LoL Wild Rift Thresh Build & Guide (Patch 5.0) - Runes, Counters, Items, Ability Analysis

S Tier

Class: Support

Recommended Lane: Support

Best Thresh Wild Rift build guide for Season 11 Patch 5.0 of WR. With our Thresh guide you will learn which items to build, runes to select, skill order, who counters Thresh, and how to use abilities properly.

Recommended Builds

Starting Item

Boots

Core Items

Complete Build

Runes

Starting Item

Boots

Core Items

Complete Build

Runes

With the death of Ruined King, Viego, the Sadistic and Cunning warden of the Shadow Isles is now free and unbound from his spectral prison. Now he goes about Runeterra tormenting others with slow and excruciating inventiveness that goes beyond death as Thresh wreaks agony upon their very souls, imprisoning them in his unholy lantern, torturing them for all eternity. Thresh is a high-skill support that excels in manipulating the battlefield by pushing and pulling enemies and allies alike.

Thresh Wild Rift Build Recommendation

Here are Item Build Recommendations that works on this champion and which are the best build for Thresh Wild Rift in this patch.

The Chain Warden

Targon’s Buckler [This item has been removed from WR]

This is the standard Thresh Wild Rift build that aims to increase his health and armor, especially when against AD champs. Protobelt Enchant on the other hand is much preferable if you’re going for an aggressive rather a passive playstyle. This allows you to dash toward your target and use your combos before they can even react.

The Sadistic Chain

On the other hand, you can switch to this Thresh Wild Rift if you’re battling against heavy AP champions as these items provide magic resistance.

Runes for Thresh in Wild Rift

Glacial Augment grants slow when landing a skill or normal attacks, making it harder for enemies to disengage.
Aftershock grants bonus armor and magic resist after controlling an enemy. This will allow Thresh to survive initiating fights that will force him to stay close to enemies. After a short duration, Aftershock explodes and deal damage to enemies around him based on his maximum HP.
Weakness applies a debuff that makes enemies Thresh recently controlled receive more damage. This is simply perfect for Thresh since he has a lot of crowd control abilities.
Loyalty grants bonus armor and magic resist to him and to a nearby ally. Bone Plating for burst damage and Second Wind for pokes are all great options as well.
Pack Hunter allows you and your teammates to scale faster thanks to the bonus gold and the bonus movement speed is a welcome bonus. Hunter – Genius is also a viable option, more ability haste is always great, and it is useful whether you are using the standard build or the ability haste stacking build.

Spells

These two are the best spells you can equip for Thresh Wild Rift.

Ignite is the best summoner spell for early game aggression. It counters the Heal summoner spell because it applies Grievous Wounds and its true damage over time ensures kills. Get this on favorable matchups, especially against scaling champions and it is also great for invades.

Exhaust is the defensive alternative to Ignite. It will deny kills for enemies because of its damage reduction and it can also be used offensively because of its slow. Unlike Ignite, Exhaust is still useful in the late game because it is great for peeling, reducing the damage output of the enemy’s carries.

Pick up Heal if your ADC wants to use another summoner spell.

As discussed in the ability guide, Flash has a lot of applications with Thresh, offense-wise. Of course, you can also always use Flash to escape.

Skill Order

Thresh’s 3rd ability, Flay is leveled up at levels 1 and 4 because it is a strong early game ability. It is easier to set up fights with it in the early game and its passive that increases Thresh’s auto-attack damage is no joke. His 1st ability, Death Sentence is still maxed first because it is an invaluable tool in the mid game where fights start to happen more often. Thresh’s 2nd ability, Dark Passage is maxed next as you’d need it more and more in the mid and late game. Put a point in Thresh’s ultimate, The Box whenever possible.

Abilities

Damnation

Passive

Thresh can harvest the Souls of enemies that die near him, each soul permanently granting him 1.5 Armor and 1.5 Ability Power.

Death Sentence

Active

Throws out a scythe, stunning the first unit hit and pulling them in for 1.5 seconds. The scythe does 80 magic damage (80 + 50% AP) and grants True Sight for the duration.

Recast: Dashes to the bound enemy.

