Nasus Thresh Deck Guide

Hey everyone, it’s Sorry bringing you a deck guide on Nasus Thresh!

Since this is my first article on here I’ll start by introducing myself. I’m a Master player in Legends of Runeterra since Beta, and I enjoy competing in tournaments regularly. I take the game very seriously and thrive to play at the highest level while also improving consistently.

The deck I’ll be covering in this guide is one of the few archetypes that can utilize Nasus and Shurima efficiently. I used it for my climb to Masters this season, ending up with a fairly high win rate. 

For those of you that remember They Who Endure deck that has been out of meta for quite a while now – Nasus Thresh revives the experience of the ‘unit sacrifice’ archetype.

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Nasus Thresh is a midrange deck that doesn’t fall off in the late-game thanks to Nasus and the deck’s ability to draw a lot of cards. The deck is built around the Slay keyword, both Thresh and Nasus benefit from sacrificing units.

You’re looking to put pressure in the early game on your opponent by dropping low-cost units that can be sacrificed. Dunekeeper, Cursed Keeper, and Fading Icon offer you good targets to kill. Both, Ravenous Butcher and Blighted Caretaker allow you to set up for a strong swing early game. 

When deciding on a mulligan, keep early units that offer sacrifice targets. Cursed Keeper followed up by a Blighted Caretaker on your attack token is your strongest play. Thresh can also be kept in your starting hand whereas Vile Feast is mostly a keep into aggressive decks.

As the game progresses, Thresh becomes a key piece in the deck. He can contest the board thanks to his high health and Challenger keyword, and he also threatens to level up if left unanswered.

Since the deck runs draw effects like Glimpse Beyond and Spirit Leech, you won’t be running out of gas very easily. At the same time, you’re progressing Thresh’s level-up condition the more you kill units on the board. This forces your opponent to invest resources into removing Thresh.

Thresh’s level up allows you to pull a stacked Nasus out of your hand/deck to swing alongside your attacking allies. Make sure that Nasus is positioned last in your combat attack order as he can potentially gain stats off the units slain to his left. The Fearsome keyword on Nasus forces your opponent to either block with a 3+ power unit or commit cards to remove him.

Atrocity is a key card representing a finisher, which in most cases you’ll use on Nasus who should have gained a lot of stats throughout the game. It is important to note that a leveled-up Nasus gains a Spellshield which makes it harder for your opponent to answer an Atrocity on him.

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Mulligan for: Blighted Caretaker, Cursed Keeper, Vile Feast, Withering Wail, Thresh.

Tech cards: -2 Vengeance, +2 Withering Wail.

Matchup tips:

• Going aggressively early on will force your opponent to block with Elusive units which are an essential win condition for them.
• Play around Twisted Fate’s Red Card as most of your units have 1 health and can be easily removed.
• Do not allow your opponent to level up Twisted Fate, on turn 4 they’ll be looking to play Pick a Card into Twisted Fate, and possibly a second Pick a Card if they went for a Blue Card. 
• You have three methods to remove Twisted Fate on turn 4:
  • Slay one of your units and then follow it up with a Black Spear.
  • Baccai Sandspinner and Blighted Caretaker: if you’re attacking on turn 4 it’s common that you pass first granting your opponent initiative. They then have to decide on one of the following plays: take the pass and burn their mana; drop below 4 mana making them unable to play Twisted Fate this round; play Twisted Fate and get punished by the units mentioned above.
  • Although this is least likely to occur, two Vile Feasts can remove Twisted Fate.
• On later turns, Thresh and Baccai Sandspinner are also effective ways to remove Twisted Fate.
• Rite of Negation is an important card to negate Mind Meld which is their late-game finisher.
• Your opponent has no way of answering your Nasus+Atrocity finisher since they don’t run hard removal.

Mulligan for: Cursed Keeper, Blighted Caretaker, Baccai Sandspinner.

Matchup tips:

• Saplings spawned by Blighted Caretaker can now remove Fiora after the recent nerf. Other good targets are Greenglade Caretaker and Rivershaper.
• You have a lot of card draw allowing you to outvalue your opponent by taking favorable trades. Your main targets are Shen, Fiora, and Rivershaper.
• Watch out for Fiora’s alternative win condition. Vile Feast will often be your only way to get rid of a barrier on Fiora. Black Spear is another removal tool for Fiora.
• As the game goes on, your opponent will struggle to deal with your Nasus as he’ll gain enough stats to value trade against any of your opponent’s units. This will force them to play Concerted Strike which gets denied by Rite of Negation. 

Mulligan for: Dunekeeper, Cursed Keeper, Vile Feast, Fading Icon, Black Spear.

Tech cards: -1 Spirit Leech, -2 Vengeance, +1 Vile Feast, +2 Withering Wail.

