Nasus Thresh Deck Guide – June 2023

Nasus Thresh makes an astounding comeback in Patch 4.5, becoming the most-played deck on the Eternal ranked ladder.

The most popular version adopts an aggressive game plan, seeking to put early pressure on the Nexus and chip away at it. Units like Baccai Reaper, Fading Icon, Cursed Keeper, and Ravenous Butcher provide that early unit development to put pressure on the opponent. Ravenous Butcher and The Wings and The Wave can be extremely powerful board development when played on units like Cursed Keeper or Fading Icon’s Prey.

Moreover, the list incorporates Blighted Caretaker, a unit that creates a wide board and can start challenging away opponent’s blockers with the two Saplings it summons. This paves the way for more attackers to connect with the opponent’s Nexus, allowing you to further put them under the threat of Atrocity.

Thresh joins the battle in mid-game creating a new threat that the opponent has to deal with. As long as Thresh is on the board, your opponent will constantly have to worry about his level-up, forcing them to use resources and deal with him. Since you’re a slay deck, you’ll be able to accelerate Thresh’s level up, which means the opponent will be in trouble if they can’t stop a leveled Thresh from attacking. An Attacking leveled Thresh will summon a Nasus from your deck, immediately creating a win condition that will shift the game in your favor.

Furthermore, the slays will grow Nasus’ stats, creating a formidable threat that simply cannot be ignored. Since Nasus has the Fearsome keyword, it can be a difficult task for the opponent to block him. Once Nasus strikes with 10 power or more, he’ll gain a Spell Shield, providing him with an additional protection layer. Nasus’ level-up also provides a debuff passive of -1|0 to all enemy units, making it more difficult for the opponent to block the Nasus.

Finally, Atrocity acts as a finisher if you’re unable to end the game by simply striking the Nexus. The Spell Shield should be a solid protection for Nasus when you cast Atrocity, but you can keep Rite of Negation ready to ensure your finisher goes through.

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Techs and Options

The current list aims to play an aggressive early game. If you’re looking for a more control type of Nasus Thresh, then consider adding some of these cards.

Soul Harvest: This has been a powerful removal tool for low-power units. It can come in handy for killing pesky units that play a key role in the opponent’s game plan.

Quietus: A cheap removal tool that can either be used on units with low stats or to destroy weapons. If it’s a meta heavy with equipment-oriented decks, then Quietus might be the card to add!

Vengeance: powerful removal tool to kill important units.

The Box: This can be an unexpected answer for a wide-board development. You might be in situations where it’s difficult to get much value out of it.

Black Spear: Since you’re a slay deck, it’ll be easy to activate Black Spear.

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General Tips

Use your sacrifice fodder efficiently. Sacrificable units play an important role in the deck’s function. This means you don’t want to end up in a scenario where there’s no discard fodder for Spirit Leech or Glimpse to draw you cards.

The Thresh level up. Keep track of his level-up, you might want to force trades in order to accelerate his level-up. In some cases, it’s better not to attack with Thresh, as you don’t want to damage him and make him vulnerable to damage spells.

The Nasus Atrocity combo. In the late game, you’ll most likely be able to end the game on the spot with Nasus + Atrocity. Make sure to have enough mana to play both cards on the same turn. Wait for your opponent to commit their removal cards, and then play Atrocity as an answer.

Attack order is important. Make sure to position Baccai Reaper and Nasus last in your attack phase. This allows them to gain more stats from the slain units first before striking. In some scenarios, you might prefer attacking with Nasus in a different position. For example, if he’s about to level up on strike, having your units attack after him might make it more difficult for the opponent to kill them because of the -1|0 debuff.
Finally, make sure to attack with Thresh at the end, as he could level up during combat.

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Matchup Tips

Draven Sion – favored

Mulligan for: Baccai Reaper, Fading Icon, Cursed Keeper, Ravenous Butcher if you have a discard fodder.

• Keep up with your opponent’s early aggression with the help of your early units. You want to take the least amount of damage possible so you don’t lose to their burn tools.
• Vile Feast can be an important tool to shut down early aggression, killing units like Zaunit Urchin or Boom Baboon and providing a Spiderling blocker.
• Hate Spike is a great method to kill a Draven. Try using it once your opponent has attacked, using sacrifice fodder like Prey as a shadow blocker.
• Nasus will eventually become bigger than Sion, capable of blocking him and shutting down any Overwhelm damage. A Siphoning Strike can kill Sion Returned if you prefer not to take any damage from their second swing.
• Rite of Negation is an important late-game tool to shut down burn damage like Get Excited! or Blowback.
• If your opponent has lethal with their burn tool, you can play an Atrocity as an answer to end the game with a buffy Nasus.

Poppy Ziggs – favored

Mulligan for: Baccai Reaper, Fading Icon, Cursed Keeper, Vile Feast, Ravenous Butcher if you have a discard fodder.

• Your opponent can go wide on the board, try to keep up with them and preserve your Nexus’ health.
• Hate Spike is important to kill Poppy before she buffs up the whole board.
• Blighted Caretaker can be played on defense or offense. On offense, it can pick off a couple of their units, whereas, on defense, it can possibly shut down their whole attack for the turn.
• Hate Spike can interrupt a Noxian Fervor to preserve your Nexus’ health. Be careful of Pokey Stick, as it can shut down your Hate Spike play.
• Rite of Negation is powerful to deny a Decimate.

