Watch the Fingers of a Korean Starcraft II Champion Literally Fly on Keyboard and Mouse

Want to see what you need to accomplish to become a world-level pro Starcraft II player? You just have to be able to play Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor on your keyboard like it was an organ. Actually, you need to be faster than that.

[Majin-vegeta]

WWTF??o_o

[Abriael]

That was my reaction exactly. It's so hard to follow that it almost seems he's going at random.

Hell, I wouldn't be able to be that fast if I was going completely random.

[thekhurg]

He was boosting his APM score. Many of the actual best players in the world do not play that ignorantly.

Occasionally you'll running across one of these players when looking at the best replays but it's not often.

They'll all twitch around a bit in the beginning to get their fingers moving for late game multitasking. But not that badly...

[clouds5]

Nothing random about it :) this speed is actually required to play at this level. Innovation is one the best if not the best player atm.
At the beginning of the game they tend to spam keys to "warm up" because in the later stages of the game when you are attacking and controlling your base at the same time shit goes wild.

[SatanSki]

You dont have to do it like this to play, he was just boosting his "actions per minute". Prolly kid didnt take his ADD meds hehe

[elmaton98]

I thought for I second that his fingers were actually flying of his hands when I read the title lol.

[badz149]

against a player like this, it's highly possible for me to lose in a minute! where's fun in that? for me of course.

[kreate]

Those koreans play like that on sc1 as well where there's no need to 'boost' apm.

Their fingers never rest cuz in sc, war starts when game starts.

[_QQ_]

Think of it as stretching, and boosting apm score...

[JsonHenry]

Lol, boosting his APM much? Playing single player at that?! lol!!!!

[PurpHerbison]

I still to this day think that, competitively, Starcraft has the HIGHEST learning curve.

[megaworm25]

so does this guy ever play just for fun

[Abriael]

Not sure about that, But even if it was just a job, I'd be pretty much ok with a job like this.

[ChickeyCantor]

At some point your reflections will go down hard. Then what?

[Kevlar009]

There are probably times when he doesn't play for competition wise. He probably switches between pure practice/scrims then plays the ladder for "fun"

At the end of the day players like him are playing because they enjoy the game, you can't excel in something you don't like

[knifefight]

Sure you wanna use the word "literally" there?
http://www.gamerevolution.c...

If his fingers were LITERALLY flying, they wouldn't be able to type at all, unless he had a levitating keyboard. It appears he does not.

In other news, it looks like I don't have a shot in the world at becoming a Starcraft champion. Holy crap, haha.

[Abriael]

Yes I'm sure. "literally" can (and is) easily be used as a figure of speech in journalism and has been for decades, whatever the folks at gamerevolution think they know, but they don't.

From dictionary.com

"4: in effect; in substance; very nearly; virtually."

Basically, the people that criticize the use of "literally" in journalism, and even more so in enthusiast jorunalismn (which is informal by definition), have the sole intent of trying very hard to appear smarter than everyone else, while they really are just posers.

That's a very bad habit to have, and writing an entire article on what's basically "hey! Look how much smarter I think I am than everyone else!" is pretty pathetic.

[knifefight]

You're adorable.
However, you won't find actual smart people making your same blunder.
http://litreactor.com/colum...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/m...

Shine on and carry forth the good image of games journalism. The best way to be taken seriously is to talk like people who can't be taken seriously at all.

Edit: Also, wait a minute, you said:
"whatever the folks at gamerevolution think they know, but they don't."

Um, the website of this story (Dualshockers) has the Game Revolution logo right at the bottom of every page. Every page of Dualshockers.com has the image and link of gamerevolution.com. I think I might even be able to say "literally" here. It would appear they are part of the same entity.
So... maybe we should now talk about the definitions of irony? ;)

[cyclindk]

I believe he was using the word "literally" in a figurative sense in order to emphasize the almost unbelievable nature of what it was he was referring to.

[knifefight]

This is what I believe as well.

[riseabove247]

And then he keels over from cardiac arrest and malnutrition

[clouds5]

They have trainers and stuff to keep them healthy, they also have fitness trainers. These pro gaming "nerds" are probably fitter than you ;)
You play better when you are fit.

[NioRide]

These guys tend to be well paid, very fit, very well feed nutrition wise.

They aren't your "average" gamer, or even "elite" gamer, they are pretty much breed to be the best.

[_QQ_]

Pro SC2 players are probably more fit than you lol.

[TheOneEyedHound]

Nerd

[BlaqMagiq24]

But he makes more money than you.

[_QQ_]

Probably gets more girls too,in korea its like being a star athlete.

[TheOneEyedHound]

I really don't care, I am fine.

[BlaqMagiq24]

But you do care. That's why you commented in the first place.

[Lionsguard]

Big deal, I'm just as fast as he is, only I use my forehead, and it's out of frustration.

[Fireseed]

I've been watching competitive SC2 since it hit the scene and I STILL cannot get over how ridiculously high these guys APMs are. O_o

[Kevlar009]

I can barely create units at one place and a single army at once, these guys can control multiple armies, specific units in those armies, and map and several base controls at the same time. Watching the first 3 minutes or so is interesting because he's switching back and forth between the same three units/buildings, making sure nothing is out of place

The macro and micro they can pull off is insane. The muscle memory and quick decision making they need to get down is no easy task

[DOOMZ]

Those guys live in army barracks. Away from their families for months. They get paid over 100k for their skills though.

[thekhurg]

No they don't. Most of them barely cover the costs of traveling if not sponsored. Only a few can actually make a living off of this stuff.

Most of these people live at near poverty levels just so they can play a video game all day everyday.

[DOOMZ]

I've been there brother...

[worldwidegaming]

I think i will spend,more time trying to hook up with ladies after seeing this stuff...

[EverydayGuy]

For how much they are getting to play games, I would be them and pay for expensive h***ers.

[worldwidegaming]

Yeah, with money i would not have to work hard kissing a$$ to get the prize...well not officially...

[RickHiggity]

Starcraft is the shit in Korea. I wouldn't be surprised if you could pick up ladies with your awesome Starcraft skills over there.

[KillrateOmega]

He was the reigning the king in his Keyboarding class.

[HeyYouGuyz]

This is nothing to be impressed by. At the beginning stage here he's just making SCVs and switching between them a bunch to get a higher APM score.

[CanadianTurtle]

Wow, talk about carpal tunnel