Matchup tips:

• Your biggest concern is Miss Fortune due to her ability to deal 1 damage to all blocking enemy units. Since most of your units only have 1 health they will not be able to trade.
  • It is therefore important to save Black Spear for Miss Fortune.
• Keep mana for Rite of Negation to deny their burn cards – Decimate and Noxian Fervor.

Mulligan for: Cursed Keeper, Blighted Caretaker, Baccai Sandspinner.
 
Matchup tips:

• Watch out for Withering Wail removing all your 1-health units.
• Expect a Maokai on turn 4 – you can either remove him with Black Spear or put the Vulnerable keyword on him with Baccai Sandspinnder and challenge. This will slow down their Toss ability giving you more time to gain stats on your Nasus.
• Thresh can be an important removal tool in this matchup, he can take out small units especially Sea Scarab. Thresh will also force your opponent to deal with him if he threatens to level up.
• When playing Nasus always watch out for Vengeance or The Ruination, usually you want to keep enough mana to protect him with Rite of Negation.
• The second they drop Nautilus you should play Vengeance if it’s in hand, this will stop them from dropping any low-cost Sea Monsters. Keep an eye for Atrocity lethal though when removing Nautilus.
• Try not to drop below 13 health, as it will allow your opponent to play Nautilus into Atrocity.

Mulligan for: Cursed Keeper, Blighted Caretaker, Baccai Sandspinner.

Tech cards: -2 Vengeance, +2 Withering Wail.

Matchup tips:

• It’s important not to allow Lucian to level up as it’ll provide a rally to your opponent. You can remove Lucian with Black Spear, Blighted Caretaker, and Baccai Sandspinner.
• Thresh can play a key role in this matchup as he’s able to trade with weaker units. At the same time, both Azir and Emperor’s Dais speed up Thresh’s level-up condition when they summon Sand Soldiers.
• Rite of Negation is important to negate the Relentless Pursuit.
• Withering Wail can remove all attacking Sand Soldiers.

Mulligan for: Cursed Keeper, Blighted Caretaker, Baccai Sandspinner.

Matchup tips:

• This matchup depends on your ability to remove Miss Fortune. Unlike Pirate Aggro deck, Scouts has the ability to defend Miss Fortune with Ranger’s Resolve, Sharpsight, Brightsteel Protector, and Riposte.
  • Black Spear and Baccai Sandspinner are your go-to cards to remove Miss Fortune.
• Survive early game and trade with opponent’s units until you’re able to safely drop your Nasus and threaten to end the game.

Mulligan for: Cursed Keeper, Blighted Caretaker, Spirit Leech.

Tech cards: +1 Vengeance, -1 Dunekeeper.

Matchup tips:

• Targon is your worst enemy. Hush can cancel all the work you’ve done for Nasus.
• Your game plan is to play aggressively and force your opponent to play on the back foot to survive. This will slow down their plan on going all out with Lee Sin.
• Vengeance could potentially remove Lee Sin, Rite of Negation is important to stop your opponent’s Deny.

Mulligan for: Cursed Keeper, Blighted Caretaker, Spirit Leech.

Matchup tips:

• Your opponent will outvalue you with Celestial units, you have to speed up the game or they will win off of Starshaping. 
• Hush will shut down your Nasus. In this matchup, your game plan is not around Nasus anymore, but to swarm the board and rush the Nexus. 
• Atrocity doesn’t have to be used on Nasus only.

Mulligan for: Cursed Keeper, Blighted Caretaker, Thresh, Spirit Leech.

Matchup tips:

• It’ll be hard for you to stack your Nasus in this matchup, as your opponent will not play a lot of units, and they will rely on removal cards to clear the board.
• Do not remove Trundle if you don’t have to, as it will allow your opponent to drop another Trundle and get a second Ice Pillar off him. Ice Pillars speed up the level-up condition of Lissandra, which will give them a Watcher. 
• Keep in mind when you’re going for Atrocity on Nasus your opponent can play Three Sisters into a Flash Freeze and would shut down your plan.
• If you have either Thresh or Nasus on board, their champion spells can come in handy when your opponent obliterates your deck with Watcher. In that scenario, you can shuffle a copy of a champion into the deck, which will give you an extra turn.

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Conclusion

With the nerf to Fizz TF, Aphelios, and The Veiled Temple, we’ll most likely be seeing more aggro decks on ladder and in tournaments, and Nasus Thresh thrives against those.

If you like to be in control of the flow, but are bored of the Targon-dominated meta and want something different that can close out games reasonably fast, Nasus Thresh might be the deck just for you. It’s been performing outstandingly well for me on the ladder so far.

If you enjoy my content and don’t want to miss out on more, you can follow me on Twitter, or check out my YouTube channel where I featured Nasus/Thresh in a video.