• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 07:39
CEST 13:39
KST 20:39
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
Serral wins HomeStory Cup 2914Serral wins Maestros of the Game 243ByuL, and the Limitations of Standard Play3Team Liquid Map Contest #22: Results and Winners7Code S Season 2 (2026): RO4 and Finals Preview12
Community News
Weekly Cups (July 27-Aug 2): SHIN's big week0SC4ALL II: Brood War - $2500 - Dec 5-69SC4ALL II announced - $10,000 prize pool, Dec 5-64PIG STY FESTIVAL 8.0! (13 - 23 August)14Neeb returns to progaming; rejoins ONSYDE18
StarCraft 2
General
protoss aoe skill expression 5.0.16 patch for SC2 goes live (8 worker start) StarCraft 2 at SC4ALL II Invite #3/8 - Clem Balance hotfix patch 5.0.16b (July 16) Clem: "I don't have that much hope in Blizzard"
Tourneys
PIG STY FESTIVAL 8.0! (13 - 23 August) Tasteless Time Warp: SC Evo Showmatch (May 25) SC4ALL II announced - $10,000 prize pool, Dec 5-6 Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament RSL Revival: Season 6 - Qualifiers and Main Event
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
Nexus Wars 2021 GUIDE [M] (2) Industrial Park
External Content
The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 537 Hostile Territory Mutation # 536 Railroad Switch Mutation # 535 Assembly of Vengeance
Brood War
General
ASL 22 Proposed Map Pool Making an Online Broodwar Manager Game ASL22 General Discussion [Personal Project Share] Terran Defense v0.60 Data needed
Tourneys
Escore Tournament - Season 3 KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 3 SC4ALL II: Brood War - $2500 - Dec 5-6 Small VOD Thread 2.0
Strategy
Odyssey Mineral Stack Saturation Any training maps people recommend? Fighting Spirit mining rates Simple Questions, Simple Answers
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread General RTS Discussion Thread Nintendo Switch Thread ZeroSpace Early Access is Now Live! Beyond All Reason
Dota 2
Looking for a Dota Mentor Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
[TL LoL EUW IHs] Teemo shall perish TSM pausing esports and CLG Dead
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Power Rank TL Mafia Community Thread NeO.D_StephenKing vs This Guy From 1 Million Dance
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread The Games Industry And ATVI Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Artificial Intelligence Thread
Fan Clubs
The Clem Fan Club INnoVation Fan Club The Scarlett Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread Movie Discussion! Series you have seen recently... [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books
Sports
Football (Soccer) Thread TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 Formula 1 Discussion MLB/Baseball 2023 McBoner: A hockey love story
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread Simple Questions Simple Answers FPS when play League Of Legend on laptop
TL Community
The Automated Ban List Northern Ireland Global Starcraft
Blogs
Please support my new stand…
Peanutsc
What is a Gamer?
TrAiDoS
Hello guys!
LIN1s
ASL S22 English Commentary…
namkraft
Poker (part 2)
Nebuchad
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 5167 users

[H] Skill gap from D+ to C-

Forum Index > Brood War Strategy
Post a Reply
1 2 3 4 5 6 Next All
JMave
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
Singapore1806 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-09-23 21:37:01
September 23 2009 07:38 GMT
#1
Hi guys. I've been loafing at D+ ever since I started getting into SC 2 years ago and I've been stuck there ever since. Apart from the occasional cheesy games that I play, I find myself being unable to surpass the D+ ranks.

My APM average is around 250, which I feel is sufficient to carry me through to at least a C rank(I doubt that I spam in my games).

I was wondering what is the skill gap between a D+ and a C- player. Proper mechanics and a higher level of game sense to scout all-ins and know what is coming is my guess but I've been at this for too long and I need some help.

