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See his VOD cast - http://www.justin.tv/eg_idra/b/278424082

I'm noticing he's executing some command while having all drones selected.

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3 Answers 3

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So, I looked as the link and here is what I saw:

  1. Idra selects all drones (by boxing)
  2. Idra sends drones past mineral line, then to a specific patch
  3. Idra selects 3 drones
  4. Idra sends those drones to a second patch
  5. Idra selects 2 drones
  6. Idra sends them to a third patch

Let's see it in slow mo:

  1. enter image description here
  2. enter image description here
  3. enter image description here
  4. enter image description here
  5. enter image description here
  6. enter image description here

Its in 2 seconds he has split his drones in groups of 2. Its beautiful, like watching ballet

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  • Thanks for the visuals. Any ideas why he clicks behind the mineral line before selecting a mineral cluster?
    – teiva
    Commented Feb 2, 2011 at 20:46
  • Nevermind I got it. It's to spread the drones out, as opposed to stacking them.
    – teiva
    Commented Feb 2, 2011 at 20:52
  • @Teiva actually I think it was just a mis-click as he clicks on the mineral patch right after
    – tzenes
    Commented Feb 3, 2011 at 2:28
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Another way to split drones is to hit the hotkey to select a single idle drone, and click a mineral patch. Do this 6 times really fast, and each drone goes right to its own mineral patch. Something like,

  • F1
  • Right-click 1st mineral patch
  • F1
  • Right-click 2nd mineral patch
  • F1
  • Right-click 3rd mineral patch
  • F1
  • Right-click 4th mineral patch
  • F1
  • Right-click 5th mineral patch
  • F1
  • Right-click 6th mineral patch

This is much easier than selecting the individual drone and mineral patch, but it's still to hard for me to do effectively.

But honestly, as @Aardvark says, the initial split is not that important. This amount of analysis / practice would be better spent on something like hydra micro or macro.

So while I have seen this done in game, it's something I don't care to perfect.

  • Edit: I don't know what the hot key is to select a single idle worker... I think it's F1 for me (i'm on lefty grid).
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  • F1 is indeed the default keystroke to select an idle worker.
    – Wikwocket
    Commented Feb 2, 2011 at 23:35
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    You can just hold F1.
    – recursive
    Commented Feb 22, 2011 at 21:43
  • @recursive: you just made my day; that is brilliant. Seems I can do this and earn my first 80 mins 1 second faster. Not going to win me the game, but I like meticulous things like this as a way to keep sharp.
    – tenfour
    Commented Feb 23, 2011 at 0:06
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You may be witnessing legendary micro but it is probably just a lag spike (where he is in the game and can select each unit individually). Most players do a 3/3 split to two sets of minerals.

To do this hold CTRL during the loading screen and press F1 when you enter the game (select all + idle workers) right click on one mineral node then box 3 drones (drag and select) and have them go to another set of minerals.

Keep in mind though that in the scheme of a game of starcraft your initial worker micro is pretty small potatoes compared to your decisions later in the game (forgetting to build workers, supply blocking etc)

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  • Lag spikes are viewable in a VOD. What they see is what you see. Idra has managed to pull this opening move off in every VOD I've seen. The above VOD has at least 4 games in it.
    – teiva
    Commented Feb 2, 2011 at 20:03
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    It's a valid point that this inquiry has a minimal effect on the overall macro play, but it bothers me not knowing how. I was just curious if anyone knew the answer.
    – teiva
    Commented Feb 2, 2011 at 20:11

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