danger, while also helping the jungler secure obejectives.

When to roam?

1. When you have just recalled and have time to help other lanes before going back bot
2. When the wave is pushed under tower or it is frozen near your tower
3. If going bot lane will not help you win 2v2, then you want to help others get a lead
4. Helping the jungler secure objectives or invade

Apart from looking for picks throughout the game, once the mid-game starts you want to start thinking about what your playstyle will be for the specific game - Engage or Peel? Your kit is designed to be able to do both of these things and this makes Thresh a strong support.

Peel
You want to be peeling for your carries when the enemies have a lot of ways to engage on to you. All of your abilities can be used defensively to help save allies which will help them then turn a fight around.

When to peel?

-Assassins on enemy team
-You have carries that do not have mobility
-Enemy has a lot of engage potential

Make sure to spot out any threats on the enemy team that you will need to watch out for and also make sure to know who the crucial carries will be for you to win the teamfights. This is how you will know when to peel, and also who to peel in order to win.

Engage
Thresh will excel in this with the pick potential in his kit. When your team is ahead and you are able to spot out any out of position enemies, then you want to be engaging to punish. The stronger the carries are on your team, the easier it will be for you to really punish the enemies with engaging.

When to engage?

-When your team has an engage comp
-Team is ahead and can force picks to close out games with lead
-Enemy team is playing to poke, you want to get to them asap and not let them poke your team out
-When enemies are caught out of position

- If the lane is set in a way where the opposing adc is standing behind just 3 minions, most likely casters, watch their health bars. When you see your adc go to last hit one, immediately throw your hook at that minion and 9 times out of 10 you will catch the opposing adc off guard.

- Your Lantern (W) gives vision so you don't have to face check bushes when you want to go ward.

- Your Lantern creates a small terrain whereever you throw it, it's not massive but enough to force people to walk around a tower instead of going through the small opening at the side of the tower, you can use it to get a fairly easy hook as their pathfinding will be messed up.

- Sometimes throw fake lantern to apply pressure on your lane enemies. Make sure it's in proper situations tho, they probably won't fall for it if your jungler just died and both solo laners are happily farming. If done properly few times, you can tell your jungler to actually come, cuz enemy lane should be thinking it's just another fake.

- A good way at getting first blood is to lantern your jungle in and time it(which is easy with practice) and flash for extra distance/surprise factor. That way you can bring your jungle a pretty far distance into the lane and you can go a multitude of ways with it after that. You can immediately flay if you think you'll blow them up or to separate the opposing bot lane from one another. You could also go for the hook and save flay for their escapes.

- Save your W in lane if you think you're about to or in danger of getting ganked. If it comes to a situation where you both have to flash you can just W and flash so you save your adc's flash.

Additionally, if you walk toward your adc when they pick the lantern the moment they get to you, they'll stop behind you, which is useful if they are in danger of dying by things like cait ult or ez Q.

- You can cast your ult while throwing out the hook to save time and being able to ensure that you have enough time to get the enemy into the box whether with just the hook drag or additionally flaying them.

- If you see a lot of souls lyring around, but cant reach them because you get zoned, throw your lantern to them. The lantern picks them up.

- If you leave the range of the lantern, it will return to you and shield you (not when you already got shielded by it once).

- You can use your Flay (E), while you fly with your hook to your target. This can be good when you need to cc 2 different people.

- Use your hook on minions and monsters to escape.

- If you trade or all-in in your lane, it is not always good to reactivate the 2nd part of your Q (such as against Leona, Alistar or close to their tower against Blitzcrank)

I hope this guide helps you learn Thresh easier and really makes you feel like adding this champion to your champion pool. A very exciting champion, with a high skill ceiling which will pay off in the long run.

I will be keeping this guide updated as any buffs/nerfs happen to him, or if there are any changes in the meta.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments or you can reach me on my streams. Come check me it out if you get the chance!

Some of the tips are through Madlife's streams when I used to watch and some are mine.
The lore is not my own, it is taken from Riot Games in case anyone was interested in reading more about him.

