StarCraft® II

I started the season in silver and am now currently #1 gold, most likely going to be platinum soon seeing as how most players I'm facing and beating are around rank 20 plat.

Question: Am I at a good pace, is going from silver to plat in one season pretty solid ?

I'm worried about moving to plat and starting to take on diamond players because of my APM. In silver I was averaging 30 and now it's around 55 on a GOOD day. Most of my opponents are at like 115 -120. Will my APM soon be a problem if I don't increase it, or can I beat diamond players with sound game play alone ?

Question: what would all of you say is a good amount of APM to be at for platinum/diamond ? Or does it not even matter ?

Your APM won't matter, you just need solid gameplay and you could easily make it into diamond.

its going to be a problem for you

i range from about 80-110 depending on how tired i am and how well im playing and anything under 90 seems pretty sluggish when im watching my replays

APM doesn't matter, apm comes from knowing what you need to be doing at all times. Just try make your gameplay more solid and you'll be fine.

I play macro heavy game and average 55 APM on longer matches. My opponents typically have higher APM (60-80) but if you look at the replay my macro is tons better. I don't think APM matters until your Masters/GM and each click is so much more valuable. At my level games are decided mostly by macro and slightly by unit choice..... very little on micro.

Day9 had a newbie Tuesday on mechanics where he explained the difference between high APM with frantic playing and low APM with controlled playing. Don't click things unnecessarily! I cut my APM in half following his advice but I actually get so much more done!

Decision making is more important than sustained APM and precision is more important than short bursts of APM.
Most people who are good at both will show a high APM number simply because it is a side effect of playing correctly. But in and of itself it is meaningless.

Most people have the capability of clicking their mouse quickly and aiming it with at least decent precision. When you get to MLG then you need to worry about pushing the physical limits of your mouse but until then, just know what you need to do, know where you need to click, and your APM will go up as a result.

its going to be a problem for you

i range from about 80-110 depending on how tired i am and how well im playing and anything under 90 seems pretty sluggish when im watching my replays

Seems like you are wasting your apm. If you are that fast you must be playing like a retard to still be in platinum.

Overall, it won't be a problem, but you might have a hard time with against certain play styles where attacking from multiple angles and splitting your forces need to be done quickly. For example, holding off an immortal sentry push might be difficult on low APM. The best way to increase your APM though is to just have a solid game plan. Most of those clicks are muscle memory.

50 is extremely low, but you will learn to be faster in time I'm sure.

Many people like to say the "APM doesn't matter, its how you use it". While that is true that the use of it is very important, I will have to say it does impact the things you can do effectively. In Masters I average 230 APM (on SC2 gears) and 200 in game (its called EAPM in the game, which is actually APM) and even that feels too slow. As a zerg on 3 base you would have to position your overlords, spread creep, inject, move your army, make army/drones, make buildings, scout, take towers, get upgrades, check saturation, and much more. All that has to be done as fast as possible and the faster you can do them the more time you have to go do them all over again. So to answer your question, YES, APM is important, however it is not something you can just increase. Just focus on increasing your APM by spamming the next few games (yes it does help greatly since it gets your hands to move faster, and later that spam will change to real APM) and check in the results in 1 month.

"APM doesn't matter, its how you use it". While that is true that the use of it is very important, I will have to say it does impact the things you can do effectively.

Most people that say that are answer people that say things like "how many APM do I need to get to masters"
There's also situations in low levels where people use their actions horrendously. I've seen some Bronze players with insane apm trying to split 12 Marines against some Banelings. Don't you agree they could have played better with less apm by simply building more stuff and a-moving?

