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Pond / Cortex / Economy first / OBSERVED BUILD

Fatboy buy

Cortex Pond build order · Supreme Isthmus

Pond pays Tech heavily from before 5 minutes to rush a Fatboy to front by around 5:12, well ahead of the role norm, fighting in the middle while keeping the usual eco and boosting job behind it.

#push #team support · 150 distinct matches · 43 players · 19% of Cortex Pond games · team won 53% of 150 · Recently observed

THE CATCH, AND WHAT COMES WITH IT
  • FatboyFatboy from Tech arrives 5:12 · 17% of role by thenTech makes it and hands it over.
  • HephaestusHeavy transport from an ally in 77%13% of all Pond games by then

Paid for by sending allies about 1,100 metal and 13,000 energy by 5:00; standard pond sends 110 metal and 10,000 energy.

Where those units first fight, in 144 games with kill data: in the middle 90%, on their own side 10%.

Those units destroy a typical 2,683 metal of enemy units by 15:00.

Then transitions into grunt (28% of army), tick (9% of army).

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: Fatboy handed over by 5:10

  1. Drop tidals, mex and a bot lab while boosting wind for front.
  2. Send Tech heavy metal and energy to fund the Fatboy buy.
  3. Take the Heavy Plasma Bot 'Fatboy' handed over by Tech.
  4. Fly the Fatboy to the middle to push alongside front.
  5. Keep bot lab output of Grunt and Tick going as the real transition.

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 150 GAMES · AGAINST STANDARD POND
  1. 1
  2. 2
PLAY THE OPENING

Follow the example game's first 6:13 step by step: what to build now, what comes next, and where it goes. At 1× it keeps pace with your own game.

  1. 1

    Up to the Bot Lab

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor4Mex
    • Tidal Generator8Tidalfor allies
    • Wind Turbine8Wind
    • Tidal Generator1Tidal
    • Energy Storage1Energy storage
    Order
    1. Bot LabBot Lab after 4 mex, 9 wind, 3 converterdone ~5:55, middle half 3:39–6:52

    Some games also: converter (44%)

    By 5:34 in all: 4 mex · 8 wind · 1 tidal · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 9 steps
    1. Tidal ×10for Front
    2. Tidal ×2
    3. Mex ×4
    4. Wind ×5
    5. Energy storage
    6. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantdone 4:08
    7. PounderPounder ×5
    8. Construction VehicleCon vehicle ×2
    9. PounderPounder
  2. 2

    Bot Lab to 10:00

    Some games also: wind (46%) · con turret (39%) · con bot (37%) · grunt (36%) · converter (30%)

    The standard build makes here, this one skips: 17 wind · 2 converter

    By 10:00 in all: 4 mex · 15 wind (standard 26) · 1 tidal · 3 converter (standard 6) · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 36 steps
    1. PounderPounder ×2
    2. Mexfor Front
    3. PounderPounder ×2
    4. Mex
    5. PounderPounder
    6. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    7. BruteBrute ×2
    8. Mex
    9. BruteBrute
    10. Mexfor Front
    11. BruteBrute
    12. Con turret
    13. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 11:37 · typical 10:04
    14. BruteBrute
    15. Con turret
    16. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    17. Con turret
    18. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×11
    19. BruteBrute
    20. Mexfor Suicide front
    21. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    22. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    23. BruteBrute
    24. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    25. Con turret
    26. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×11
    27. Con turret
    28. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    29. Con turret ×2
    30. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    31. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    32. BruteBrute
    33. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×4
    34. BruteBrute ×4
    35. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    36. BruteBrute

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is SHOGVN's (34 OS, 15/10/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

  • Tidal Generator8 Tidal to Suicide front or Frontfirst at 0:11 · in 99% of games

You get

  • Hephaestus1 Heavy transport from Air or Techfirst at 4:51 · in 77% of games
  • Fatboy1 Fatboy from Techfirst at 5:13 · in 100% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Techfirst at 8:12 · in 94% 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

150 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildMetal produced: Standard pondEnemy metal destroyed: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: Standard pondOwn metal lost: This buildOwn metal lost: Standard pondMetal sent to allies: This buildMetal sent to allies: Standard pondEnergy sent to allies: This buildEnergy sent to allies: Standard pond
1:0011511500000010801007
2:0027225800000027652395
3:0081473700000048034669
4:00149514110000418073786686
5:0022442130000010961091342710136
6:0030182920000014113961856911999
7:003852381120000015234392188914303
8:00464448741063541298616204502323517340
9:0054806189199722948818916764532562819564
10:0064267724286452993451716974682784322545
11:00759198593213880149181717084822879225064
12:00901912114358711961937107517244842976527158
13:001052414558456215782406161217654993032130232
14:001247317113494018603017215018445323248034793
15:001468119726540426143378296819065483437441129
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

Won more often than the standard build and destroyed more enemy metal by 15:00 despite producing less metal itself.

  • + Destroyed 5282 enemy metal by 15:00 vs 3127 for the standard build.
  • + Fatboy and heavy transports line up: 79% of games get a Hephaestus by 4:39.
  • − Own metal lost by 15:00 rose to 3713 vs 3070 standard.
  • − Metal produced lagged badly at 10:00 and 15:00 (6422/14880 vs 8366/19066).
THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

SHOGVN

33.8 OS · 15/10/2026

Open source match ↗

3 received units · includes a constructor
279 metal received · 71581 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Bot Lab5:55Middle 50%: 3:39–6:52 · n=82
Advanced Metal Extractor10:04Middle 50%: 9:17–10:50 · n=141

Played most by

[Grump]Matsuri24games of this buildFrontLiner69er13games of this buildzeus_on_god11games of this buildDouglasBacon10games of this buildSHOGVN9games of this build