EDIT: Here is the 'rep pack' that I'm going to compile

http://repdepot.net/download.php?type=rep&id=21477&name=FoodlePenguin vs JJ_STL.rep

And

http://repdepot.net/download.php?type=rep&id=21476&name=courven vs FoodlePenguin.rep

And

http://repdepot.net/download.php?type=rep&id=21478&name=FoodlePenguin vs rlghrltl.rep

And

http://repdepot.net/download.php?type=rep&id=21484&name=Cel_y vs FoodlePenguin.rep

And

http://repdepot.net/download.php?type=rep&id=21494&name=FoodlePenguin vs TykkeHenning.rep
火心 Jealous. I always loved that feeling when I was young. Embrace it.
Ftrunkz
Profile Blog Joined April 2007
Australia2474 Posts
September 23 2009 07:43 GMT
#2
theres B rank players with like 150 apm, it has nothing to do with.

Basically solid mechanics will get you to C- and even C (i know because thats all i have and lack tons of knowledge of the game itself ;P).

If you're macro and build orders are solid you shouldnt have too much trouble getting to C. That said that's assuming its atleast half way thru the season, atm half the people you're playing at D+ are much, much higher skilled than normal D+ players.
@NvPinder on twitter | Member of Gamecom Nv | http://www.clan-ta.com | http://www.youtube.com/user/ftrunkz | http://www.twitchtv.com/xghpinder
maybenexttime
Profile Blog Joined November 2006
Poland5860 Posts
September 23 2009 07:44 GMT
#3
Listen to saome Day[9] audios. Maybe they could help you.

The ones about winning when having an advantage, designing BOs and practicing vs. lesser skilled players may prove to be especially useful. ;]
VorcePA
Profile Blog Joined August 2008
United States1102 Posts
September 23 2009 07:44 GMT
#4
On September 23 2009 16:38 JMave wrote:

My APM average is around 250, which I feel is sufficient to carry me through to at least a C rank(I doubt that I spam in my games).


Post a replay or 7 to prove it.

Unless you have terrible builds, spam is probably the reason why you can't get above D+. More likely, it is a combination of the two.
Shitposting
Ao_Jun
Profile Blog Joined July 2003
Denmark396 Posts
September 23 2009 08:11 GMT
#5
Watch your own replays when you lose, and figure out what you did wrong.
Take out 1 or 2 things that you will do better next time.

This should help you improve.
and 250 APM is sufficient (savior has like 220?)
you are one of the least benigtedly unintelligent organic life forms it has been my profound lack of pleasure not to be able to avoid meeting.
lazz
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
Australia3119 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-09-23 08:17:10
September 23 2009 08:15 GMT
#6
like others have said, your apm doesn't matter. eapm is the better indicator, but it's not perfect. im assuming your race is toss, I'd say that the difference between a D+ and C- toss is about 90 eapm D+ to 110 eapm C-. that's just approximate though. for terran it's probably like 100 eapm to 120 eapm and zerg somewhere in the middle.
jhNz
Profile Blog Joined September 2006
Germany2762 Posts
September 23 2009 08:21 GMT
#7
apm has nothing to do you with your actual skill level. you can suck with 250 apm and can get to A with 130... i rather think you lack in mechanics or in the general understanding of the game.
http://twitter.com/jhNz
lazz
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
Australia3119 Posts
September 23 2009 08:24 GMT
#8
On September 23 2009 17:21 jhNz wrote:
apm has nothing to do you with your actual skill level. you can suck with 250 apm and can get to A with 130... i rather think you lack in mechanics or in the general understanding of the game.

you won't get to A with 130 apm, lol
cujo2k
Profile Joined October 2007
Canada1044 Posts
September 23 2009 08:47 GMT
#9
On September 23 2009 17:24 lazz wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 23 2009 17:21 jhNz wrote:
apm has nothing to do you with your actual skill level. you can suck with 250 apm and can get to A with 130... i rather think you lack in mechanics or in the general understanding of the game.

