Pond / Cortex / Economy first / OBSERVED BUILD

Fatboy buy

Cortex Pond build order · Supreme Isthmus

Pond pays Tech heavily from before 5 minutes to buy a Fatboy which Tech builds and hands over around 5:15, bringing it to the middle as an early push while still running its own eco.

#push #team support · 68 distinct matches · 20 players · 20% of Cortex Pond games · team won 46% of 68 · Recently observed

THE CATCH, AND WHAT COMES WITH IT

Fatboy from Tech arrives 5:15 · 19% of role by thenTech makes it and hands it over.
Heavy transport from an ally in 79%16% of all Pond games by then

Paid for by sending allies about 1,200 metal and 12,000 energy by 5:00; standard pond sends 450 metal and 13,000 energy.

Where those units first fight, in 64 games with kill data: in the middle 88%, on their own side 13%.

Those units destroy a typical 2,392 metal of enemy units by 15:00.

Then transitions into grunt (31% of army), tick (10% of army), incisor (9% of army).

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: Fatboy by 5:15

0:03Open tidals plus mex and wind for your own standard Pond eco.
4:40Receive a heavy transport from an ally to help move it.
by 5:00Send Tech heavy metal and energy to fund the Fatboy buy.
5:15Take delivery of the Fatboy from Tech and send it to middle as a push.
6:02+Get your lab going and keep boosting front through the T2 transition.

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 68 GAMES · AGAINST STANDARD POND

10:00
25:38

PLAY THE OPENING

Follow the example game's first 6:15 step by step: what to build now, what comes next, and where it goes. At 1× it keeps pace with your own game.

1
Up to the Bot Lab
0:00 – 5:38
Economy
- 4Mex
- 9Wind
- 8Tidalfor allies
- 1Tidal
- 2Converter+2 vs standard
- 1Energy storage
Order
1. Bot Lab ~5:38after 4 mex, 11 wind, 4 converterdone ~6:02, middle half 3:46–6:54
By 5:38 in all: 4 mex · 9 wind · 1 tidal · 2 converter (standard 0) · 1 energy storage
The example game in this phase · 11 steps
1. 0:03Tidal ×8for Suicide front
2. 1:07Tidal
3. 1:26Mex ×4
4. 2:23Wind ×2
5. 2:35Energy storage
6. 2:50Wind ×13
7. 4:06Converter ×3
8. 4:38Wind ×2
9. 4:45Converter ×2
10. 5:04Wind ×5
11. 5:45Bot Labdone 6:02 · typical 6:02
2
Bot Lab to 10:00
5:38 – 10:00
Economy
- 1Wind−6 vs standard
Some games also: con turret (47%) · con bot (43%) · grunt (43%) · converter (37%)
The standard build makes here, this one skips: 2 converter
By 10:00 in all: 4 mex · 16 wind · 1 tidal · 4 converter · 1 energy storage · 1 con turret
The example game in this phase · 11 steps
1. 6:03Wind
2. 6:05Con bot
3. 6:17Grunt
4. 6:23Con turret
5. 6:24Grunt ×44
6. 8:38T2 mexdone 9:43 · typical 10:04
7. 8:38Grunt ×8
8. 9:11Graverobber
9. 9:41Grunt
10. 9:44T2 mex
11. 9:45Grunt ×12

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is JustSomeGuy's (41 OS, 06/10/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

8 Tidal to Suicide front or Frontfirst at 0:09 · in 100% of games

You get

1 Heavy transport from Air or Techfirst at 4:40 · in 79% of games
1 Fatboy from Techfirst at 5:14 · in 100% of games
1 T2 con bot from Techfirst at 8:16 · in 93% of games

How it plays out

Typical game of this build against the role’s standard build, running totals by minute

This build
Standard pond

Metal produced

010k20k

0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Enemy metal destroyed

02k4k6k

0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Own metal lost

02k4k

0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Metal sent to allies

01k2k

0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Energy sent to allies

020k40k60k

0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

68 games.

Show as table

By	Metal produced: This build	Metal produced: Standard pond	Enemy metal destroyed: This build	Enemy metal destroyed: Standard pond	Own metal lost: This build	Own metal lost: Standard pond	Metal sent to allies: This build	Metal sent to allies: Standard pond	Energy sent to allies: This build	Energy sent to allies: Standard pond
1:00	115	115	0	0	0	0	0	0	1037	1052
2:00	275	285	0	0	0	0	0	0	2340	2848
3:00	833	822	0	0	0	0	0	0	4017	4945
4:00	1522	1494	0	0	0	0	455	43	6361	8188
5:00	2271	2257	0	0	0	0	1179	448	12416	13143
6:00	3080	3137	0	0	0	0	1434	730	17721	17257
7:00	3957	4016	115	0	0	70	1553	976	19803	20608
8:00	4675	4850	1071	249	161	161	1685	1027	21552	28447
9:00	5507	6323	1768	555	618	511	1704	1027	23714	29716
10:00	6452	8183	2567	1240	1140	859	1710	1027	23714	30120
11:00	7716	9792	2974	1546	1669	1231	1728	1027	25618	31305
12:00	9083	12074	3424	1697	2258	1405	1749	1027	27531	34728
13:00	10539	14032	3947	1886	2778	1586	1752	1027	28524	42543
14:00	12629	16391	4381	2463	3228	2530	1756	1027	29760	45040
15:00	14880	18652	4862	3010	3858	3482	1807	1027	30153	49057

WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

Won slightly less than the standard build despite the Fatboy destroying a similar amount of metal by 15:00.

+ Enemy metal destroyed at 10:00 is roughly double the standard build (2567 vs 1240).
+ Early heavy transport arrives by 4:40 in 79% of games, far above the 16% role norm.

− Own metal production falls well behind standard by 10:00 (6452 vs 8183).
− Own losses by 15:00 run higher than standard (3858 vs 3482).

THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

JustSomeGuy

40.8 OS · 06/10/2026

Open source match ↗

4 received units · includes a constructor
167 metal received · 31829 energy received

Allied construction assistance is unknown. Timings are observations, not a promise of solo reproducibility.

Typical milestones

Bot Lab6:02Middle 50%: 3:46–6:54 · n=41

Advanced Metal Extractor10:04Middle 50%: 9:22–10:47 · n=64

Played most by

[Grump]Matsuri17games of this build zeus_on_god10games of this build MischievousDragonGF8games of this build Nazarid8games of this build JustSomeGuy4games of this build

Supporting games

Pick a game to read and play it above.

JustSomeGuy06/10/2026 · 41 OS↗JustSomeGuy06/10/2026 · 41 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri05/10/2026 · 38 OS↗s0uthy05/10/2026 · 39 OS↗zeus_on_god04/10/2026 · 38 OS↗zeus_on_god04/10/2026 · 38 OS↗zeus_on_god02/10/2026 · 38 OS↗s0uthy02/10/2026 · 38 OS↗

32 more of 60, the most recent

Supreme Isthmus v2.1
Beyond All Reason test-31479-433a460
Naval balance tweaks on

Fatboy buy

Phase by phase

Up to the Bot Lab

Bot Lab to 10:00

Team trades

You hand over

You get

How it plays out

Metal produced

Enemy metal destroyed

Own metal lost

Metal sent to allies

Energy sent to allies

JustSomeGuy

Typical milestones

Played most by

Supporting games