Hey guys! Being a Thresh main I will always keep this guide updated and accurate as to how I play Thresh up in Diamond. Thresh has always been my #1 favorite champion for his ability to kite, adaptability, and for his flashy aggressive plays.

Thresh is a Tanky/Support champion who specializes in adaptability and has a unique kit that allows him to have major impacts on more than just the bot lane. He is a great support to play if you want more control of game decisions/shot calling. His kit allows him to go aggressive in games where your team is ahead. Or kite your ADC if your team is behind. He has a lot of control over the pace of a game and can be underestimated for that reason. He also has a unique ability to change up his build mid game to better counter the opposing teams kit.

EARLY GAME:

When playing Thresh support in ranked, be sure to look at your matchup and the summoners taken by the opposing bot duo. If they are running ignite, you can peel for your ADC and allow him to get his maximum damage off. If they are running exhaust, Thresh is great at locking down the opposing ADC while your own ADC is exhausted, thus negating their exhaust. Follow it up with your exhaust to minimize the damage their ADC can deal, while also taking away their ability to flee. The best time to win trades is when your opponent is fleeing and not maximizing their damage output.

Thresh has a very powerful level 2 spike. His CC and damaging basics allow him to win all trades level 2. Just be sure not to dive into a full minion wave! Make sure you are getting auto's off in between every ability to maximize Thresh's damage combo. At level 2 Thresh can out damage most ADC's, so don't be afraid to solo him if their support focuses your ADC. MINIONS ARE YOUR BEST FRIEND! Almost every fight bot lane in the early game is decided by minions. They will deal 30% of the damage without you noticing it. Always try to fight with your minions, not in the middle of their wave!

At the surface, Thresh doesn't seem to have much poke potential. His auto range is fairly small and his abilities aren't really used for poke... Or are they? Try throwing a Q, but instead of pulling yourself to it, auto from a safe distance and flay them away. This will allow your ADC to also get an ability or auto off with you and makes for a pretty good poke mechanic. (You can lantern as you run away to negate any ability the opponent might throw.)

Be sure to keep your wards up! Rushing a sightstone and warding the river constantly will always be the best decision you can make early game. Nothing is more frustrating for an enemy team than wasting their time trying to gank your lane and never getting a good gank off. It will save your team a few kills per game and also will allow your ADC to level up more and get more farm than they normally would be able to. DON'T FIGHT OVER WARDS. The #1 thing that kills supports is dueling over a ward and getting caught. NEVER fight over a ward unless you have at least 2 teammates right behind you. The other team will normally have 2 behind them (ADC, and Jungler sometimes), so don't get caught in a bad fight over 75g. The ward payed itself off already just from spotting someone. If you avoid ganks, you will win lane almost every time.

MID GAME:

Always stay with your ADC! Your ADC can always carry a game best, be sure to keep him alive at all cost. Literally follow him around the map unless you are warding or ganking another lane. This will allow you to stay high in levels and gold as well. You need to keep up with the other players levels!

GANKS OTHER LANES! Ganking other lanes, like mid lane, will amount in just as many kills per game as you will get in bot lane. You can gank mid lane often or gank their jungler if you coordinate it with your own jungler. I typically pull 2 kills per game in lane and 3-5 kills per game from ganking. The pro player Olleh is a great example of this as well. Olleh is the only player to ever reach rank #1 in Challenger playing only support. He was studied to see how he decided games so often playing support and they found out that Olleh actually spends more time ganking in the first 20 minutes of a game than he spends in lane with his ADC! Now this works better at high elo because ADC's know to play safe when their support roams, but at lower elo you might want to have more of a presence in your bot lane so your ADC doesn't get solo'd. So in general, if you gank another lane, be sure not to spend too long there. Your ADC has a high potential to be killed every second you are not with them. Be sure to hurry back! If you are looking to roam more and pull off successful ganks, be sure to use boots of mobility. They allow you to gank and get back to lane much faster. This way you can return to save your ADC if needed. (Olleh rushes boots first item in 90% of his games regardless of champ).