you won't get to A with 130 apm, lol


Maybe A- with 150 apm if you play toss O_O
THE ANSWER IS 288
jhNz
Profile Blog Joined September 2006
Germany2762 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-09-23 08:54:11
September 23 2009 08:53 GMT
#10
On September 23 2009 17:24 lazz wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 23 2009 17:21 jhNz wrote:
apm has nothing to do you with your actual skill level. you can suck with 250 apm and can get to A with 130... i rather think you lack in mechanics or in the general understanding of the game.

you won't get to A with 130 apm, lol


but you don't need much more.
even though i don't care about apm i know that ahzz was A- with 140-150 and his main race is zerg.
http://twitter.com/jhNz
Integra
Profile Blog Joined January 2008
Sweden5626 Posts
September 23 2009 09:10 GMT
#11
There is no proven correlation between APM and skill. If there was there wouldn't be 300 APM player stuck on D/C level and there wouldn't be any A players with 125 APM.

APM is however an indication how well the player knows the next step in his plan or buildorder, but just because he can execute it fast doesn't mean what he is doing is the correct thing. Even with high APM he can do something really fucked up strategy wise, only difference between him and a slower APM player is that he fucks up faster.
"Dark Pleasure" | | I survived the Locust war of May 3, 2014
zatic
Profile Blog Joined September 2007
Zurich15366 Posts
September 23 2009 09:23 GMT
#12
To get back to the OP: As Protoss, first work on your openings. See that you get clean and solid openings that set you up well for the mid game. Don't even care about all-ins that much, first get your standard game in order. The couple of seconds you lose between gw and core matter more than any cute probe micro scouting tricks.

Secondly, proceed into making a lot of units. Seriously, D+ is like 95% macro. Your comparetively high APM gives you the physical ability, use it.

Only after you have solid openings and good midgame macro you should worry about scouting all-ins or bad decision making or game sense. If you want to get better there is no point in dealing with that earlier. Until then just eat the losses from all-ins and see that you play the standard games correctly.
ModeratorI know Teamliquid is known as a massive building
Day[9]
Profile Blog Joined April 2003
United States7366 Posts
September 23 2009 09:29 GMT
#13
On September 23 2009 16:44 maybenexttime wrote:
Listen to saome Day[9] audios. Maybe they could help you.

Whenever I encounter some little hitch, or some of my orbs get out of orbit, nothing pleases me so much as to make the crooked straight and crush down uneven places. www.day9.tv
[DUF]MethodMan
Profile Blog Joined September 2006
Germany1716 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-09-23 09:45:15
September 23 2009 09:34 GMT
#14
do you watch progaming vods?
if not, start doing it right now. with 250 (spamless) apm you can get anywhere with a proper knowledge of the game. also start analyzing your replays. i wouldnt promise but i think it would be rather safe to say if youre doing those 2 steps youll be c+ in 2 months.

btw:

On September 23 2009 17:15 lazz wrote:
like others have said, your apm doesn't matter. eapm is the better indicator, but it's not perfect. im assuming your race is toss, I'd say that the difference between a D+ and C- toss is about 90 eapm D+ to 110 eapm C-. that's just approximate though. for terran it's probably like 100 eapm to 120 eapm and zerg somewhere in the middle.


this is just so wrong. i can get with my 150 apm max and my 120 apm lazymode to C+ easily.
theres absolutely no correlation in between apm and skill or rank level. especially on the lower ranks you can win by pretty much everything. if its vastly higher apm than your opponent or more experience or whatever.

