Hello and welcome to my Blitzcrank guide. First, I'd like to precise some things : this is my first guide, and this might not be the best you could find. But it took me many time to do it and I hope you will like this.
Second point : this guide is about Hybrid Blitzcrank, which is not often played. So don't judge this guide before testing it in game, because it's quite powerful, you might be surprised. :)
Third point : I will sometimes say things that will seem obvious to you, intermediate player, or you the old player over 92000 ELO, more or less. But I'd like to do this guide for every player that wants to play Blitzcrank the way I do. From beginner to expert.

Blitzcrank is my main, and it's the second champion I've learned to play. I really like his gameplay, and I think he can be very good if you know how to grab.

So, Support Blitzcrank is pretty good, but too mainstream.
AD Blitzcrank... Well it's not bad, but a bit fragile. If you play him bruiser, it's okay too, but you deal less damage.
AP Blitz is powerful, but before level 6 he's a bit weak.
So I play him hybrid. But not with a hybrid build like you would do on Kayle or Jax, no. This will be a "mana hybrid" build. I'll show you why and how.

For runes, I take :

Attack Damage in marks ;

Mana Regen in seals ;

Mana in glyphs ;

Power in quintessences.

I take flat runes for all of those. Two reasons about that : I'm poor in IP, 'cause I like buying champs and stuff... And I like flat runes for a better early game. And you will need it with Blitzcrank.
Some of you will prefer x per level runes, but you'll see it, Blitzcrank gets stronger when the game lasts, so I think you won't need those.

I take 9/14/7 masteries, because I want to be a bit tanky and at the same time have a bit AP. Tanky to hold the lane and have a bit bonus armor, AP to hurt more at level 6, even without AP items.
The ones in Utilitary Tree are mainly for mana per level. I don't have the runes for that, but it's free in masteries, so... It's all good :)

Passive. Sometimes you feel like : "Aaah ! I'm gonna die !"... Nope. Your Mana Barrier is here and it can save you many times. But there are 2 things to care about.
- This shield is based on half of your ACTUAL mana, not half of your TOTAL mana, so don't waste abilities or it will be kinda useless. ^_^
- The shield lasts ten seconds, so be careful. It can allow you to tank towers or enemies, but not for a very long time. :p
Okay, now you see why mana items will be cool.

Rocket grab : This is your main ability. It stuns for 1.5 seconds. It will allow you to annihilate the gap between your enemy and you. And then annihilate him. He's a bad guy. He doesn't have the same towers and minions than you.
It may seem easy to say, but it's harder to do. When you have Blitzcrank, your enemy will be a chicken always hiding with minions.
Counter-chicken tips :
- kill his minions. Now he just has to run for his life, but you can catch him with Overheat and give him a hug. Your allies will join you too, if they want a kill.
- change angle. Don't forget that your target is rarely trapped between his minions, so there's always an angle you can take to grab him and make him feel your metal fists. Think about using the bushes ! Okay, maybe your target will move more if he sees you enter in the bush, more again if the bush is warded. But take it easy. You're tanky, you have a good ally to follow you when you rush in the carry's face and ruin him. Damn the minions, punch your enemy to the death, and if he tries to run away, NOW grab him. And continue.
According to me, this is the first ability to up to lower the cooldown.

Overdrive : Movement speed and attack speed boosts. Need to chase your enemies faster ? Use it ! Need to run away faster when your shield is down ? Use it ! Need to be on lane faster ? Use it ! Need to destroy enemy towers faster ? Use it again !
Some people will advise you to up this spell first, because you're faster and hit faster too, but I prefer up the Rocket Grab first, to reduce the cooldown. Plus you'll buy Boots of Swiftness, you'll be faster like that. If you want to buy other boots, you'd better up this first, and take Ionian Boots of Lucidity for cooldown, or Mercury Threads, always useful.
The Rocket Grab deals damage, that's why I up it first. Both solutions are good, try the one you want. :)

: This ability will double your AD for one attack and knock your enemy airbone. Wait. DOUBLES YOUR AD. This is pretty great ! With your good base damage, that could hurt very hard any enemy you grab and hit. Let's do it together : 90 for the grab approximately, and 68*2 for the punch : 80+136 = 216HP for low-armor enemies at their level 2 or 3, which is 40 or 50% of his actual hp... Not bad, imagine your ally comes to help and you could eventually kill the enemy carry. Particularly if he has high CC too.
That also works on towers ! Damage dealt to tower with your basic attacks will be doubled for one attack if you activate it. Unfortunately it won't knock the tower airbone. :p
I max this ability last, because there's no difference in the damage dealt, just the cooldown that lowers. You could eventually boost it in second, after Overheat, but your Rocket Grab would have a too high cooldown. And you want to fire it often.