Be sure to call out and ping your ADC what you are doing. A simple reminder is all it takes to keep your ADC alive. More alive time = more gold.

Always build according to the game. This is the most important time in the game for building items. If the enemy team is mostly ad OR attack speed based OR if an ad champ is starting to snowball, a frozen heart would be the best item to rush to stop them from carrying a game single handedly. If the enemy team is mostly ap OR if they have an ap champ starting to snowball OR if they are even a balanced team, a locket would be best to rush. Once you have a locket or frozen heart or both, then you can start building a Zeke's Convergence to help peel your ADC. Boots of Mobility, Sightstone, Frozen Heart, Locket of the Iron Solari are your core items. Rush these as fast as possible!

LATE GAME:

Late game Thresh is useful for 2 things, Vision and Hooks. If the game goes into the late game, vision is the largest component of the game. 95% of late games are decided off of which team gets a pick and then can push 4v5 to end the game. If you control the vision on the map, you will always get a pick. Combo that with being a champion with a hook, and you are now the most deadly player on the rift. Constantly back for wards to keep objective areas clear (Baron, Dragon, Enemy Jungle). Keep reminding your teammates to help out with the vision. Stay grouped with your team so you can protect them from ganks while also being close enough to them to set them up with a kill if you land a good hook. Lastly always look for hooks! Even if it looks like it won't connect, throw some! You never know when an enemy will dodge into your hook and your team follows up for a free kill. This will always win you the game if it's late enough. Remember to stay safe, keeps wards up, stay in your ward coverage, and look for a deadly pick!

Also in the late game you will have 2 more item slots after your core build to build some final items. These last 2 items will change every game you play. Always assess the game and build against your opponents. If they are super tanky, build items to peel your ADC with like Redemption and Knights Vow. If they are super squishy, build offensive tanky items like Sunfire Cape and Thornmail. Always build to what would either hurt their carries the most, or help you ADC the most!

PROS:

Strong Level 2
Good Ganking Potential
Can Change Build Mid Game
Since He Is Tanky, Warding Is Less Risky
Can Be Aggressive And Passive
Game Deciding Picks
Great For Peeling Fed ADC's

CONS:

Playing From Behind Is Hard (Must Poke Or Pick Carries)
Can Fall Behind From Ganking Too Much
Core Items Take 25 Minutes Usually
Low/No Poke
Gets Poked Easily (Has To Stay Back Unless Ready To Duel If Needed)

When playing support, your biggest ally will be your Jungler. Your Jungler usually has the most decision making to do on the team and it can be overwhelming (Hence why junglers are always blamed). It's hard to know exactly where to be and cover all the time. As a support its better to think of yourself as a second Jungler almost. YOU are responsible for keeping your ADC, Jungler, and Mid alive. Why you ask? The Jungler usually is blamed for not ganking enough or not countering opponents ganks. But the Jungler can't be everywhere at once. If he is ganking top lane, it isn't his fault for not being there when the enemy Warwick ganks you in bot lane. As a support you should have known the enemy Warwick was on the bottom side of the map and disengaged before he had the chance to gank you. Getting 1 deep ward in the enemies jungle will help spot out the enemy Jungler. Then you know to play safe until you see him exit the bottom side of the jungle. This is why pro players don't die to many ganks. They constantly ping out and know where the enemy Jungler is at all times. Become a second set of eyes for your teammates (Lets be honest... they wont be warding anyways). Another step you could take beyond that is to start counter ganking just like a Jungler. If you see the enemy Warwick hovering around mid lane, you can assume he is thinking about ganking mid if there is an opportunity. This gives you an opportunity to run up from bottom lane with your boots of mobility at your side and save your Mid with a clutch lantern. Even better, you might look for a hook on the enemy Mid and be able to burst them down with your Mid at your side.

This same concept applies to your Jungler. Watch your Jungler and help him with river objectives and ward control. You can also counter jungle with your Jungler. This makes for very safe, fast, effective counter jungling. If you run into the enemy Jungler, you can simply 2v1 him and take his flash or score a free kill. The same applies when the enemy Jungler counter jungles your team. As the support you can afford to leave lane and help 2v1 him. Pinging your Mid to assist your defense secures a free kill almost every time.

