• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 20:22
CEST 02:22
KST 09:22
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL22] Ro24 Preview: Siren's Call7[ASL22] Ro24 Preview: Summer's End9Serral wins HomeStory Cup 2915Serral wins Maestros of the Game 244ByuL, and the Limitations of Standard Play3
Community News
New 3v3 BGH Ladder (and more) on ShieldBattery!22Weekly Cups (August 17-23): Zerg dominate the week2Weekly Cups (August 10-16): SHIN doubles2GSTL Returns in 2026!45Weekly Cups (Aug 3-9): Protoss get shut out7
StarCraft 2
General
SC4ALL II: SC2 Player Announcement 6/8 - Maru How would you feel about frequent/monthly balance patches for SC2? Weekly Cups (August 17-23): Zerg dominate the week PhD study /w SC2 - help with a survey! Geoff 'iNcontroL' Robinson has passed away
Tourneys
2026 GSTL Announcement IntoTheTV X SOOP SC2 League : Weekly & Monthly PIG STY FESTIVAL 8.0! (13 - 23 August) Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament WORTEX 2026 - Hungarian SC2 Finals Budapest
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
Nexus Wars 2021 GUIDE [M] (2) Industrial Park
External Content
Mutation # 540 Dodge This The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 539 Thunder Dome Mutation # 538 Media Blackout
Brood War
General
25 Years Since Brood War Patch 1.08 New 3v3 BGH Ladder (and more) on ShieldBattery! BW General Discussion Looking 4 Yaroslav: Enemy, Korchagin, WCG, Ukraine Pros React To: First 'Fastest' Map in ASL History
Tourneys
[ASL22] Ro24 Group E Escore Tournament - Season 3 [ASL22] Ro24 Group D [ASL22] Ro24 Group B
Strategy
Replay Review Process - What do you do? Odyssey Mineral Stack Saturation Fighting Spirit mining rates Any training maps people recommend?
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread General RTS Discussion Thread Anyone here play Quakeworld back in the day? Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread EVE Corporation
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
[TL LoL EUW IHs] Teemo shall perish TSM pausing esports and CLG Dead
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Power Rank TL Mafia Community Thread NeO.D_StephenKing vs This Guy From 1 Million Dance
Community
General
Artificial Intelligence Thread US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread Dating: How's your luck?
Fan Clubs
The Creator Fan Club MarineLorD Fan Club The ShoWTimE Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! Anime Discussion Thread
Sports
Football (Soccer) Thread TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 MLB/Baseball 2023 NBA General Discussion
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List Northern Ireland Global Starcraft
Blogs
Young Players Exit Esports E…
TrAiDoS
LOCKPICKING NOOB
LUCKY_NOOB
Cathedral Of CS And NY pizza a…
FuDDx
Please support my new stand…
Peanutsc
Hello guys!
LIN1s
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 3185 users

[Q] Build Worker or Split?

Forum Index > SC2 General
Post a Reply
1 2 3 4 5 Next All
jaerak
Profile Joined January 2010
United States124 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-05-17 04:17:28
May 17 2010 04:06 GMT
#1
This is sort of a noobie question, but I was wondering which is economically better when the game starts: sending your workers to mine first (assume a perfect split) or to queue your first worker before you split. I know in sc1, you were supposed to always queue the worker first, but with new split AI, mining AI, and harvesting time, and initial worker count, what is the experimentally supported answer?

EDIT: Another factor to consider may be the fact that splitting easier and thus requires less time in sc2 than required in sc1 (Part of split AI)
captainwaffles
Profile Blog Joined February 2009
United States1050 Posts
May 17 2010 04:09 GMT
#2
I always queue a worker then do a 3/3 split and macro on happily.
https://x.com/CaptainWaffless
Kow
Profile Joined May 2010
United States32 Posts
May 17 2010 04:09 GMT
#3
Usually what I aim to do is to send the workers in one fell swoop to a node, queue a worker and before the workers get to the mineral line, send half to a different node (ideally 2-3 away from the one I chose).