: This is your AoE silencer ultimate. This is really where you will need AP. Because this ultimate just rocks. You can use it to finish enemies, silence the spell-spammers (Brand, Urgot, Karthus, Skarner, Cassiopeia, etc) or those who need spells to escape (Lee Sin, Kassadin, Udyr, Tristana, every enemy who has Flash). Okay, but imagine you don't have the time to silence him, he already flashed out ? You know what to do : Overheat + Rocket Grab to make him stay close to your team.
The ultimate has a passive that works when you don't use your ult. I mean, when it's available but that you don't use it. That hits a random target every 2.5 seconds.
Things to care about with this passive when your ult is not on cooldown :
- it hurts enemy minions and champions close to you even if you're in a bush. So if they see a lighting hitting their minions, they will know you're in that bush. Be far enough from enemy minions if you don't want that to happen.
- it hurts random enemies even if you're attacking a tower. Enemy champions too ! So your passive can randomly hit a champion, causing you to be hit by the tower. Care about that.
The good point in that ultimate is his 30-second cooldown. You can use it very often.

With Blitzcrank's passive, you will need mana. But you're hybrid, and you want AD and AP too... Don't worry, there's everything you need in the shop.

1. Start with Meki Pendant and 2 health potions. You need mana regeneration, since your Rocket Grab takes between 100 and 140 mana.
2. Once you have 905 gold, take Tear of the Goddess and Boots of Speed. If you can reach 1320 gold, take a Long Sword too.
3. Next back, finish Manamune and Boots of Swiftness. (1350 gold) Now Manamune converts your mana into AD ! Which will lead you to 130 AD approximately, maybe more or less. Anyway that depends on the mana stacked, so if you cast a lot of spells and hit a lot, it will be more.
4. After that, begin Archangel's Staff with Blasting Wand. (You already have mana regen with Manamune's passive, so no Tear of the Goddess for the moment) And take an other mana crystal to give you a little AD bonus.
5. Finish Archangel's Staff, that converts mana into AP.
   Unfortunately, the passive of is unique. So 1000 mana will be the maximum you will reach with Manamune or Archangel's Staff, even when you buy both. But it's still great, with 1000 mana you got 20 bonus AD ( ) and 30 bonus AP ( )
   Now you have AD and AP, great. Let's have more of them !
   "Uuuuh... How ?" Mana items ! "Oh, okay :3"
6. If you have strong AD carries in front of you, (which will not happen if you harassed him and destroyed his face in early) take Glacial Shroud first and then Frozen Heart. (+400 mana) Besides it will give you some cooldown reduction, and slow enemy attack speed.
7. If you don't need more armor for the moment, you can build Sheen and Lich Bane (+250 mana).
8. If AP really deal a sh*t load of damage, (hi fed Akali, hi fed Karthus, hi fed Katarina) take Banshee's Veil instead.
9. Finally, buy Rabadon's Deathcap for more power, and more damage to fit with your Lich Bane passive.

Ok, you have mana, AP, AD, Armor, Magic Resistance... That's actually a really cool build !

Usually, you will do :
, , , .
Grab, Knock airbone, Silence + hurt a lot. Then Z to hit more.

But sometimes, if the targets are too far you'll have to do :
, , , .

When you have minions in front of your enemy :
, , , .
R to annihilate obstacles, then... You know the combo.

Once you have Lich Bane, think about giving basic attacks between your spells, to make enemies feel your strong AP fists.

I take Ignite and Flash.

Ignite because sometimes an enemy runs faster than you even with Overdrive, you don't have your grab anymore, you're tired to run after him and just want to kill him since he has no hp... Quite practical.
Flash because it's a useful spell, and it's quite surprising to see a Blitzcrank Flash + Grab enemy. Can also be good to run away. :3
Ghost is good too, particularly when you use Overdrive and Ghost at the same time, there's nothing better to catch someone that runs fast. I catched a Teemo once with that, he had 544 movement speed and was soooo annoying... A, E, R, dead.
Poor Teemo, always the main victim :( Seems he didn't like steam golem hugs.
Exhaust is pretty good too. When you catch someone under your tower, punch him, silence him, and exhaust him : He takes TONS OF DAMAGE.
Teleportation... Not really useful since you're back really fast in lane with Overdrive, but it can be good.

