Thresh: The Soul reason to main support.

Thresh is the reason I call myself a support main.  This champion managed to turn what I thought to be the most boring role in League of Legends when I first started the game (Season 3) into my favorite role by far.  I remember when I first started playing League of Legends and getting stuck with support and playing Janna / Nami / Annie every single game.  I only played Annie because I thought it was fun and super cheesy, and this was before she actually took off as a top tier support.  Even in the Annie games I had played I felt like I was just sort of mashing buttons and standing in a bush, waiting for my next back to buy wards.  Nothing was very enjoyable down there in the bottom lane of Summoner’s Rift, and I felt like I was more of a spectator than someone actually playing on the team.

Then I picked up Thresh.  I remember how excited I was to play the champion because of how popular he was in the LCS, and I had never played him before.  His kit looked incredibly fun to play, and I come from an FPS (first person shooter) background in video games, so I absolutely love champions based on skills shots (I’m looking at you Ezreal).  Thresh’s hook is an incredibly fun mechanic to play with, and I love the constant threat that I give in lane with it.  This ability was very easy to learn and adjust to immediately, and I always smart cast all of my spells so I didn’t feel the need to practice it too much.  Thresh’s lantern is also an amazing ability, perhaps the greatest spell in the game that isn’t an ultimate.  This ability is a huge factor in lane, in teamfights, and just roaming around the map in general.  It can be used to create a gank, escape a gank, get a teammate into a good position, get a teammate out of a bad position, to give vision, and even to bluff and scare the enemy team thinking someone is going to take it.  This ability took me a small amount of time to get the range down, but I quickly learned it and it is very simple to use (if your teammate GRABS THE DAMN LANTERN).

Now onto the E… the Flay.  Oh. God.  My first few games with Thresh I was told to not smartcast his E.  I wish I had these games recorded, because they were absolutely hilarious I’m sure.  I would basically try to E, and do one of the following things:

1. Miss completely

2. Stop walking, stand still trying to figure out the direction I wanted the flay to go, and miss completely

3. Flay in the opposite direction, either saving someone’s life on the other team or costing someone’s life on mine

4. Did I mention MISS COMPLETELY?

After a few games I said YOLO, and decided to smart cast it.  This was the best decision I have made in my short League of Legends gaming career.  As soon as I started smart casting this spell, I understood the mechanics of it more and didn’t need to think about the range or the direction I was going.  It just made sense.  Put the cursor behind me parallel to where they are running = They will come back to me.  Put my cursor in front of me, or literally on the enemy, and they will go in front of me.  It was simple. It made sense.  I highly recommend you do this if you are learning Thresh, because a Flash+Flay is nearly impossible without it.

Thresh’s R is very simple to use, but it is also very simple to mess up.  The Box is his ultimate ability, and it goes off immediately upon hitting R.  Until his last nerf, the box literally went up immediately and slowed anyone who walked into the walls. This basically meant that upon landing a hook post level-6, you would follow the hook, hit R, then flay them into the back of the box.  This was almost an insta-gib in lane if you hit the ADC (or the squishy Sona/Nami support), and if you’re maxing E (you better be), your auto will take a huge chunk out of them as well. Match this combo with a Draven or any ADC with burst and you pretty much guaranteed a kill regardless of summoner spells on the enemy.  However, with the latest nerf, The Box takes a little bit of time to “be built”.  The walls need a moment to set up, and this can let the enemy escape before it even slows them or does any damage (which is a ton by the way).  I have found that I have had to change the combo up a bit here, and I will now flay them immediately upon hitting R if they don’t have flash.  If they do have flash, I will wait for them to flash, flay them immediately at the end of their animation, and then hit R.  If you let them flash AFTER you use your ult there is a good chance that they will dodge all walls and you will be left with a useless box in the middle of the lane.

All in all, Thresh is just fun to play.  Every game he makes an impact, and his utility is second to none.  He has an incredible kit for both supporting and carrying, and he can be built many different ways.  If you build a full CDR Thresh you can land a hook every 4 seconds. I do this nearly every game now because I find it to be the most fun and rewarding part of the game.  Everytime you land a hook, whether it be from 2 pixels away or max range in an unwarded part of the map, you get this satisfied feeling that just isn’t matched by many of the other champions on The Rift. If you haven’t tried out Thresh, or you don’t like the support role, I highly recommend you pick him up and play with him for a bit.

Final thoughts: Thresh top lane, Thresh ADC, and even Thresh jungle are all pretty fun to mess around with.  I prefer top Thresh out of all of these, and if your team comp allows it, build full Attack Damage and watch the enemies melt with one auto attack.

Have fun Flaying!

– Steve