But lag usually screws me up. I don't know why it always lags for like .5s at the beginning of the game and then the rest is fine. I'd rather just have that extra .5s loading, though I'm sure that's not the problem xD


I don't know what is the most efficient though.
Iri
Profile Joined January 2010
150 Posts
May 17 2010 04:10 GMT
#4
Build a worker and send all six to one patch is fastest as far as I can tell... starts the build immediately and if workers are sent to right patch they'll bring in 50 mins before you have to build your next. Different for zerg, obviously, but for T/P anyway.
Opportunities multiply as they are seized. -Sun Tzu
lu_cid
Profile Joined April 2008
United States428 Posts
May 17 2010 04:12 GMT
#5
You should start your worker first.
Jugan
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
United States1566 Posts
May 17 2010 04:13 GMT
#6
I build a worker then do a 3/3 split....
Unless I mess something up, then it's disastrous! It usually works out for me pretty well
Even a Savior couldn't fix all problems. www.twitch.tv/xJugan
RAUS
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
210 Posts
May 17 2010 04:13 GMT
#7
you're talking about .05 of a second here, and you can get 50 minerals before your scv finishes, so honestly, splitting well only puts you ahead by a tiny fraction of a second.

someone should make a joke about splitting hairs.

its up to preference and it doesn't matter.
recognize me?
Synwave
Profile Joined July 2009
United States2803 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-05-17 04:18:02
May 17 2010 04:17 GMT
#8
On May 17 2010 13:13 derpaderp wrote:
you're talking about .05 of a second here, and you can get 50 minerals before your scv finishes, so honestly, splitting well only puts you ahead by a tiny fraction of a second.

someone should make a joke about splitting hairs.

its up to preference and it doesn't matter.


What if Day[9] casts you in a replay and omg you will look like a noob and be made fun of forever!

>.>

But yeah, its such a tiny tiny detail.
I try to do my best with the ole send workers, build, split workers before they mine thing because its a pretend mental mini-game I play but I don't stress it.
♞Nerdrage is the cause of global warming♞
roemy
Profile Joined April 2010
Germany432 Posts
May 17 2010 04:19 GMT
#9
On May 17 2010 13:09 captainwaffles wrote:
I always queue a worker then do a 3/3 split and macro on happily.

this, but i do a 4/2 split
rock is fine.. paper could need a buff, but scissors have to be nerfed
Raelcun
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
United States3747 Posts
May 17 2010 04:20 GMT
#10
F1 split is where it's at imo, select hatch SD, F1 Click, F1 Click, F1 Click, F1 Click, F1 Click, F1 Click, F1 Click. Tiny differences but the F1 split looks gosu when people watch you do it.
ReketSomething
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
United States6012 Posts
May 17 2010 04:24 GMT
#11
I once asked a wise man...(qxc) if he normally goes 3 => 3 split rather than a 6 => 3 split.

He told me....that it doesn't make a bit of difference because none of this will be so important that you will lose a game over and to not worry about it. So work on other things first! =D
Jaedong :3
Xiphiasar
Profile Joined April 2010
United States78 Posts
May 17 2010 04:26 GMT
#12
i always queue first. I figure i'll be building workers constantly for a while, so the faster I start the faster i'll have more workers. That's not supported by any evidence though.

I wonder what the most efficient way to do it is?
lu_cid
Profile Joined April 2008
United States428 Posts
May 17 2010 04:29 GMT
#13
Building the worker first is obviously more efficient since you should be able to queue the second worker before the first is finished anyway. That is of course if you get a good split. I find that I almost always have my second worker in queue before the first is done. Therefore you will have more workers faster.
Anxiety
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
United States650 Posts
May 17 2010 04:34 GMT
#14
LOL in BW i screwed up a split so badly... I clicked on the mineral patch instead of an SCV and i was like WTF IS WRONG.
-orb-
Profile Blog Joined September 2007
United States5770 Posts
May 17 2010 04:38 GMT
#15
Build your worker first

but this really isn't big enough of a deal to ever affect your games. At the very highest level of brood war this might make a difference but no one is even close to that level at sc2 yet
'life of lively to live to life of full life thx to shield battery'
how sad that sc2 has no shield battery :(
Hyperion2010
Profile Joined April 2010
United States122 Posts
May 17 2010 04:56 GMT
#16
On May 17 2010 13:20 iCCup.Raelcun wrote:
F1 split is where it's at imo, select hatch SD, F1 Click, F1 Click, F1 Click, F1 Click, F1 Click, F1 Click, F1 Click. Tiny differences but the F1 split looks gosu when people watch you do it.