That is the question.

I made a list of all the champions you could have in front of you, and I will tell you who to grab or who you should let live for a while.
I'm talking about champions individually, not according to who they have in their team. Also, I consider they are full hp when you grab them. As if you were 5v5 at mid and you wanted to grab someone.

Ahri : Yes, but she has her triple rush to run away.
Akali : Yes, but same problem than Ahri. Plus her invisibility.
Alistar : No, he's a tank and can push you back, and knock your entire team airbone.
Amumu : Okay, I'll explain you... Grabbing Amumu is the best present you could make him. You want to hug him ? He will hug you hard. Really hard. And his team will hug you BADLY. And your team will hate you SO HARD once you get aced. So... DON'T. GRAB. AMUMU.
Anivia : Yes, but look if her egg is here or not. This will allow you to know how much time you'll take to kill her. Care her ult.
Annie : Yes, but care her stuns.
Ashe : Yes, she's an AD carry.
Blitzcrank : Haha... Most of them are tanky. I think it's not the first guy you would target in an enemy team. But if you have to target him, be the first to grab ;)
Brand : Yes. Care his ult, it can be very dangerous if you're stuck to your team when you grab. (you will notice that champions with dangerous spells must be CCed.)
Caitlyn : Yes, AD carry.
Cassiopeia : Yes, squishy AP carry. Care her ult.
Cho'Gath : Not really.
Corki : Yes, AD carry.
Darius : Mostly tanky, and his AoE attacks can be hurtful. Okay if you're 3 vs him, but he's really annoying and that's not the best target.
Diana : Yes, but care if she's tanky, this make take more time and she can rush out easily. Also has mass AoE control.
Dr. Mundo : ... No. Ult + too tanky, even in 5v1 T_T
Draven : Yes, AD carry.
Elise : Yes, if she doesn't dodge your grab with her E.
Evelynn : Yes. When you see her, catch her. But not if she's fed and that you're alone. It's dangerous. :c
Ezreal : Yes. AD (or AP) carry.
Fiddlesticks : Yes. But he has an annoying silence. CC him before he does it.
Fiora : Yes... and no... Yes because she's pretty squishy, no because her ult rapes all of you and you can't touch her. Terminate her quickly.
Fizz : Yes and no... AoE ult + jumps to run away. But he's squishy, so you can CC him fast and kill him.
Galio : NO. He's tanky and he will use ult to taunt the entire team and enemies will come to finish you.
Gangplank : A good target, but he has an orange to run away.
Garen : No. He's tanky and hurts with his Judgement.
Gragas : Yes, but he can be tanky. Also, care his ult.
Graves : Yes, AD carry.
Hecarim : No. Most of them are tanky, and his A is AoE.
Heimerdinger : Yes, squishy AP carry. But care her missils.
Irelia : No. Better nerf Irelia. Often tanky and dangerous ult.
Janna : That depends of the placement of your team. If you are the most advanced, yes. If you're not, don't grab her, or she'll ult and make one or two allies go to her team, and they will die.
Jarvan IV : No. He's tanky and he has Q+E to escape.
Jax : Yes, but not the main target to catch. And his E can be dangerous.
Jayce : Yes if he's AD carry, but if he's offtank you'd better grab someone else.
Karma : Not the main target, and she has shield + heal to defend herself.
Karthus : Yes because he's often squishy, no because he has a powerful AoE. If you want to grab him, kill him fast and don't stay close to him after his death. If he E's + Zhonya, you're gonna have a bad time.
Kassadin : Yes, squishy AP carry. Cancel his ult(s) with your CC.
Katarina : Yes, she's the first target to focus in a team, but care her ult. Plus she can Shunpo on everything, so CC her fast.
Kayle : Yes, AD carry and support. She can ult to be invincible for 2 seconds, so CC her fast too. (you notice that champions with dangerous spells must be CCed.)
Kennen : Yes, squishy AP (or AD) carry, but care ult.
Kha'Zix : Apparently yes, he looks squishy... But he can jump, so CC him fast.
Kog'Maw : Yes, AD (or AP) carry, but care his passive
LeBlanc : Yes, squishy AP carry, but easy escapes + has clone. Kill quickly.
Lee Sin : No, he's generally tanky. And he can escape easy too. If you grab him, CC him.
Leona : No, she is tanky and she has three stuns. Can also be a good initiation for her team.
Lulu : No, she has a annoying ult that saves her life and knocks you airbone. If she's a bit tanky, that also could be a good engage for her team.
Lux : Yes, squishy AP carry, but care the E and ult. CC her before she does her combos.
Malphite : No, he's tanky and he has a powerful ult that knocks you airbone and stuns for a long time. Also a good initiation for his team.
Malzahar : Yes, squishy AP carry. Care the AoE which deals percentages of health when you stay inside.
Maokai : No, he's tanky and his ult protect him from too high damages.
Master Yi : Yes, but he will probably ult. CC him fast before he does. If he managed to ult, let him go. There's no use chasing Yi, even with Ghost + Overdrive.
Miss Fortune : Yes, boobsy AD carry. :3
Mordekaiser : Yes, but don't let him do too much damage or his shield will screw you.
Morgana : First, she has a shield that can deny your Grab. Second, she has a very dangerous and powerful ult. Third, she can combine this with Zhonya's Hourglass. So don't grab Morgana.
