This is my personal guide on Thresh. He was one of my first champions I loved and played almost exclusively for a while.

I've written this guide for Thresh because too many people play Thresh in what I feel is the wrong way, too passively or not as a full-fledged support.

When you play Thresh, you play him to win. That's why you don't pick some lousy support like Brand or Morgana (not that you can't play support with them, they just fulfill a different role as support).

If you want to win, you got to be aggressive. Therefore, take Ignite. I've seen too many Thresh mains who take Exhaust and Teleport. I understand the idea of added peel with Exhaust, or the greater mobility with Teleport, but let's be honest, we want to capitalize on Thresh's strengths, which is that he is also a fighter!

Notes regarding Alternate Start:

Ancient Coin start is better against champions that do <i>not</i> have poke (champs that <i>do</i> include: Zyra, Kog'Maw, Lucian, Jihn, Caitlin, Leona). The upside to Ancient Coin is greater mana regen, allowing you to poke the enemy more often (think Flail and Hook). The downside (and I mean a big downside) is you are very squishy. Playing Ancient Coin against champions with poke will practically shut you down as you will be unable to engage without taking too much damage.