On September 23 2009 18:23 zatic wrote:
Secondly, proceed into making a lot of units. Seriously, D+ is like 95% macro. Your comparetively high APM gives you the physical ability, use it.


i dont wanna fight but i think its the complete opposite. when im playing from D upwards i find myself in a situation where the higher i get, the more macro takes up in my play. (lets say D 50% macro; D+ 60%; C- 70% and so on)

maybe thats just me (im relying 90% on my strategy and gamesense because i really dont have another choice with 120-150 apm)
timmeh
Profile Joined September 2009
Austria177 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-09-23 10:01:19
September 23 2009 09:51 GMT
#15
APM is however an indication how well the player knows the next step in his plan or buildorder, but just because he can execute it fast doesn't mean what he is doing is the correct thing. Even with high APM he can do something really fucked up strategy wise, only difference between him and a slower APM player is that he fucks up faster.
Dark Pleasure


Definitely not. At least not the way you worded it. I do understand what you mean though
;o
JMave
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
Singapore1806 Posts
September 23 2009 10:00 GMT
#16
Heya guys. Thanks for the replies. It seems that my mid-game play is really the thing that pulls me down a whole lot.

I am able to harass a zerg in PvZ from putting down his hatchery at his nat and still get my build timings right but when it comes to the mid-game. my play becomes increasingly weak.

Let's not get this thread into a strategy post but if the main gap is due to macro and mechanics, how can I improve on those?
火心 Jealous. I always loved that feeling when I was young. Embrace it.
MasterReY
Profile Blog Joined August 2007
Germany2708 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-09-23 10:07:45
September 23 2009 10:06 GMT
#17
On September 23 2009 16:38 JMave wrote:
Hi guys. I've been loafing at D+ ever since I started getting into SC 2 years ago and I've been stuck there ever since. Apart from the occasional cheesy games that I play, I find myself being unable to surpass the D+ ranks.

My APM average is around 250, which I feel is sufficient to carry me through to at least a C rank(I doubt that I spam in my games).

I was wondering what is the skill gap between a D+ and a C- player. Proper mechanics and a higher level of game sense to scout all-ins and know what is coming is my guess but I've been at this for too long and I need some help.


I'm B- with 105 APM.
APM means nothing on these ranks.
With 250 APM you can easily get A rank.
And i think you spam because, even when i try to spam and have high APM but still play well i cant get over 180.
250 is not possible without spam. otherwise you would be progamer already(they spam too) or like 60% of ur clicks are complete useless because ur not skilled.

Once i tried to play well with low APM. I tried not to spam i single click, without playing worse.
It was a C+ game. I had 67 APM vs 232 APM and i easily won.

See i don't want to offend you or w/e, but don't even think about ur APM on this skill lvl.
It means really nothing. You can be C- with 70 APM. Just try to avoid ur mistakes and play better.

Thats all for the APM part.
https://www.twitch.tv/MasterReY/ ~ Biggest Reach fan on TL.net (Don't even dare to mention LR now) ~ R.I.P Violet ~ Developer of SCRChart
TL+ Member
lazz
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
Australia3119 Posts
September 23 2009 10:07 GMT
#18
On September 23 2009 18:34 [DUF]MethodMan wrote:

btw:

Show nested quote +
On September 23 2009 17:15 lazz wrote:
like others have said, your apm doesn't matter. eapm is the better indicator, but it's not perfect. im assuming your race is toss, I'd say that the difference between a D+ and C- toss is about 90 eapm D+ to 110 eapm C-. that's just approximate though. for terran it's probably like 100 eapm to 120 eapm and zerg somewhere in the middle.


this is just so wrong. i can get with my 150 apm max and my 120 apm lazymode to C+ easily.
theres absolutely no correlation in between apm and skill or rank level. especially on the lower ranks you can win by pretty much everything. if its vastly higher apm than your opponent or more experience or whatever.)


learn to read please. i said eapm. effective actions per minute. apm without spamming and redundancy.
zatic
Profile Blog Joined September 2007
Zurich15366 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-09-23 10:17:09
September 23 2009 10:11 GMT
#19
On September 23 2009 18:34 [DUF]MethodMan wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 23 2009 18:23 zatic wrote:
Secondly, proceed into making a lot of units. Seriously, D+ is like 95% macro. Your comparetively high APM gives you the physical ability, use it.

i dont wanna fight but i think its the complete opposite. when im playing from D upwards i find myself in a situation where the higher i get, the more macro takes up in my play. (lets say D 50% macro; D+ 60%; C- 70% and so on)

maybe thats just me (im relying 90% on my strategy and gamesense because i really dont have another choice with 120-150 apm)

This is exactly what I am saying. If he wants to get better he needs to macro better (the arbitrary 95% were supposed to mean 95% of his time spend on getting better should go towards improving macro).