lol, I wonder how many sc1 players forgot about the hot new tech of the idle worker button (I know i did)
My waifu for aiur!
Jintetsu
Profile Joined May 2010
Sweden152 Posts
May 17 2010 04:57 GMT
#17
allways que up worker then split, did that in bw, wc3 and in sc2
http://www.alien-invasion.eu
nitdkim
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
1264 Posts
May 17 2010 04:59 GMT
#18
jus make unit then split.
PM me if you want random korean images translated.
johnnybrav0
Profile Joined March 2010
United States61 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-05-17 05:15:38
May 17 2010 05:12 GMT
#19
On May 17 2010 13:20 iCCup.Raelcun wrote:
F1 split is where it's at imo, select hatch SD, F1 Click, F1 Click, F1 Click, F1 Click, F1 Click, F1 Click, F1 Click. Tiny differences but the F1 split looks gosu when people watch you do it.

Nice, I'll have to try that just so I can look cool. I never even realized the initial workers were "idle" but I mean its pretty obvious now that you mention it.

A side question on something I've never tried but it seems like it would definitely work the best: does anyone hit "Backspace" + "E" (for Protoss) for the initial probe? I always click the Nexus but it seems like hitting Backspace would be the fastest way to do it.
Exteray
Profile Blog Joined June 2007
United States1094 Posts
May 17 2010 05:19 GMT
#20
On May 17 2010 14:12 johnnybrav0 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 17 2010 13:20 iCCup.Raelcun wrote:
F1 split is where it's at imo, select hatch SD, F1 Click, F1 Click, F1 Click, F1 Click, F1 Click, F1 Click, F1 Click. Tiny differences but the F1 split looks gosu when people watch you do it.

Nice, I'll have to try that just so I can look cool. I never even realized the initial workers were "idle" but I mean its pretty obvious now that you mention it.

A side question on something I've never tried but it seems like it would definitely work the best: does anyone hit "Backspace" + "E" (for Protoss) for the initial probe? I always click the Nexus but it seems like hitting Backspace would be the fastest way to do it.


But then you'd have to move your right hand to the mouse and select all the workers. It would be slower overall I think
1 2 3 4 5 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
PiGosaur Cup
00:00
#96
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
PiGStarcraft348
ViBE160
ProTech133
JuggernautJason47
EnDerr 5
StarCraft: Brood War
Rain 2255
GuemChi 1783
Artosis 622
910 40
Dota 2
monkeys_forever164
League of Legends
Doublelift5573
Counter-Strike
minikerr183
adren_tv103
Super Smash Bros
hungrybox1054
Mew2King193
Other Games
Liquid`RaSZi2402
Day[9].tv645
shahzam467
C9.Mang0402
Livibee124
Maynarde49
Trikslyr38
Organizations
Other Games
BasetradeTV42
[ Show 11 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• RayReign 1
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• masondota22070
Other Games
• Day9tv645
Upcoming Events
Afreeca Starleague
9h 38m
Mini vs Calm
Queen vs EffOrt
Patches Events
15h 38m
Replay Cast
23h 38m
The PondCast
1d 9h
Replay Cast
1d 23h
Escore
2 days
IntoTheTV X SOOP
2 days
Korean StarCraft League
3 days
GSL
3 days
Replay Cast
3 days
[ Show More ]
Sparkling Tuna Cup
4 days
WardiTV Weekly
4 days
GSL
6 days
PiGosaur Cup
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

CSL Season 22: Qualifier 1
PiG Sty Festival 8.0
META DYMY #4

Ongoing

KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 3
K-JUNGMAN
ASL Season 22
Super Anchor Qualifying S3
CSL Season 22: Qualifier 2
RSL Revival: Season 6
Light Tournament 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
Esports World Cup 2026: LCQ
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026

Upcoming

BSL 2026 LAN: Kraków
CSL 2026 AUTUMN (S22)
Acropolis #5
Acropolis #5 - TRS
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Acropolis #5 - GSA
Acropolis #5 - GSB
HSC XXX
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Offline Finals
Calamity Invitational
Big Dog Cup 2026 Div 1
IEM Beijing 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 5
PGL Masters Bucharest 2026
Thunderpick World Champ. '26
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
1win Private Club #1
Logitech G Play Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #3
BLAST Open Fall 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.