Watch for times your Jungler is going to gank mid. If you time it properly, you can clear out wards for him, making for an easy gank. Also you can gank with him, making for a very smooth 3v1. There's nothing more tilting than a support that comes flying into your lane for a gank every 3-4 minutes. Even if your ganks don't pay off every time with free kills, they help your Mid laner and Jungler gain CS and presence. If the enemy mid laner knows you gank a lot, he is less likely to play aggressive and kill your Mid laner.

OVERALL:

Control Vision in River
Gank Lots
Gank Often
Get 1 Deep Ward To Spot Out Enemy Jungle Path
Follow Your Jungler
Support Your ADC, Jungler, and Mid Laner

Utilizing your teammates as resources will set the average Thresh players apart from the carry Thresh players. Because of Thresh's lantern, he has a lot of ways of working with his teammates. Weather it's peeling for your ADC or going in aggressively to hook an enemy carry. Thresh doesn't have a lot of usefulness away from his teammates, so always stay among your team or at least with your ADC. If your ADC never dies, you cannot lose.

Thresh has a few unique skills/plays he can make (These are the "Advanced Tips/Tricks").

Thresh can set up some pretty nasty ganks, try tossing your lantern over a wall or towards your jungler to get them right in your lane for an easy gank. It will save them their gap closer so they can use it to get right on top of the enemies.

Thresh can deal twice as much damage as his combo alone. All you have to do is sneak an auto attack in between each ability an BOOM! Twice the damage output as normal Thresh.

Thresh can block any dash ability an opposing player tries to use with his hook or his flay. Since the flay has no wind-up time, it makes it the optimal ability to use to negate an opposing players dash (such as a Tristana leap). Use this to keep the carries locked down so your team can clean them up.

In addition to using your lantern to bring your jungler in for an easier gank, you can also flash with the lantern to go an even further distance with your jungler. This will force the enemies to typically burn their summoners or even better!

Farming? Thresh doesn't farm? This section is more about what to do with the waves to help your ADC and also yourself. When your ADC is farming, be sure to collect all the souls. It's fine to take a little damage sometimes to get them as well, those souls add up! By the end of the game, having an additional 70-130 ap and armor is like having an additional item or 2 over your enemies. Also if you run relic shield etc., make sure you are using the stacks to their fullest potential. Only use the stacks when your ADC or you need health, don't waste the healing aspect of the ability (The only exception to this is if your stacks are maxed with it, then it is better to use just 1 so it can start working on another stack). Also when spending the stacks, you'll always want to focus on cannon minions because they are worth the most gold. If there are no cannon minions to spend a stack on, make sure to focus melee minions next, they are worth more than the caster minions. Focus caster minions as last resort. One last point for Thresh and farming is to slap the caster minions once for you ADC if you guys are forced to farm under turret. Pre level 6 ADC's can't 1 shot caster minions after they take a tower shot, so be nice to your ADC and help him farm :)

These warding tips go across the board for all supports. Always keep a pink in the tri-bush (regardless of side) to prevent those backdoor ganks. You don't need wards everywhere in the river, but make sure you have every ganking route covered so you can watch for ganks, DON'T PLAY CHANCE and assume enemies won't gank from certain routes. It is your job to watch the enemy jungler and always keep a tab on where he is. Drop some deep wards at the enemy blue and red buffs so your other lanes know where the enemy jungler is at all times. It will save your mid and top laners a few deaths per game and also allow your jungler to counter jungle very easily and possibly pull a few kills himself on a low health enemy jungler. Good warding spots are outside the dragon pit, enemy tri-bush, enemy red/blue buff. The last things that goes along with warding, is telling your teammates what you see! If you see the enemy jungler walk over a ward, don't assume your teammates were watching their minimap. Ping like crazy on the enemy jungler so your whole team knows where they are. The enemy jungler can only pull off successful ganks if they are hidden, if you expose the enemy junglers location every minute or so, they can't gank your teammates because they will see them well before the river bush.