So with the new APM system, I stand at about a 75 average and improving every game. I finished off the "AI training" part of multiplayer and started taking on the ladder. I was Plat last season but my initial skill downgrade has put me into Gold. I haven't lost a marco game in this league but I'm still not used to the hotkeys enough to even take out simple timing attacks. I'm still more positive in wins than negative, and I feel like I'm making good progress.
I still use Hotkeytrainer to quicken my reflexes and burn in the basics into my muscle memory. I'm starting to approach the point where I feel my game is getting somewhere close to what I used to be. But at the same time, I feel like a stronger opponent as I'm more easily able to micro on multiple fronts, send in harassing units, and play better Starcraft.
I feel as if I have 2 main weaknesses with regards to mechanics. Firstly, I often hotkey the wrong things as my Katas are not perfected yet. This means I spend more time than I would like undoing the hotkey work. For example, accidentally putting stalkers in my primary Protoss Macro group. Secondly, getting all the units hotkeys during a warp in cycle while engaging in a battle is still a bit of a challenge. Often I grab them and start fighting before they are hotkeyed, leaving everything a mess.
Also, sometimes i lose the observer during a battle and have lost units that should otherwise be alive. I'm still thinking that "the one true ring" (select all combat units) may be useful as a hotkey but given that I can click it in those situations to regroup is comforting. For now, I'm leaving it off.
I'm at the point where I feel like I can shift more focus to ladder practice. I'll continue to do that and keep you all informed of how it goes.
My goal for this season is to be solidly back in Diamond again. That seems obtainable for this season.
Thanks for reading and let me know what you think!