• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 10:04
CEST 16:04
KST 23:04
  • 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
Team Liquid Map Contest #22: Results and Winners7Code S Season 2 (2026): RO4 and Finals Preview12TL.net Map Contest #22 - Voting & Ladder Map Selection7Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO8 Preview8[ASL21] Finals Preview: Two Legacies21
Community News
ZeroSpace at Steam NextFest - Last free demo20Weekly Cups (June 8-14): Clem and Solar double, PTR tested0RSL: S6 Finals played at BlizzCon 202611Douyu Cup 2026: $20,000 Legends Event (June 26-28)12[BSL22] Non-Korean Championship from 13 to 28 June4
StarCraft 2
General
StarCraft II 5.0.16 PTR Patch Notes may 26th Is the larve respawn broken? Yamato Cup Series What kind of tool would you be interested in? Daily SC2 Player Grid - feedback wanted
Tourneys
Douyu Cup 2026: $20,000 Legends Event (June 26-28) GSL CK #4 20-21th June Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament Master Swan Open (Global Bronze-Master 2) Crank Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
Work In Progress Melee Maps [D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3
External Content
The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 531 Experimental Artillery Mutation # 530 One For All Mutation # 529 Opportunities Unleashed
Brood War
General
BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ STARCRAFT MOVIE - Last Night at the Command center BW General Discussion Battle cruiser feet vs Carrier fleet Fact based Zerg Upgrade Tier List
Tourneys
CSLAN 4 is Coming! [Megathread] Daily Proleagues Small VOD Thread 2.0 The Casual Games of the Week Thread
Strategy
Why doesn't anyone use restoration? Simple Questions, Simple Answers Relatively freeroll strategies Creating a full chart of Zerg builds
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Path of Exile Beyond All Reason ZeroSpace at Steam NextFest - Last free demo
Dota 2
Looking for a Dota Mentor Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread [H]Internet/Gaming Cafe Tips and Tricks The Games Industry And ATVI UK Politics Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The HerO Fan Club! The herO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books [TV/BOOK] *SPOILERS* Game of Thrones Discussion
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread McBoner: A hockey love story TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 Formula 1 Discussion Cricket [SPORT]
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread Facing Challenges in Mobile App Development
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
ICO Development for AI, G…
Joshlittle
How To Predict Tilt in Espor…
TrAiDoS
An Exploration of th…
waywardstrategy
I'm an arrogant trash talke…
FlaShFTW
Gauntlet SC2: A Retrospectiv…
Ctone23
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 11317 users

[H] How can I deal with low APM? - Page 7

Forum Index > StarCraft 2 Strategy
Post a Reply
Prev 1 5 6 7 All
Bumblebees
Profile Joined August 2010
United States328 Posts
October 21 2010 19:09 GMT
#121
On October 22 2010 00:33 Benshin88 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 22 2010 00:01 Bumblebees wrote:
I was going to post an update thread today, but I've decided to spend most of the day writing a guide to playing with constricted APM, or using your current APM more effectively.

I'll update the main post in this thread with a link once I'm finished.


have you tried wearing compression gloves/stockings? It should increase your BP. I'm going to assume you are already medicated. All of these might be able to delay the onset of your symptoms. It could allow you to increase your APM cap. I'm really impressed that you were able to get to 1300 diamond with 25-30 apm. Great Job! keep it up.


I've tried compression stockings, but they are prohibitively expensive. I am a big guy (6'6"/198cm) and I have quite large feet and legs. To get the correct compression I have to have the stockings custom made.

I've found that simply crossing my legs in various weird ways when I sit, as has been my habit most of my life, is just as effective as compression stockings.

Thank you for the suggestion
Parodoxx
Profile Joined May 2010
United States549 Posts
October 21 2010 19:17 GMT
#122
If its not lack of practice that limits your apm then micro intensive builds are going to be very hard for you.

Try to become perfect at the macro game b/c more often then not having more stuff wins even if its just attack move
Obsolescence
Profile Joined August 2010
United States270 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-10-21 20:09:49
October 21 2010 20:03 GMT
#123
On September 13 2010 02:38 tackklee wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 13 2010 02:30 Bumblebees wrote:
On September 13 2010 02:25 tackklee wrote:
As many others would say, APM is not everything. This holds especially true in SC2. Macro, economy, unit composition and strategic thinking will definitely trump micro or higher apm any day.