Trundle Vi- favored

Mulligan for: Baccai Reaper, Fading Icon, Cursed Keeper, Blighted Caretaker, Thresh

• You’re against a deck that can set up powerful units if they manage to find Concurrent Timeliness early on in the game.
• Try to push early damage with the help of Blighted Caretaker and your early units. This early damage will be important for Nasus to end the game.
• Nasus provides a threat on the board. Don’t throw an Atrocity randomly unless you’re forced to. Your opponent can counter it with a Three Sisters into Flash Freeze.
• Save Rite of Negation as an answer for Buried in Ice.

Annie Jhin – favored

Mulligan for: Baccai Reaper, Fading Icon, Cursed Keeper, Vile Feast, Ravenous Butcher if you have a discard fodder.

• Keep up with the early aggression and preserve your Nexus’ health. Vile Feast is important to kill units like Crackshot Corsair or Legion Saboteur. Vile Feast doesn’t necessarily need to be played on 1-health units, it can damage a unit and create a blocker.
• Watch out for stun units like Solari Sunhawk and The Stage Hand. You can shadow block and play Hate Spike to kill another attacker, minimizing the damage they’re able to push.
• Nasus can be challenging for the opponent to block, and it’s almost impossible for them to answer an Atrocity play. Be careful of a Noxian Fervor lethal if your Nexus’ health is low enough, instead, you could play Atrocity more reactively.
• Save Rite of Negation to shut down a Decimate play.

Thresh Nasus – even

Mulligan for: Baccai Reaper, Cursed Keeper, Fading Icon, Thresh.

• Keep up with early board development. Losing Nexus’ health is fine as long as you win the board in the later stages of the game.
• Try to keep Glimpse or Hate Spike ready when the opponent plays a Vile Feast on either Fading Icon or Spirit Leech. This will deny them a Spiderling and a Slay target.
• The goal is to keep up with the board and make sure your Nasus is bigger.
• Thresh is crucial to winning the game. Both players will be looking to have Thresh on the board and start working on the level-up. Try not to attack if there’s a Thresh on the opponent’s side of the board, you don’t want to make it easier for the opponent to level him up.
• If your opponent decides to commit a Siphoning Strike, playing Glimplse or Hate Spike can shut down that play and make sure that Nasus doesn’t get shuffled back into the deck.
• In the late game, it’ll come down to which player can keep their Nasus alive. Atrocity can act as the finisher tool, but you’d rather play it reactively unless your opponent drops below 11 mana to play Atrocity + Rite of Negation.

Ryze IO – slightly unfavored

Mulligan for: Baccai Reaper, Cursed Keeper, Fading Icon, Ravenous Butcher, Blighted Caretaker.

• You’re against a deck that wants to set up all 5 World Runes to win with Ryze. This means you’ll be adopting an aggressive game plan to end the game as soon as possible.
• Cursed Keeper + Ravenous Butcher gives you that early pressure you’re looking for. Additionally, a Blighted Caretaker can let you go wide on the board early on.
• Eye of the Dragon can slow down your aggression. Try killing it with a Hate Spike, Sapling + Vile Feast, or Thresh.
• Atrocity can be your last resort to end the game before Ryze manages to win it. The opponent can still shut down your play with Deny or recall spells. Rite of Negation could potentially save the day.

Seraphine Ezreal BC – unfavored

Mulligan for: Baccai Reaper, Cursed Keeper, Fading Icon, Thresh.

• Your opponent will be working on leveling up Seraphine as early as possible for value generation.
• They can keep up with your early aggression. Pushing any little damage can go a long way to the late game. Their deck doesn’t have the tools to heal their Nexus, so the Nasus Atrocity win condition will be a threat to them.
• You do not want Seraphine and Ezreal on the board at the same time. The burn damage will be too difficult to deal with, and you could end up dying on the same turn they set up both.
• Thresh is problematic for the opponent. Don’t challenge and damage him; as your main priority is to level him up. Only challenge champions like Ezreal or Seraphine. You want your opponent to look for damage spells to kill him. Hexbliterator can deal with him on the spot.
• Nasus can be a problem for the opponent, especially with an Atrocity play. Keep in mind your opponent can shut down your Atrocity play with a Stress Defence on the Nasus.
• Spirit Leech and Glimpse are important for value generation. Play Glimplse reactively; wait for the opponent to play a spell in an attempt to kill a unit, then cast Glimpse.

Annie Katarina – unfavored

Mulligan for: Baccai Reaper, Cursed Keeper, Fading Icon, Blighted Caretaker, Thresh.

• Annie Katarina runs a lot of removal tools to deal with your champions. Cards like Ravenous Flock and Disintegrate can deal with Thresh on the spot.
• Additionally, Lord Broadmane enables their ping spells to start killing off damaged or stunned units. Making it more difficult to keep a Nasus alive.
• Ideally, you want to try and squeeze in early damage and then rely on the Nasus + Atrocity play to win the game.
• Try to play Nasus on the same turn you can cast Atrocity. Wait for your opponent to attempt to kill him before casting Atrocity, this will make it increasingly difficult for the opponent to counter your play.

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Closing Words

Nasus Thresh is a must-learn in the current meta, as it’s the most played deck, and knowing how to pilot the archetype will come in handy when you’re up against it as well.

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