Thresh Positioning Guide

You might position Set 10 Thresh similarly to Set 9 Jarvan IV without thinking too much about it. If you read their descriptions, they seem identical- both have an AoE stun that targets largest clump. However, they are functionally very different and Thresh is one of the most important units in Set 10 to position correctly.

How does Thresh work?

Thresh has a extremely unique 1.5 range hitbox, shaped like a star. His ability itself has a cast range of 2 hexes from Thresh to the center of the star. Compared to Jarvan's 3 hex jump range and 2 range stun hitbox, this is quite a bit weaker. If you place him in the center, you have absolutely no chance of stunning an enemy carry in the corner.

Thresh vs. Jarvan’s hitbox when aiming towards the top left corner. C = center of cast, orange = stunned hexes

Even if you have Thresh on the same side, it is still unlikely to hit the corner as your opponent's largest clump is most likely going to be in the center. Furthermore, if your Thresh casts from your own front row, the center of his ability can only ever reach your opponent's 2nd row, meaning he can only a maximum of 1 backline unit no matter what.

So where should I put my Thresh?

There is exactly one incredibly effective position that I recommend placing your Thresh by default. It is on the left edge of the front row, with a unit next to him to prevent him from walking right.

The reason for this is that many players habitually position their carry in the bottom right corner (top left from your perspective). This corner has been the safest default position throughout the entire history of TFT- it can only be hit by two enemy melee units at a time, and is the furthest away from most of the board. However, if your opponent doesn't have a unit on the edge directly in front of Thresh, which they often won’t, he will always walk up 1 hex. This allows him to reach the opponent's 3rd row with the center of his ability!

Thresh always walks up here and casts the center of his ability at C, stunning 5 enemy units, including 4 backliners

You can also look for opportunities to have Thresh walk up on the far right side. This will work as long as your opponent doesn’t have a frontliner in either of the two hexes in front of Thresh. The "3 frontliners adjacent in the middle" positioning is fairly common and vulnerable to this.

Finally, placing Thresh in front of strong enemy melee carries who don’t have Quicksilver Sash is obviously good, and if there is a relevant Disco matchup in your rotation, it can be worth it to just place Thresh in front of their disco ball clump. By relevant, I mean if it looks like either a close or losing fight— if you're already confident you will win, then you don’t need to win harder, focus on your relevant matchups instead.

How can I position against Thresh?

Most players you face will position their Thresh near the middle of their board, in which case your corners are safe. Protecting yourself from an enemy Thresh on the edge of the board can be a bit tricky. The most important thing is to avoid the exact scenario I described above where Thresh walks up. If you use your right corner, you just need to have a unit in your rightmost front row hex. If you use your left corner, you need a frontliner in either of the two leftmost hexes in the front row. The tricky part is that you also need to make sure you have a "largest clump" of at least 3 within his range, otherwise Thresh can aim in a straight line forward and hit your carry + the unit in front of him. There are a few ways to do this, but here is one example:

From the opposing perspective: Lulu is the bait unit to protect Ahri. Thresh always aims his ability centered at C, hitting the largest clump of 3 units. Without a unit in Lulu’s position, Thresh can aim in a straight line towards Ahri and stun the largest clump of 2 units, Ekko and Ahri.

If you need to place your carry in the middle of your backrow because you are facing something like Crowd Diver, place your carry behind the edge of your frontrow clump with a bait unit towards the middle. Remember, Thresh will target largest clump and can only hit one backliner which should be your bait unit.

Thanks for reading! Check out the discussion thread in the Discord if you have any comments/questions, or if you want read more about why you shouldn’t be baited by Thresh's built-in 50% omnivamp on his AP scaling ability!