I think it's confusing which apm people are talking about at this point.
There's 'apm' according to the replays, then there's 'eapm'. These two are further divided by average and spike 'apm'. Then there's SCGears which apparently tracks it differently, and people that insist on multiplying it by some number because the game is played on the faster setting.
Anyways, whenever I've checked, the number 65 seems to stand out, though I don't know which of the above that one is.

its going to be a problem for you

i range from about 80-110 depending on how tired i am and how well im playing and anything under 90 seems pretty sluggish when im watching my replays

Seems like you are wasting your apm. If you are that fast you must be playing like a retard to still be in platinum.

just drunk actually.. i play drunk and yes you've already tried to make fun of me for it.

i know its a strange concept for most people but i have no desire to advance, my competitive gaming ended with CS 1.5/16 a long time ago, when i rank up and find i'm constantly getting diamond opponents (and winning) i tank back down to mid plat. im not against getting better but i like plat.. its a forgiving league for my drunk play and i can %*@! around with dumb strats and sometimes pull a win

Diamond player that has beat a few masters players.

My APM is usually around 35. if it gets over 40 thats a good game for me.

APM can help you. there are some things I can't do as well. (like creep sprea) :/ but you can still win game with low APM.

dont worry about apm. Just focus on improving mechanics and ur apm will naturally rise

my goes arround 50 in average...

if I have to macro and micro at the same time I get to 120-140.... but that doesn't last...

it's not even that my fingers get tired, I just don't find anything else to do... after I've injected, used larva, set rally points for each overlord, put the new eggs into the correct keybinds, maybe put a new building down... I just go back to micro, and there I return to about 50

its going to be a problem for you

i range from about 80-110 depending on how tired i am and how well im playing and anything under 90 seems pretty sluggish when im watching my replays

I average 55-75. I peak at around 220 during intense micro. Average of anything higher than 75 is called spamming and waste, unless you are pro and actually know wtf you are doing with ALL that extra clicking. If you arent top master / GM, then you are just waste clicking, very simple.

OP, your apm will go up naturally as your skill does. Dont worry about it.

07/29/2012 08:26 PMPosted by DEW

what would all of you say is a good amount of APM to be at for platinum/diamond ? Or does it not even matter ?

I'd say that the right amount of APM is the amount that will let you do most of the things you want to do.

My main concern lies in the actions I choose to perform, how can I perform them as fast and efficiently as possible to have crisp execution in my play. Being precise in your timings, execution, and organization of these actions will lead you to see that you can fit some extra micro time here, or place down some creep there. By gradually adding actions between the more important actions because you are doing things well, you start to naturally generate more APM.

Instead of worrying about APM, if you want to play more efficiently, think more about your hotkeys, where your eyes look (hint: minimap), and your mouse precision. Speed will come with organization and knowing what you want to do.

Perfectly said!

The more you practice with the intent to improve the better you will get. And if you get ladder anxiety, play custom games.

Watch pro streams for whatever race you are and study all the things they are constantly keeping track of. You can see their mouse and how they set up their hotkeys and all of the multi-tasking they are constantly doing.

Then go into custom games and gradually try to play like them.
And you shouldn't even worry about your APM.. i've never watched a replay and payed much attention to it, i also don't apm spam because its obnoxious. Just play more and try to improve!

I started the season in silver and am now currently #1 gold, most likely going to be platinum soon seeing as how most players I'm facing and beating are around rank 20 plat.

Question: Am I at a good pace, is going from silver to plat in one season pretty solid ?

I'm worried about moving to plat and starting to take on diamond players because of my APM. In silver I was averaging 30 and now it's around 55 on a GOOD day. Most of my opponents are at like 115 -120. Will my APM soon be a problem if I don't increase it, or can I beat diamond players with sound game play alone ?

Question: what would all of you say is a good amount of APM to be at for platinum/diamond ? Or does it not even matter ?

50? seriously? Is that possible. I mean, Even i seriously have to try hard just to get under 200. For the record, i'm currently in highmaster(eu) and i constantly have between 300 and 350 apm, with 170-200 E-APM

meh i have out apmed master players. they just make better decisions lol. i am a plat player stuck in a bronze players bracket due to my lack of consistant play and being drunk when i ladder. but honestly, with an apm around 60-70 you should be fine.