I'd love to believe this, and would readily do so if there was a 1500+ diamond player who averaged 30-40apm. Hell, even 800+ would seriously convince me it's possible.

That doesn't mean I don't think I couldn't be the first (triple negative, hooray!). It'd be awesome if there was someone to learn from though


Well, a 1500+ diamond player will definitely not be at 30-40 apm. But there are quite a few out there that are 800+ diamond with that low apm. I know this first hand because when I watch my replays and check out the opponents apm I see it all the time.


This is absolutely incorrect. Please, don't tell people what is or isn't possible if you don't know. I'm a 1400 (w/ 120 bonus pool) Random Diamond player and my APM average for each race is:
Z = ~80
T = ~40-45
P = ~40-45

@Bumblebees: Don't be discouraged by people telling you it isn't possible! They either don't know or haven't tried. I'm sure if I made an effort I could drop my Terran average APM to 30-35 easily and still win in ~1300 Diamond. There was a Terran player recently that was around 1800-2000 Diamond talking about how he wanted to be the highest ranked lowest APM player ever (I forget what his APM was exactly but it was definitely no more than 60).

I'd recommend not playing Zerg if being in Diamond is more important to you than playing Zerg. Zerg is by far the most APM intensive. I use to play Zerg exclusively, but since I've switched to Random I've realized that Terran and Toss take 1/2 the APM that Zerg does at the same skill level. I'd try out the other races. 4-Gate and 3-Rax are fairly simple builds that don't require very much APM to be effective into mid-diamond at least. I can attest that up until at least 1300 Diamond, 3-Rax 1-A win is exactly as simple as it sounds. I'm not kidding. Not even a little. I was actually somewhat disgusted once I realized how easy it really was to beat people with these strategies compared to my frantic 80 APM Zerg omg-what-is-he-throwing-at-me-now!

Oops! I'm guilty of not reading the whole thread or seeing your update:

On October 21 2010 04:41 Bumblebees wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 21 2010 03:04 Azzur wrote:
I'm currently a Terran, 1500 Diamond in SEA server (1300 NA so far). When I was a couple hundred points lower, my APM averaged 40-50 a game. However, with practice, I've been able to push my APM further up 10-15 points, which I feel has actually made me a better player. However, bear in mind that this is my avg APM, mine can spike to 100+ during key points of the game.

But to the OP: yes, it's possible to hit the Diamond league with lowish APM. How I cope is to play timing based attacks and to predict what my opponent is doing.


I'm the OP and I'm 1300 diamond now, and my APM has actually gone down. I'm averaging 25 or so now.


Congratz! I can't believe you've been able to reach 1300 Diamond with 25 APM. You've inspired me to find ways to use my APM more effectively as Zerg. Thanks!
It doesn't think. It doesn't feel. It doesn't laugh or cry. All it does from dusk till dawn is make the soldiers die. -Phyrexian Hulk
MforWW
Profile Joined July 2010
United States157 Posts
October 21 2010 20:30 GMT
#124
APM is overrated, and I fully support everybody that's been getting high rankings with low APM.

I used to be the same way, but for some reason my average APM (I play zerg, btw) has risen to 100 just due to playing the game a bunch. APM is really somewhat of a by-product of getting better at the game.

I still don't support spam clicking or think that you need high APM to be good, but I will say that in a big, 4 base macro game you'll definitely hit a wall if you can't handle the APM requirements (speaking 100% from experience, as I can recall past games where I thought to myself mid-match "holy crap, I just can't keep up with everything and do everything I want to do right now")

Bumblebees
Profile Joined August 2010
United States328 Posts
October 23 2010 23:31 GMT
#125
I have written and posted the first revision of my playing with low APM guide.