Cooldown is reduced by 3 seconds if it hits an enemy.

Dark Passage

Active

Throws a Lantern to a target location, allowing an ally to tap the Minion Button to dash to Thresh.

The Lantern also grants a shield to Thresh and the first ally comes near it, absorbing up to 55 damage (55 + 0 Soul collected) for 4 seconds.

Flay

Passive | Active

Passive: Basic attacks deal additional 0 to 58 magic damage (0 Souls to 0 Souls + 100% AD) based on how long since he last attacked.

Activate: Thresh whips his chains, pulling or pushing enemies in the direction of the swing. Enemies hit are also slowed by 20% for 1 second and take 65 magic damage (65 + 40% AP).

The Box

Active

Creates a prison of spectral walls, slowing champions by 99% for 2 seconds and dealing 250 magic damage (250 + 100% AP). Walls break after one collision, and after one is broken, the rest deal half damage and slow for half duration.

An enemy cannot be affected by multiple walls simultaneously.

Abilities Analysis

Innate Passive: Damnation

Enemies drop souls when they die. Dropped souls can be collected by Thresh or his lantern, giving him 1.5 armor and AP each.

Small minions and monsters sometimes drop souls while cannon minions, large minions, and champions always drop a soul. Epic monsters, the drakes and Rift Herald, and Baron Nashor always drop two.

Expect to get at least 5 souls per 2 minutes. This rate increases as time pass by as fights break more often and larger waves occur due to turrets being taken down.

Strive not to die as much as possible because you also lose the opportunity to collect souls while dead.

Enemies can see souls if they have vision of Thresh and they can deny him the souls if Thresh has recently used his 2nd ability, Dark Passage since Thresh needs to get close or drop his lantern if he wants to collect the souls.

Q | 1st Ability: Death Sentence

Death Sentence is Thresh’s hook ability. The first enemy hit is damaged, hooked, then dragged twice. The enemy is not dragged the whole way into Thresh, it is only dragged less than halfway Death Sentence’s maximum distance.

Regardless of the distance the enemy is dragged, the enemy hit is stunned for 1.5 seconds.

Death Sentence can be re-cast to make Thresh dash to the enemy hit. Even if Death Sentence is re-cast, the enemy will still be stunned for 1.5 seconds, however, the second pull won’t happen if Death Sentence is re-cast before the second pull happens so if possible, wait for the second pull to happen first so the enemy will be closer to your team.

Unlike his PC counterpart, Thresh faces the direction he will hook so it is hard to land the hook on attentive enemies. Because of this, attempt your hook from under brushes or use Thresh’s 3rd ability, Flay first to slow the enemy down and increase your chances of hitting the enemy.

You can use Flash while Thresh is winding up his chains. You can use Flash at any time before the chain flies towards your target. In order to increase the “surprise factor” of Death Sentence + Flash combo, wait for the very last second before using Flash. Flash will not change the direction you targeted.

W | 2nd Ability: Dark Passage

Dark Passage is the Infamous lantern that can save countless ADC lives, provided that they “click” the lantern.

Dark Passage grants a shield to the first ally that goes near the lantern. Once an ally is granted a shield, Thresh gains the shield as well. Thresh can also cast the lantern or get close to the lantern to give a shield to himself.

More than the shield is the dash mechanic of Dark Passage. Allies near the lantern can press the minion attack button to dash to Thresh. Thresh usually casts the lantern to save his allies that are in a dangerous situation.

But Dark Passage can also be cast on allies far from battle so they can dash to Thresh and immediately go into the fight. This is usually done in the early game when the jungler is near for a gank.

You can also fake a gank by throwing your Dark passage far away. Sometimes you will even get lucky and burn the Flash of enemies because of their fear of being ganked.

You can also use Dark Passage in combination with Thresh’s 1st ability, Death Sentence. Once you have hit an enemy with Death Sentence, cast Dark Passage to your ally then re-cast Death Sentence so you can dash to your prey then your ally will be able to instantly follow you using the lantern.

You can use Flash to reposition yourself and the dashing ally. Be careful though, if you walked over the maximum distance of the Dark Passage, the lantern will disappear. You can bypass this range limitation by waiting for your ally to dash to you before casting Flash.