My twitch:
https://www.twitch.tv/turtleepic

My youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCypfw0-IW2wwDcphiTcDlwA

Thank you for reading this guide!

The horrifying specter now known as Thresh was once a simple, if troubled, man. In an age history has all but forgotten, he was a lowly warden of an order devoted to the gathering and protection of arcane knowledge. This order was established on the Blessed Isles, which were hidden and protected from the outside world by magical pale mists.

The masters of the order acknowledged Thresh’s long years of service, and tasked him with the custodianship of certain hidden vaults beneath the city of Helia. It was there that a vast, secret collection of dangerous artifacts was kept under lock and key. Incredibly strong-willed and methodical, Thresh was well suited to such work… but even then, his penchant for cruelty had been noted by his brethren. While it had not yet manifested in murderous ways—at least, none that could be proven—he was shunned by many.

It became clear he had been given a job that kept him away from others, preventing him from gaining the recognition he felt he deserved. Solitary years in the darkness took their toll, and Thresh grew ever more bitter and jealous as he patrolled the long halls with his lantern-stave, and only his own resentful thoughts for company.

His moment of opportunity came when the armies of a mad king managed to pierce the veiling mists, and arrived unbidden upon the shores of the Blessed Isles.

Secretly, Thresh delighted in the slaughter that followed. The invading king was obsessed with resurrecting his dead queen—and Thresh willingly led him to the fabled Waters of Life.

None but the most senior members of the order had ever been permitted to enter the hidden catacomb that housed the Waters. Now, with the king’s greatest warriors at his back, Thresh laughed as the guardians of that sacred place were cut down before him. Finally, he believed, he would get what he had long deserved.

Only those who were there could say what truly occurred when the king lowered the lifeless corpse of his wife into the Waters, but the aftermath would shake the whole of Runeterra.

A catastrophic blastwave of dark energy surged outward, engulfing Helia and spreading rapidly across the rest of the Blessed Isles, and the white mist that had once protected them turned black and predatory. Every living thing in its path perished in an instant, and yet their spirits could not move on, caught in a horrifying new existence somewhere between life and death. Thresh himself was among the first to be claimed… but while others screamed in anguish at their fate, he reveled in it.

He arose from this cataclysm, this Ruination, as a spectral monstrosity, relishing the chance to torment others without fear of reprisal, and unfettered by the limits of mortality.

Over the decades and centuries that followed, his supernatural appearance slowly changed to match the malice and cruelty that had always festered in his heart. To his amusement, Thresh came to realize most other spirits trapped within the Black Mist retained only fragments of their former selves—even the strongest of the foreign invaders, such as Hecarim or Ledros—while his power continued to grow.

Driven by spite to prey upon those he perceives as lesser souls, Thresh’s favorite victims have always been those who will suffer the most from his attentions. No matter how strong their resolve, resilience, or faith, he strives to break them as slowly as possible, by learning their fears and weaknesses, and toying with them to the very end. Only when their lives lie in tatters, their loved ones taken from them, their sense of purpose lost and their last glimmer of hope snuffed out, do Thresh’s hooked chains finally drag them into his undying grasp.

Even so, death brings no merciful release, for he tears out the souls of all he kills—imprisoning them within his accursed lantern, to be unwilling witnesses to his depredations for all eternity.

Only a single soul has ever escaped him.

Senna, one of the hated “Sentinels of Light”, died a futile death after facing Thresh in some forgotten eldritch vault. Her distraught husband, Lucian, then pursued the cruel spirit for years, becoming singularly obsessed with the hunt, letting his grief and rage consume him almost entirely. To Thresh, it was delectable.

However, before he could finally claim Lucian’s soul, a vengeful blow split Thresh’s lantern open, and freed Senna from it.

Intrigued by the obvious strength of their mortal bond, he has decided to allow them this small and insignificant victory, knowing all too well that the game of light and shadow they all play is still far from over…