Nami : Yes, squishy support. But take the AD carry first if you can.
Nasus : No, he's tanky and he has ult which makes him tankier and deals percentages of health. Plus if he farmed, his Q can hurt very hard.
Nautilus : No, he's tanky and he has many CC. Can be a good engage for his team.
Nidalee : Yes if she's in human form. This is where she's more vulnerable. And to stop her going into cat form, CC her and she won't escape.
Nocturne : No, he has a shield that can deny your Grab, and generally he's tanky.
Nunu & Willump : No. Once you grabbed him and CC, if he's tanky he will ult. And his team will come. And you will suffer.
Olaf : No, he's tanky and he has ult to run away or ruin your faces. Can be a good engage for his team.
Orianna : Yes, squishy AP carry. Besides she is a female robot, Blitzcrank needs her *-*
Pantheon : Yes. He a spartiat, but he will die if you are 2v1 or more. In 1v1 you can't do anything, he will stun you and maybe kill you. Or run away, I don't know. I never take a Pantheon 1v1. Yes I'm a coward and I'm proud of it :D
Poppy : No. She's often tanky and she has an annoying ult that can be bad for one of your allies, probably the AD carry.
Rammus : No, he's tanky and has an AoE ult. Good initiation for his team.
Renekton : No, he's tanky, he has Q and dangerous ult.
Rengar : Yes, but can be stealthed with ult. CC fast when you grab him.
Riven : No, she's often tanky and she can run away easily. CC her if you grab her.
Rumble : Yes, squishy AP carry. CC him or he'll ult and it will hurt if he's full AP.
Ryze : Yes, but he's a bit tanky. Silence him before he casts his spells to fight, especially ult.
Sejuani : No, she's a tank and she has ult. Good initiation for her team.
Shaco : Yes, but he can dodge your grab by Q. Also, don't grab the clone or it will deal damage when you kill it.
Shen : No, he's a tank and he can rush back to his team.
Shyvana : No, she's tanky and she has a dangerous AoE. Besides, her ult can take you to her team by knocking you back.
Singed : No, he's a tank and he can poison you by running away. Can be a good engage for his team.
Sion : No, most of them are tanky. If he's AP, he has an exploding shield that deals serious damage ; if he's AD, he has ult that can heal himself by raping all of you. Definetely not a good target.
Sivir : Yes, AD carry. But care, she has a shield. If she uses it at the good moment, all it will do is giving her mana back and she won't come to you.
Skarner : No, he's generally tanky. Plus if you grab him, he could grab one of yours and take him to his team. Probably the AD carry.
Sona : Yes, squishy boobsy support. :3 Care her ult, mass dance stun than can be a good engage for her team. CC her before that happens.
Soraka : Yes, squishy support.
Swain : In theory, yes because he's an AP carry, but he has ult that can rule multiple targets at the same time... That + Zhonya... No, choose another target.
Syndra : Yes, squishy AP carry
Talon : Yes squishy assassin, CC him before his invisibility
Taric : No, he's tanky and he can heal himself.
Teemo : Yes, cute AD or AP carry :3 And pretty easy to kill unless he's tank o.O
Tristana : Same thing than Teemo, after all... If you know what I mean. :p But she has her rocket jump and can piss you off with her ult. So CC her fast.
Trundle : No, he's tanky and he can reduce CC and speed up with his huge AoE.
Tryndamere : No, he has E to go away, and if he's fed enough he could kill one or two of your allies, no fear to die, he has ult.
Twisted Fate : Yes, AP or AD carry. Could teleport, but it would take too many time, he would be dead before.
Twitch : Yes, AD carry. When you see him, catch him and kill him before he kills you.
Udyr : No, he's tanky and can speed up and stun.
Urgot : Yes, AD carry.
Varus : Same thing
Vayne : Same thing but she has Q to escape and her ult. And her E to push you away. CC her before she can do all of that.
Veigar : Yes, but kill him quick, don't let him the time to do his combos.
Viktor : Yes, same thing than Veigar, plus he has many AoE spells.
Vladimir : No, he's tanky and he has AoE ult + pool that can slow you and make him untargetable. He could even dodge your grab with it.
Volibear : No, he's tanky and he has passive for massive hp regeneration.
Warwick : No, he's quite tanky but has no real mean to escape. Though her tankiness can be a good engage for his team.
Wukong : No, he has Lure to dodge your grab or to cast before being grabbed, and he has ult for all your team if he's being grabbed. Good initiation for his team, particularly if he's tanky.
Xerath : Yes, squishy AP carry. care the triple AoE ult + Q, CC him and kill him before.
Xin Zhao : Yes, let's see if he can BE A MAN AGAINST 5 OTHERS ! Don't do that 1v1. Oh, and care his ult.
Yorick : No, he's tanky. Besides his invocations are annoying and he has clone in case of death.
Zed : Yes, most of them play him as a squishy assassin. But he can escape easily with his shadow.
Ziggs : Yes, squishy AP carry. Care his AoE ult.
Zilean : Yes, but he can revive... Twice more pleasure by killing him another time !
Zyra : Yes, but don't grab a plant or it will be denied. Also, care to the AoE ult and her passive if you kill her.

