Optimistic updates work independently of updateQueries — if you use the default approach of just integrating the refetched data into the store, you can still use the optimistic response option. See here for more details: http://docs.apollostack.com/apollo-client/mutations.html#new-object-or-updated-fields

There’s an example in GitHunt: https://github.com/apollostack/GitHunt/blob/78cf0dc44243ac7715a2db57fd930f9e7a0422df/ui/CommentsPage.js#L193-L231 it’s not perfect yet, but we are working on it!