Cloning is a technique in which the same order is issued to multiple units. One unit is then deselected from the group, while the group is issued a new order. The selected units move on to accomplish the specified task, leaving the deselected unit to work on the previous task. This is most often used with the opening four gatherers, although there are limited applications to other units, such as spell casters. There are two methods: the single deselect clone and the dual split clone.
Gatherer Clone ~ Single Deselect
1. Select all four gatherers.
2. Right click mineral patch.
3. Deselect [shift + left click] one gatherer in the unit panel. [There are 3 left]
4. Right click next mineral patch.
5. Deselect one gatherer in the unit panel. [There are 2 left]
6. Right click next mineral patch.
7. Deselect one gatherer in the unit panel. [There is 1 left]
8. Right click next mineral patch.
If you are Zerg, initiate construction of a Drone by selecting the Hatchery, then pressing 'S' (Select) followed by ‘D’ (Drone). If you are Terran or Protoss, you may just click the Command Center/Nexus and press 'S' (SCV) or 'P' (Probe) respectively. After construction of the first peon is initiated, select all four gatherers.
Tip: Use the single deselect clone as Protoss, since Probes are often harder to manually click (as compared to Drones or SCV’s).
Gatherer Clone ~ Dual Split
1. Select all four gatherers.
2. Right click mineral patch.
3. Deselect [shift + left click] two gatherers in the unit panel. [There are 2 left]
Tip: Deselect the top left unit portrait each time. The game automatically moves units around to first appear from left to right. This allows you to click the same spot twice, while still deselecting two units.
4. Right click next mineral patch (not the adjacent, this is to leave room for the split)
5. Manually select one peon from the first split.
6. Right click the mineral patch adjacent to the patch you targeted in Step 2.
7. Manually select one peon from the second split8. Right click the mineral patch adjacent to the patch targeted in Step 4.