That's all for the moment, I'll update it for every new champion :)

Some champions you would like to have with you at bot lane :

Lux, Sona, Varus, Ashe, Nunu & Willump, Taric, Malphite, Alistar, Miss Fortune, Nautilus (double grab for the win !), AP Shaco (jack in the box + grab = enjoy), Shen, Leona... And many other champions.

You'll tell me : "Dude, Lux is for mid, not for bot, or as support !" "Dude, Malphite is good at top or jungle !" "Dude, same thing for Shen !"
First, don't call me dude :c
Second, it's recommended to do many of those combos with premades. Generally when your team sees Blitzcrank + Alistar going bot, they are often like : "OMG TROLL LANE NO DMG NO RANGE I FEED". They don't know you're hybrid and you'll deal some damages. And they will flame you at every mistake (excepted if you're doing perfectly :D). You'd better have a premade team that (normally) won't criticize you if you fail.
By the way, Blitzcrank + Alistar is cooler if Alistar is offtank-AP. Or Blitzcrank + Singed is good too. (always in premade game, because Singed = solotop, meta rulz, etc.)

Blitzcrank is good with AD carries, because he can offer them presents. The other AD carries.
If yours is not dumb, he will right-click the other to the death after you grabbed. But you have to tell him that you'll try to take kills sometimes. Not for the beauty of the score, that will come later ; you need kills for the gold, because you won't build any gold items. (building them makes your stuff building slower. I don't know if it's correct in english :s)
Anyway, your lane partner will have to follow you and be attentive to your grabs. If he doesn't look too reactive, ping the target before you grab it.
You'll sometimes be upset if you grab a minion, but if you concentrate well on the enemy champion, you'll see he will make a mistake. And when he makes it, if he's too confident, grab him. That will teach him.

Poppy fed on purpose but Rengar was really good.

Post your pictures of victories with this guide in comment and I will put them here ;)

I hope you liked this first guide, sorry for the bad english sometimes ^^'
Please comment and share it, don't hesitate to give me some advice, or constructive critics :)
You're free to discuss the build or ask any questions.
If you want to correct some grammar errors or vocabulary... You would be welcome :)

Bye, and have fun in your games with the Hybrid Blitzcrank ! :D