Dark Passage can be used to collect the souls from a distance for Thresh’s Damnation passive if it is not safe to get close to the souls.

E | 3rd Ability: Flay

Flay is a loaded ability. First, it has a passive component that grants bonus damage to Thresh’s next auto-attack based on how long he has auto-attacked last. The longer he waits for another auto-attack, the stronger his next auto-attack becomes. The bonus damage is based both on the souls he collected and his AD and the minimum bonus is based on the souls. So, as the game goes by when Thresh gathers a lot of souls, his auto-attacks will deal more damage even without any charge time.

Second, it is a push-and-pull crowd control that you can control. You can either push enemies away from Thresh by targeting it towards the front and it can also be used to pull enemies by targeting it backward in the direction of Thresh.

Flay can be used as a more reliable initiation tool by pulling enemies towards Thresh and his team. Affected enemies become airborne while being pulled or pushed, they are damaged and then they are slowed briefly. While slowed, enemies become more susceptible to Thresh’s 1st ability, Death Sentence.

If your team lacks initiators, you can buy Protobelt Enchant on Thresh to surprise enemies with the Protobelt + Flay combo. You cannot, however, use Flay then Flash.

Flay is also a good peeling tool. You can cancel dashes by pushing enemies away. In the late game, use this fact to protect your ADC from those pesky assassins.

R | Ultimate: The Box

The Box is a great area control ultimate. the first enemy that collides with a wall of The Box receives a significant amount of damage and gets slowed by 99% for two seconds, that’s almost the same as being stunned. Other enemies hit after the first receive half the damage and are slowed for just one second.

The Box is usually used in combination with Thresh’s 1st ability, Death Sentence, and his 3rd ability, The Flay. One of these abilities is used to catch Threshs’s victim and then the other ability is used to pull them into a wall. This is done so that the enemy won’t be able to use their Flash to avoid the damage and slow from the wall.

The Box can also be used to zone enemies away from Drakes, Rift Herald, Baron Nashor, or even your turrets when you are trying to defend them. The damage and slow will discourage enemies from getting close to the area you want to control and if they still force the issue, they will be damaged and punished because of its slowing effect.

Thresh Early Game Guide

Thresh is one of the best champions to do an invade with. This is especially beneficial when you are on the mirrored side of the map because your duo lane will be close to the enemy’s red side of the map.

But remember that this is a risky play that you should only do if you have an early game jungler like Lee Sin or Graves and the enemy’s support won’t be able to protect their jungler like if they have Sona or Soraka.

It is better to get Thresh’s 1st ability, Death Sentence for the long stun if you attempt an invade.

In the laning phase, be careful when trying to initiate fights because Thresh has low base stats. Ideally, it is better to wait for your enemies to make a mistake, for example, when Alistar botches his combo or when Braum has used his shield needlessly. Once this happens, look for an opportunity to hook them or use Thresh’s 3rd ability, Flay to initiate a trade.

Lurk in the side brushes for a higher chance of hooking enemies with Death Sentence.

Once you have even just a small lead, especially against enchanter supports, you will be able to pressure your enemies just by walking towards them, faking a hook. When this happens, hold on to your hook so you can maintain the pressure and only use your hook when you are sure that it will hit.

If you spam your hook blindly, you will become predictable and enemies will disrespect you once your hook is on cooldown.

Take note of direction your enemies juke when they’re trying to avoid your hook. The more you familiarize yourself with the enemy’s pattern, the higher your chances of landing your hooks.

Always look at your minimap so you will be ready to use Thresh’s 2nd ability, Dark Passage for easy ganks. You can also use his lantern to fake a gank and bait flashes from enemies or discourage them from initiating a fight.

Be ready for the scuttle fight in 1:25. You will be able to influence the fight by a lot because Thresh has a lot of crowd control and you will be able to save your jungler by simply using the lantern for their easy escape.

Thresh Late Game Guide

In the middle and late game, Thresh really shines because of his ability to initiate and disengage fights.

You have to be careful because it is not always the best choice to start the engage even if Thresh has great initiating potential.

