Hi!

In this guide I'll teach you how to play Thresh in detail.
I think it's one of the best soloq supports as he has a kit which allows him to do A LOT.
I started playing Thresh back in season 5, I have never stopped playing him ever since.
So I thought I'd tell you what I've learned in the past year.
Before we start, I want to say something about a pretty well known rumour.
SUPPORTS CAN'T CARRY
Well, let me tell you one thing. They can, they're actually one of the best roles at carrying games.
Before we start with the guide, this is one of my montages :) Play Video

Pros:
*His abilities can be used both offensive and defensive
*Can be played as a kill or poke lane
*Great poke with e passive
*Amazing outplay potential with q and e
*Can be played tanky and utility
Cons:
*Easily punishable
*Hard to land q's without experience
*Not the easiest champion to play
*Has long cooldowns in the early game

You can go for ignite or exhaust.
Pick exhaust if they have assassins or attack speed reliant champions in their team like: Zed, Leblanc, Master Yi, Yasuo, Vayne etc.


If none of the above applies, pick ignite.
This will give you a lot more kill potential in lane, and reduces the heal of the enemy adc by 40%
Make sure to always pick it against Soraka as the ignite reduces her healing as well.
And ofcourse, flash is a must on Thresh.
You need it for escaping/chasing, and some max range flash hooks.

I see a lot of Thresh players going Q>E>W
But I really prefer going E>Q>W just because this matches my playstile.
You have to see for yourself wether to max q or e first. (And ofcourse lvl r whenever possible)


I max e because it gets me more damage in the early game, combined with ignite you will be an unstoppable monster in the laningphase.


With this build you won't have to worry about maxing your q really, because there's a lot of cdr included.
Though, always max it second when you're maxing your e.

So,

for the items, you might have noticed I'm not really the kind of Thresh player that builds really tanky.
I try to go for at least 35% cdr every game, because this will set your q on a 6 second cooldown when actually landing it. (If your q lands, 3 seconds of its cooldown will be refunded)
This will lead in landing at least 3-4 hooks every single teamfight, and if you're able to do this on the right targets, you'll see your ELO improving at a super fast rate.
I used to build Frozen Heart every single game, but with the recent meta shifts, I decided to only build it when their team heavily relies on attack speed.

Zz'rot:
A lot of people think this item is dull, I think it's a really good item.
You can build it when you're either when you're ahead and when you're behind.
Just place it down at the lane you notice keeps getting pushed in, or place it at the lane where you could use some extra pressure.
The tanky stats and cdr it grants is also really nice

Mikael's Crucible:
This is one of my favorite items because of its passive.
Mikael's can be so incredibly strong if you use it right.
Try using it when your adc gets cc'ed by a key ability, like Morgana's q.
Or try to save an ally with the heal it gives them.

Zeke's Harbinger:
Only build this item when you're very far ahead, and bind it to your adc.
If you're behind and build this item, you will get blown up as it gives no hp.

In my opinion, Thresh is a support with one of the strongest laning phases, if played correctly.
There three different laning styles at botlane:
A kill lane, a poke lane, and a sustain lane.
This is called the kill-poke-sustain triangle, look it up if you don't know what this is.
Now, Thresh fits in two of those laning styles: The kill lane, and the poke lane.
You can play very aggressive in lane, or you can stay back and poke whenever your e passive is fully charged.

But there is one thing, you always want to do on Thresh whenever the opportunity is given.
The lvl 2 all in.
This is what makes Thresh so incredibly strong in the laningphase.
So what is the lvl 2 all in?
The lvl 2 all in kinda speaks for itself. When you hit lvl 2 before the enemy botlane, you go all in with your hook and your flay, if you're not in range don't be scared to use your flash for it. And this is where the ignite is coming in.
When you're engaging, you instantly ignite the one who you are planning to hook, which will reduce the adc's heal by 40%!
Here's a video I found which explains it a lot better: Play Video Remember to always pay attention at the enemy's minions, because this works best if they're not yet lvl 2.
Believe me, whenever you're given the opportunity to use the lvl 2 all in, abuse that, it pays off 90% of the times.