http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=163299
pakman
Profile Joined October 2010
United States57 Posts
October 28 2010 05:26 GMT
#126
Hey bumblebee. nice guide btw. Congrats on reaching 1300 diamond. I assure you, you can even go higher. I am a 1500 toss player with a relatively low apm around 50 for t and p and 60 for z. Even though this is considered extremely low at my level, I still find that i am executing way too many meaningless clicks and spams than what is necessary to accomplish what I want to do. All those extra clicks are just a byproduct of me subconciously wanting to raise my apm, but when the game gets deep, the spam (if you can evenc call it that) dissappears and all that really matters is effective apm, which I estimate to be 25. Even with 25 apm, I manage to take on 1600 level players who probably have around 130 apm. What this means is that even if my micro is not up to par, you can still be ahead in the game due to the games focus being economy and information management. It does not take insane apm to come up with abetter unit composition orstrategic positioning if you can effectively scout and prepare for an incoming attack. All it takes is a couple of box draggings and a few right clicks, not 5 actions per second. Anyways, mad respect for overcoming barriers through perseverance and dedication
serverdown
Profile Joined September 2010
19 Posts
October 28 2010 14:54 GMT
#127
Im a 1400 diamond zerg player who has an average APM of 65. I think its awesome how I beat higher ranking players with better army composition, macro, positioning and overall gamesense alone. But now I see that when I play increasingly better opponents I suffer because of my low APM. When Im in late game I notice that my game is lacking in all sorts of ways. I start paying less attention to creep spread and I could have used those extra minerals for another expansion late game, I could have mirco'd that engagement better if I had just been fast enough etc.. These are problems than can be solved and worked upon but you need to have a decent APM to do it.
Prev 1 5 6 7 All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
WardiTV Weekly
11:00
WardiTV Mondays #92
WardiTV1205
IntoTheiNu 1048
Rex172
Ryung 120
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Rex 172
Ryung 120
BRAT_OK 56
RushiSC 16
StarCraft: Brood War
Calm 9123
firebathero 2489
Shuttle 1990
Horang2 1841
Hyuk 1389
EffOrt 900
Soulkey 464
Soma 446
Light 280
Snow 256
[ Show more ]
actioN 234
Mong 191
NaDa 136
Leta 132
hero 127
Zeus 119
Rush 103
Killer 78
Sharp 73
Sea.KH 63
Free 62
Hyun 62
[sc1f]eonzerg 61
ToSsGirL 41
scan(afreeca) 30
soO 16
Movie 14
JulyZerg 13
Sacsri 13
zelot 12
Hm[arnc] 11
Terrorterran 9
Noble 7
Icarus 4
Dota 2
qojqva2012
Dendi1466
syndereN193
Counter-Strike
Sick184
kRYSTAL_91
adren_tv38
Other Games
hiko955
B2W.Neo859
Lowko501
byalli246
amsayoshi17
BEARDiaguz8
Organizations
Dota 2
PGL Dota 2 - Secondary Stream5952
PGL Dota 2 - Main Stream4095
Other Games
gamesdonequick853
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 13 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Jankos2348
• Nemesis1544
• TFBlade410
Upcoming Events
Monday Night Weeklies
1h 56m
Sparkling Tuna Cup
19h 56m
The PondCast
1d 19h
Douyu Cup 2020
2 days
Oliveira vs Trap
Jieshi vs XY
soO vs FanTaSy
TY vs Coffee
Douyu Cup 2020
3 days
Neeb vs Impact
MacSed vs Cyan
Scarlett vs Kelazhur
INnoVation vs Dear
Douyu Cup 2020
4 days
Maestros of the Game
4 days
herO vs Classic
Maru vs Serral
BSL22 NKC (BSL vs China)
4 days
Douyu Cup 2020
5 days
BSL22 NKC (BSL vs China)
5 days
[ Show More ]
Online Event
6 days
RSL Revival
6 days
RSL Revival
6 days
WardiTV Weekly
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Acropolis #4
WardiTV Spring 2026
Heroes Pulsing #2

Ongoing

IPSL Spring 2026
CSCL: Masked Kings S4
YSL S3
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSL Season 21: Qualifier 1
SCTL 2026 Spring
Maestros of the Game 2
Murky Cup 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026

Upcoming

CSL Season 21: Qualifier 2
CSL 2026 Summer (S21)
CSLAN 4
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Revival: Season 6
CranK Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
HSC XXIX
Douyu Cup 2026
BCC 2026
Light HT
Heroes Pulsing #3
Eternal Conflict S2
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 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.