Thresh, the Chain Warden
Overview:
As the chain-slinging phantom that single-handedly defined what it meant to have agency and influence as a support back in Season 3, Thresh only received minor changes in my initial redesign, with the goal of reigning in some of his utility and focusing his functions around his identity as the Chain Warden.
I'm still happy with the direction of those changes, as being able to save allies made him a little too good at everything (on top of being a bit out-of-character), and his previous Ult "worked" but wasn't particularly dread-inspiring. That said, there's still a bit of room for mechanical clean-up, especially with Dark Passage.
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These smaller changes are meant to double down on Thresh's niche as a support who stalks the battlefield and is exceptionally good at picking out and locking down enemies that stray too far from their team. With Dark Passage foregoing all benevolent effects in exchange for an isolation-based slow, Thresh should have an even easier time setting up for hooks and keeping stragglers near him.
Since Thresh already has a tether in Death Sentence, the new version of The Box has been changed to an area-based trigger. This brings it a bit closer to his current Ult, while retaining the redesign's drawn-out nature and functionality as a means to temporarily take high-priority enemies out of the fight (and potentially drag them even further away from their comfort zone).
All values in blue are meant to give a general idea of the ability's properties, and are subject to change.
Class: Catcher
Recommended Positions: Duo Sidelane (Support)
Complexity: Low
Innate: Damnation
Enemy champions, large minions, and large monsters that die within X units of Thresh drop a Soul that lingers for 8 seconds. Epic monsters drop 2 Souls instead. Small minions and lesser monsters have a 33.3% chance to drop a Soul.
Thresh automatically collects Souls near him or his lantern. Souls are visible to allies and only become visible to enemies if their team has sight of Thresh.
Each collected Soul grants Thresh 0.75 bonus ability power and 0.75 bonus armor.
Q: Death Sentence/Death Leap
DEATH SENTENCE: Thresh throws out his scythe in the target direction. Thresh is rooted and disarmed while the scythe is in flight.
The scythe stops with the first enemy it hits, dealing 80/120/160/200/240 + (50% AP) magic damage and stunning them for 1.5 seconds, while also forming a tether between Thresh and them for the duration. Hitting an enemy reduces Death Sentence's cooldown by 3 seconds.
While the tether persists, Thresh is disarmed and tugs at his scythe's chain every 0.5 seconds, pulling the target 180 units towards himself. After 0.5 seconds, or instantly upon hitting a minion or monster, Thresh can cast Death Leap.
DEATH LEAP: Thresh dashes to the tethered enemy, removing the stun but being able to attack again.
Range: 1100
Targeting Type: Skill Shot - Line
Cooldown: 20/18/16/14/12
Cost: 70 mana
W: Dark Passage
PASSIVE: Thresh's lantern saps the will from nearby enemies, slowing them by 10/15/20/25/30% and drawing a Soul from them every 2 seconds they remain near it. If only one champion is near the lantern, it instead slows them by 20/30/40/50/60% and draws in Souls twice as quickly.
ACTIVE: Thresh throws his lantern to the target location for 6 seconds or until he moves 1500 units away from it, increasing the range of its effects by 100% for the full duration and revealing the area within it. During this time, the lantern exerts its full effects, even if multiple enemy champions are within it.
Range: 950 (range), 150 (effect radius)
Targeting Type: Skill Shot - Circle
Cooldown: 22/19.5/17/14.5/12
Cost: 50/55/60/65/70 mana
E: Flay
PASSIVE: Thresh's basic attacks deal (0% total AD) + (1 per Soul collected) bonus magic damage, increased up to (100/125/150/175/200% total AD) + (1 per Soul collected) bonus magic damage over 9 seconds while not attacking enemy or neutral units.
ACTIVE: Thresh sweeps his chain around him and in a broad line towards the target direction, dealing 65/95/125/155/185 + (40% AP) magic damage to enemies hit, knocking them 200 units in the chain's direction and slowing them by 20/25/30/35/40% afterwards for 1 second.
Range: 400 (on either side)
Targeting Type: Skill Shot - Mirrored Line
Cooldown: 9
Cost: 60/65/70/75/80 mana
R: The Box
Thresh marks the target enemy champion for 3 seconds, designating a ring around them and grounding them as long as they are within it while The Box forms around them.
If the target doesn't leave the ring within 3 seconds, they become trapped in The Box for 3 seconds. Enemies within The Box are suppressed, untargetable, shortsighted, and take 90/140/180 + (40% AP) magic damage every second.
Hitting an enemy with Death Sentence while they are within The Box will cause Thresh to continue to pull them in for the remainder of its duration.
Range: 450 (range), 550 (effect radius)
Targeting Type: Targeted
Cooldown: 140/120/100
Cost: 100 mana