Sometimes, it is better to stay in the back line so you can protect your carries, especially if the enemy has potent late game assassins like Akali and Kha’Zix.

Keep an eye out on all your teammates because you can easily save them with Thresh’s 2nd ability Dark Passage.

Use Thresh’s ultimate, The Box wisely. When there is a big objective to contest like the Elder Dragon, it is better to use it as a zoning tool instead for a single enemy champion.

Synergies

It is highly recommended using Thresh in Wild Rift with the following champions as they synergize well with him.

Lucian is an early game ADC bully who thrives at harassing enemies and building a lead in the early game. With Thresh’s crowd control, the enemy duo laner will have little counterplay against this two. Lucian can also play extra aggressively knowing that Thresh’s lantern can easily bail him out when needed.

Tristana benefits heavily from Thresh’s crowd control because her 3rd ability, Explosive Charge requires enemies to stay put so she can charge it through her auto-attacks. She can also jump in more frequently and play recklessly because Thresh’s lantern can bail her out.

All Thresh Wild Rift Counter Champions

In this section, we’ll tackle some of Thresh Wild Rift Counters.

Braum is one of the best picks against Thresh. He can easily stall the lane because his 3rd ability, Unbreakable nullifies most of the damage they will receive. Wait for him to use his shield needlessly before trying to initiate on him. Do not invade against a Braum as his passive is one of the strongest passives at level 1.

Blitzcrank has a better hook than Thresh. He has better pickoff potential but weaker peeling capabilities and in the late game, Thresh becomes much tankier. Reserve your lantern to save your allies that will get hooked by Blitzcrank.

Pros & Cons About Thresh

Here are some pros and cons if you are playing with Thresh in Wild Rift.

Pros

Thresh is a high-impact support. He is one of the few supports that has equally strong engage and disengage. You can use him to make aggressive plays and you can also use him to play defensively and keep his allies alive.
Thresh is one of the highest skill expression support. Thresh rewards players that use him a lot and he can carry games when his user understands his kit.
Thresh has infinite armor and AP scaling. The longer the game goes, the tankier and dangerous he becomes.

Cons

Thresh is a high skill floor champion. This means that you need a lot of in-game knowledge and mechanical skill to play him properly. If you don’t land your hooks, one of his ability becomes useless. If you have poor in-game knowledge, you will make poor decisions like initiating when it is better to play defensively.
Thresh has low base stats to compensate with his infinite scaling. If you too aggressively in the early game, you will be punished because of his low HP and base armor.

FAQ's About Thresh in Wild Rift

How good is Thresh in Wild Rift?

Thresh is a (Tier S) champion. He is a good all-around champion who has solid initiation and peeling potential but he requires good game knowledge to unleash his full potential.

What role / lane should I play with Thresh in Wild Rift?

Thresh is traditionally played in the Dragon lane as a support. He excels in initiation and peeling for his teammates.

What abilities do I level up with Thresh?

Thresh’s 3rd ability, Flay is leveled up at levels 1 and 4 because it is a strong early game ability. His 1st ability, Death Sentence is still maxed first because it is an invaluable tool in the mid game where fights start to happen more often. Thresh’s 2nd ability, Dark Passage is maxed next as you’d need it more and more in the mid and late game.

What items should I build with Thresh?

Thresh’s core items are Dead Man’s Plate that increases his mobility and burst damage, Zeke’s Convergence that increases the potential of his ultimate, and Protector’s Vow that increases his peeling capability. He can also build Winter’s Approach and Iceborn Gauntlet for maximum cooldown reduction.

What Runes should I use when playing as Thresh?

Glacial Augment is Thresh’s best keystone as it slows enemies, leaving them harder to disengage. On the other hand, Aftershock is Thresh’s alternative Keystone rune because it helps him survive initiating fights. His other runes are Weakness, Loyalty, and Pack Hunter.

How do I consistently land Thresh's hook, Death Sentence?

Make it a habit of using Death Sentence under brushes to increase the surprise factor and give less time for enemies to react to your hooks. When trying to practice Thresh, make it a habit of using Flay first because it slows enemies, making it easier for you to land hooks on them.

List of all Wild Rift Champion builds

Last updated on August 28th, 2023