You personally can get away with spending 50% of your ingame on macro on D because everyone has terrible macro. The higher you get, the more important it is to have solid macro. Consequently, to get better than everyone he should improve his macro and worry about anything else later.

Edit: I stress this becuase I hear this so often from Protoss players. They worry about all kinds of all-ins and scoutingand, no offense OP, about delaying the Zerg nat and all that shit on D-level. When all they should be worrying about is a clean opening and good midgame macro. What's the point of scouting or "reading" every move of your opponent if you can't outproduce them? Work on that once you are actually able to produce the units to take advantage of the information you scouted.
ModeratorI know Teamliquid is known as a massive building
Liquid`Drone
Profile Joined September 2002
Norway28875 Posts
September 23 2009 10:16 GMT
#20
haha if you have 250 apm at d+ ranks then you spam. there's no doubt about that.
Moderator
1 2 3 4 5 6 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
IntoTheTV X SOOP
11:00
ISSL Weekly#1
IntoTheiNu 905
WardiTV309
CranKy Ducklings50
Rex47
LiquipediaDiscussion
Escore
10:00
Season 3 Week 5
escodisco2815
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Lowko334
BRAT_OK 44
Rex 41
SHIN 22
ByuN (SOOP) 16
herO (SOOP) 15
Rogue 14
StarCraft: Brood War
Shuttle 2422
Horang2 1958
Bisu 1499
firebathero 598
Jaedong 590
Light 253
BeSt 247
EffOrt 241
Soma 187
Snow 182
[ Show more ]
Stork 167
Leta 131
Larva 118
hero 115
ZerO 104
Dewaltoss 93
Sharp 87
Mind 52
Liquid`Ret 44
Sexy 41
Barracks 39
zelot 32
scan(afreeca) 26
sSak 25
Sea.KH 23
Terrorterran 19
sorry 16
Bale 16
ajuk12(nOOB) 11
Yoon 8
Counter-Strike
fl0m4535
byalli680
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King162
Other Games
singsing1882
B2W.Neo682
Liquid`LucifroN107
ZerO(Twitch)11
[ Show 13 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• StrangeGG 73
• CranKy Ducklings SOOP9
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• WagamamaTV591
• lizZardDota2251
League of Legends
• Jankos1291
Upcoming Events
Big Brain Bouts
4h 21m
DnS vs Rex
Reynor vs Cure
Replay Cast
12h 21m
RSL Revival
21h 21m
herO vs SHIN
Clem vs Solar
Serral vs Rogue
Ladder Legends
1d 6h
Ladder Legends
1d 8h
RSL Revival
1d 21h
OSC
2 days
OSC
2 days
WardiTV Weekly
2 days
The Patches Monday
3 days
[ Show More ]
Sparkling Tuna Cup
3 days
PiG Sty Festival
4 days
PiGosaur Cup
4 days
Replay Cast
4 days
Kung Fu Cup
4 days
Replay Cast
5 days
The PondCast
5 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-08-05
CranK Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
Eternal Conflict S2 Finale

Ongoing

KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 3
K-JUNGMAN
Acropolis #5
Escore Tournament S3: W6
RSL Revival: Season 6
Esports World Cup 2026: LCQ
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S3: W7
CSLAN 4
ASL Season 22
Escore Tournament S3: W8
Acropolis #5 - TRS
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Acropolis #5 - GSA
HSC XXX
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
PiG Sty Festival 8.0
Big Dog Cup 2026 Div 1
Thunderpick World Champ.
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
Logitech G Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #5
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.