What separates a Platinum player from a Diamond player?

Refer to title.

I've been playing in Platinum and I wish I hadnt gotten in. The only reason i made it into platinum is during placement matches at least 2 of my opponents DCd while they were winning.
My playing is average at best and I fear that I may be in Platinum forever.

 

From what I can tell based on my only friend in Diamond, Diamond divisions are entire made up of people already with high amounts of points.

 

I would say there is probably a standard skill difference like any other leagues, but it is still sorting itself out.

For example, Cauthonluck is still in platinum with a record of 50-7 despite him easily deserving diamond

 

I agree with snowden about the sorting out stuff.
I constantly verse gold league and even plat league players (in fact, every match cept for one higher-rank silver)
and im only in 22nd silver...

also, i tihnk that , once u get into a league, it becomes hard to get out i believe, so even though blizzard says that its your "skill level", i think that its only simple calculations from placement matches instead of gigantic calculations based on scores and avg skill INGAME. but, being 1st in diamond still looks cooler

 

1v1 league placed me in silver to start and I moved to gold within probably 20 games or less (counting wins and losses in that number) and I'm hovering around 12-25.

jw... How many people are in these leagues? I feel like that is pretty high for someone with a 50% win:loss ratio. Am I 12-25 within my timezone or something? I'm not getting the impression that there are more than maybe 150 people in these leagues...

 

I was placed in Bronze. I lost, lost and lost, switched to Terran cheese's and did fairly decent with my main race zerg. Was around 4th in my bronze league....Then got up'd to Silver. It just happened. I had around 400 points I think or just about to hit 400. When I got into silver it placed me at 23nd. Now I bounced up and down that bronze league for a good 3 - 4 days after I got a strat going. Maybe its based off a certain percentage of wins or something.

 

I got placed in gold and moved up to diamond league in 17 games. I had about a 70% win ratio during that time which has dropped somewhat since entering diamond. The way in which I entered into Platinum league has left me baffled as to how leagues work, since I moved directly from rank 50 or so gold to rank 11 platinum.

 

Im still trying to figure out how they got these leagues working ..... haven't moved up or down ... i dunno im at a loss

 

I'm not sure at all.

Though I have a, what I think is viable, suspicion that there's an algorithm that takes into consideration your in game-statistics; everything from APM to unspent resources—so a player who, say, has a 50/10 record in Platinum won't get promoted unless his statistics are up-to-par w/ diamond. It may be his strategic ability that puts him above other players, but the system decides he doesn't micro well enough, or something along those lines.

This is the only reasonable explanation I can come up with that fits all of the odd promotion / stagnation / demotion situations. I was recently promoted to Platinum, and I'm testing this theory by not only consciously improving my strategic reflexes, but the way in which I micromanage, spend resources, etc. (I've also begun cheating a bit w/ APM by random, right-clicks. )

As for what the algorithm is, or the mechanics behind it—I haven't the slightest of clues.

 

That sounds plausible because I got placed in Gold (95 though) and lost a few games against gold, platinum and also silver - but didn't get moved to silver. Odd enough, when I won a game against someone of 1v1 bronze (and it even said he was favoured in the beginning) I moved up to place 45.

 

As a solid diamond player, i feel confident saying that diamond players are better than platinum in macro-late-games. Early-game they are almost even, but only top platinum players. I have been beaten by platinum players before but mostly diamond players are the ones who take wins from me.

The later the game, the more macro/micro intensive it becomes, i believe the APM reflects as to what a player is able to manage. plats can't handle it as much.

best of the best? then again i also believe diamond is a bit overrated lol.

 

i think thats sorta true....
like when im in games (im platinum as i stated in OP) when im attacking, i sometimes forget to take care of my base with upgrades, injecting larvae, building more units.

although I think im getting better. My general APM is increasing id say...

 

Blizzard has said that things like APM do not play into what league you are placed into. It is solely win/loss ratio and quality of opponents.

I have found that micromanagement is the biggest difference between diamond and platinum. I am platinum. I have beaten a lot of platinums and a few diamonds. I have lost to at least 1 gold, a few platinums, and several diamonds. All of my demoralizing losses in which I can't tell what I should have done differently have come from diamond players. Usually it's because I was pinned in and unable to scout and prepare.

When you have a higher APM and better micro skills, you are more confident to try unorthodox macro strategies, since you can rely on your micro skills if things start to go sour. Platinum players, while efficient and good at micro, are fairly predictable in what they're going to do. Diamond players are going to focus on keeping you in your main, denying your scouting, and hitting you with something you didn't see coming. Or, they will go for a micro-intensive harrass build that keeps you off of your game while they expand. Because they're fast, more strategies are open to them.

 

I also have some confusion about moving up a league. I was #1 in my gold league for about a day, ahead by a significant amount of points. It matched me up against 2 platinum players, I lost 2 in a row, then the next day I was #2, played another plat player, won sloppily, and got moved up to platinum, rank 10. And I've beaten higher ranked plat players before without getting moved up, and my win/loss ratio didn't get better...nor was my play very good (it was the first game I got over my mental block with turtling toss though)...so I have no idea how the system works. Maybe it just keeps pairing you with higher league opponents until you show you can beat them?

 

@Antiport

its a bit shady the way the ranking system works.. I think it wants you to prove you can beat someone from the upper league when you are #1 but if you do, you don't necessarily get moved up, they'll keep setting you up with better players because the ranking allows you to skip a whole league, i skiped platinum with a friend in 2v2 from gold to diamond.

now when you get moved up, the amount of points you have accumulated in the past leagues, carriers over, lets say you have moved your way from #200 in gold to #1, you have probably racked up at least 400 points and when you moved up to platinum, there are some players who have been "placed" there so they only have 200 points, ranking you #10 depending on other players in that division.

 

I'm right there with you Heidegger.

1v1 I'm high ranked in Silver, probably be promoted to Gold soon.

However, 2v2 and 3v3, I'm Platinum in both divisions, and ranked around 7th in 3v3 Platinum. When I win, I jump up many spots, but when I lose I only go down 1-2 positions. If I get promoted again to Diamond I might as well give up cause right now the only games I win are because of my teammates, not me.

Also --- It always says at the beginning that the other team is favored or at best teams even. Even if the players are worse. I have NEVER been the team favored... which is why I get so many points.

 

I was worried about getting placed in too high a league before I was ready so I threw a couple of my placement matches in 1v1. I still ended up in Gold league though...

The matchups are kind of odd though. My last 3 matches were against platinum and diamond players.

2v2 matchups are even more odd. The other day I and another Gold league player faced off against a bronze and a diamond level.