Jungler: Thresh

Over the weekend I uploaded a jungle Thresh video. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

To begin, let me state emphatically that Thresh is a very difficult jungler.

The fancy kiting I do at Blue buff, the over the wall hooks, and the other execution optimizations you see in the video are not for show, they are all entirely necessary for Thresh to clear quickly and safely when he does not receive help. Without those optimizations Thresh's health falls dangerously low at Red buff, low enough that clearing Wraiths is a matter of how many crits you received at Wolves earlier in the clear, and if you do clear it is many seconds slower. To achieve the "par" of 4:00 game time with a respectable amount of health those tricky maneuvers were critical.

It's come up before, but I believe strongly in the need for junglers to practice jungling without help. This is not because no one will ever help you, but because sometimes they can't or something goes horribly wrong. Thresh is exactly the sort of jungler who catches unsuspecting players unawares, consigning them to disaster when anything out of the ordinary occurs.

On top of his potential to flounder on his first clear, Thresh also requires skillful use of skillshots in order to gank and support his team effectively. You must be able to land hooks, must be able to reflexively knock champions in the proper direction with his displacement, and must be able to judge the timing and proper placement of his lantern and ultimate. A Thresh who lacks any of these qualities, in or out of the jungle, will often be a liability.

Now that I've finished scaring you away from Thresh, let me state emphatically that Thresh is also a very powerful jungler.

Everyone hates and bans Blitzcrank for good reasons, and Thresh is worthy of the same ire. While his hook has a much greater windup time, its potential is no less frightening. It actually has a longer range than Blitzcrank's Rocket Grab, meaning Thresh can actually throw it from outside an opponent's vision. The long stun gives your allies ample time to move in and go for the kill, and following it up with Thresh's other displacement ability can result in equivalent or greater pulls than Blitzcrank.

Thresh also doesn't decent damage without needing to itemize for it. So long as he collects souls his Q passive will allow him to deal significant magic damage on each auto attack. In a long game he can easily function as though he had four Wit's Ends or more (minus the Attack Speed). Combined with his Armor and AP gains, he can be frighteningly tanky and still effective.

Playing Thresh requires finesse, but if you're willing to put in the hard work to learn the champion it is well worth the effort.