Thresh, The Chain Warden

Greetings League of Legends community, today, we are proud to announce the release of the leagues first Support/Semi-Assassin on the fields of justice. 
Thresh, the Chain Warden is prepared to wreck havoc on the Rift.

Abilities (per http://na.leagueoflegends.com/news/thresh-chain-warden-revealed)

• Damnation (Thresh’s Passive): As Thresh does not gain armor per level, he must rely on collecting the souls of minions, monsters, and champions that die on the Rift. As he collects souls, his armor and ability power increase.
• Death Sentence: His first ability provides an active and passive ability. (Passive): The longer Thresh waits between basic attacks the greater the damage delivered to enemies. (Acitve): As the great Titan of the Depths, Thresh throws his deadly scythe forward and drags the first enemy hit a fixed distance towards him. Death Sentence can then be reactivated hurling Thresh towards the snagged unit.
• 
Dark Passage: Thresh’s second ability is a more support oriented ability which allows for the repositioning and strengthening of his allies. Tossing his lantern to a specific location, the AOE of the lantern produces a shield for all allies in range and those whom click on the lantern are pulled to it.
• Flay: Thresh uses his chains to pull all enemies affected in the direction in which he casts the sweeping blow.
• The Box: Simply titled “The Box” is Thresh’s anything but “simple” Ultimate. The Box creates a prison around himself which slows and damages any units within it’s walls and those that attempt to pass through.
For more detailed information, such as ability stats: http://leagueoflegends.wikia.com/wiki/Thresh

Thoughts

Thresh provides a very unique laning phase in any scenario when, if used properly, can provide a very dynamic lane experience. The passive from his Death Sentence allows him to continuously harass his foes with increasing damage over time between strikes. This, mixed with his ability to snare and pull his enemies, shield and reposition his partner, and knock back enemies in any direction Thresh wishes to throw his chains, A bot lane combo with Thresh can be both extremely aggressive and very successfully defensive. 
In team fights, Thresh provides a great deal of balance between single target focusing as well as full team fighting. His Death Sentence allows for the singling out of an enemy before fights fully ensue. This allows for a great way to turn the tides of war in favor of Thresh’s team by quickly making the fight a 4v5. When in team fights, Thresh provides excellent tools for his team whether it be the shield from his lantern, its repositioning as both an engage or disengage, his undertow of chains snaring all enemies in the direction of Thresh’s choosing, and the AOE prison which debuffs champions speed while doing significant dps to those trapped within.

Tips/Tricks

• His passive works well as a support, as minions drop souls even if your weren’t the one to kill them, allowing the adc to farm and you to collect souls.
• His passive of his Q is great mechanically, giving him extra damage partially based on AD, which makes him a very flexible champion. Remember, he can pull them or himself toward him depending on the amount of casts of q.
• Main combo: Flay (E), to slow and assure a successful Q, pulling yourself toward them and then boxing (R) them inside your ult.
• Q,E, R is also a successful combo, assuring the target will be caught in your ultimate.
• Always look to sue your Dark Passage, it has arguably the best mechanical ability as utility. Use to help allies escape or to speed up allies back into lane. Take advantage of walls for a very easy and safe escape. Remember that you can use it as a great initiation, as you enter to engage the fight and then bring allies by your side to a clever kill. You can even flash to increase your range of the ally dash.

Observations

He is very viable as AD, with his main damage output as auto attacks. I feel that he is weakest building AP heavy items, as his moves are better suited for utility rather than damage output. I highly recommend hybrid builds with a slight focus on AD. That build style is similar to Kayle or hybrid Kog’ma. He is also a very viable support, and can be deadly with AD’s such as Ashe, Draven, or Ez.

Playing Against Thresh

Thresh souls are very valuable, so look to take advantage of any Thresh who over extends for them. Playing against him bottom, have CC to be able to efficiently fight him, such as Leona or Nunu, making his and enemy escapes become much more difficult, otherwise ganks against him and his carry become very hard to accomplish. Against him top, look to be able to escape his own grabs and stuns, such as Lee Sin or Talon.

Items

As a hybrid, build Blade of the Ruin King, Malady, and Guinsoo’s Rageblade. Also look to build Lianry’s Torment, as his Q allows him to deal that extra 5% of their health as magic damage. Build Trinity Force and Frozen Heart are also good top lane items. Supporting as Thresh, build Iceborn Gauntlet to cause extra disruption in team fights.

Final Thoughts

I am strongly disappointed by his model and lore. I felt it was a little predictable and his model strongly resembles Reaper Hecarim in my opinion. I also wish AP was viable as it is outshined by his support and AD potential. Mechanically, one of the more interesting and useful champions in the League.

T3hProdigy’s Champion Rating: 4/5

Thanks for reading and a big shout out and thank you to Evan James with this weeks article. Until next time…
~T3hProdigy