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Pond / Cortex / Economy first / OBSERVED BUILD

Gunslinger buy

Cortex Pond build order · Supreme Isthmus

Pond buys Gunslingers from Tech from around 4:42, paying large metal and energy well before the role norm, and flies/sends them to fight in the middle, sometimes reaching the enemy base.

#push #team support · 92 distinct matches · 15 players · 12% of Cortex Pond games · team won 58% of 92 · Recently observed

THE CATCH, AND WHAT COMES WITH IT
  • GunslingerGunslinger from Tech arrives 4:42 · 11% of role by thenTech makes it and hands it over.
  • Bot LabBot Lab in 45%15% of all Pond games by then
  • HerculesLight transport from an ally in 40%12% of all Pond games by then

Paid for by sending allies about 860 metal and 19,000 energy by 5:00; standard pond sends 110 metal and 10,000 energy.

Where those units first fight, in 91 games with kill data: in the middle 92%, on their own side 7%.

Those units destroy a typical 2,151 metal of enemy units by 15:00.

Then transitions into tick (20% of army), blitz (11% of army), Armageddon (10% of army).

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: Gunslinger handed over by 4:44

  1. Build heavy tidal and wind eco before any lab of your own.
  2. Take Gunslinger skirmish bots handed over by Tech.
  3. Send Gunslingers to the middle as skirmish support for front.
  4. Send Tech metal and energy, 872 metal and 20345 energy, to pay for it.
  5. Put up your own bot lab late for the Tick/Grunt transition.

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 92 GAMES · AGAINST STANDARD POND
  1. 1
  2. 2
PLAY THE OPENING

Follow the example game's first 6:00 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 5:00

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor4Mex
    • Wind Turbine10Wind+3 vs standard
    • Tidal Generator8Tidalfor allies
    • Tidal Generator2Tidal
    • Energy Converter1Converter
    • Energy Storage1Energy storage

    Some games also: con turret (40%)

    By 5:00 in all: 4 mex · 10 wind (standard 7) · 2 tidal · 1 converter · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 14 steps
    1. Tidal ×9for Suicide front
    2. Tidal
    3. Mex ×2
    4. GuardGuard
    5. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    6. Mex
    7. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantdone 2:56
    8. RascalRascal ×4
    9. Mex
    10. RascalRascal ×3
    11. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    12. RascalRascal ×7
    13. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    14. LasherLasher ×2
  2. 2

    5:00 to Bot Lab

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine2Wind−16 vs standard
    Order
    1. Bot LabBot Lab after 4 mex, 21 wind, 3 converterdone ~10:13, middle half 9:07–11:21

    Some games also: wind (46%) · con turret (41%) · Thistle (37%) · Guard (33%)

    The standard build makes here, this one skips: 3 converter

    By 10:02 in all: 4 mex · 16 wind (standard 25) · 2 tidal · 2 converter (standard 6) · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 115 steps
    1. RascalRascal ×13
    2. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 7:59 · typical 9:13
    3. Con turret
    4. RascalRascal ×3
    5. Wind
    6. RascalRascal ×2
    7. Wind
    8. RascalRascal ×2
    9. Wind
    10. RascalRascal ×2
    11. Wind
    12. RascalRascal
    13. Con turret
    14. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    15. RascalRascal ×7
    16. Wind
    17. RascalRascal
    18. Wind
    19. RascalRascal
    20. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    21. RascalRascal
    22. Wind
    23. RascalRascal ×2
    24. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    25. RascalRascal ×4
    26. MuskratMuskrat
    27. RascalRascal ×10
    28. GarpikeGarpike
    29. RascalRascal
    30. GarpikeGarpike
    31. Tidal
    32. GarpikeGarpike
    33. Wind
    34. MuskratMuskrat
    35. Wind
    36. Tidal
    37. MuskratMuskrat
    38. Wind
    39. RascalRascal
    40. Wind
    41. Tidal
    42. Con turret
    43. RascalRascal ×5
    44. Tidal
    45. Wind
    46. RascalRascal
    47. Tidal
    48. RascalRascal ×2
    49. Tidal
    50. RascalRascal
    51. Wind
    52. RascalRascal ×4
    53. Tidal
    54. RascalRascal
    55. Con turret
    56. RascalRascal
    57. Tidal
    58. RascalRascal
    59. Tidal
    60. RascalRascal
    61. Con turret
    62. Tidal
    63. Con turret
    64. RascalRascal
    65. Con turret
    66. Tidal
    67. RascalRascal
    68. Tidal
    69. RascalRascal ×2
    70. Wind
    71. RascalRascal ×2
    72. Wind
    73. RascalRascal
    74. Tidal
    75. Wind
    76. RascalRascal
    77. Wind
    78. RascalRascal
    79. Wind
    80. RascalRascal
    81. Wind
    82. RascalRascal
    83. Wind
    84. Tidal
    85. RascalRascal
    86. Tidal
    87. RascalRascal
    88. Wind
    89. RascalRascal
    90. Bot LabBot Labdone 14:30 · typical 10:13
    91. RascalRascal
    92. Wind
    93. RascalRascal
    94. Wind
    95. TickTick
    96. Tidal
    97. RascalRascal
    98. Bot LabBot Labdone 14:47
    99. TickTick
    100. RascalRascal
    101. Wind
    102. TickTick
    103. RascalRascal
    104. TickTick
    105. RascalRascal
    106. TickTick
    107. Wind
    108. RascalRascal
    109. TickTick
    110. RascalRascal
    111. TickTick
    112. Tidal ×2
    113. RascalRascal
    114. TickTick
    115. RascalRascal

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is DarkandDarker's (31 OS, 23/08/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

  • Tidal Generator8 Tidal to Suicide front or Frontfirst at 0:19 · in 99% of games

You get

  • Construction Bot1 Con bot from Geo or Tech or Suicide frontfirst at 2:33 · in 48% of games
  • Hercules1 Light transport from Air or Techfirst at 4:26 · in 40% of games
  • Gunslinger1 Gunslinger from Techfirst at 4:42 · in 100% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Techfirst at 7:40 · in 99% 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

01k2k3k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Metal sent to allies

01k2k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Energy sent to allies

050k100k150k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

92 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
1:0011511500000015261007
2:0027825800000036302395
3:008187370000107059714669
4:001496140900005640113396702
5:002181213000008631091891510136
6:002884294218500011863962835311999
7:003668381195300015124393743614303
8:00445949051529542458617634505019017340
9:0053456257196722965018918024536015919564
10:0067037724255752971551718814686595722545
11:0084519859285288088981718974687255425064
12:001055412114365511961160107519174827376427158
13:001273414558370615781771161219624847941830468
14:001515717113448518602318215019765299192836354
15:0017312197265572261427982968197654810478341129
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

Won slightly more often than the standard build with the highest kill-to-loss gap of the three buys by 15:00.

  • + Own metal lost stayed low, 779 by 10:00 vs 755 standard, tightest of the three.
  • + Destroyed 4935 enemy metal by 15:00 vs 3127 for the standard build.
  • − Still a rare line: only 9% of role games buy this early by 4:37.
  • − Metal produced by 15:00 trailed standard, 15981 vs 19066.
THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

DarkandDarker

31.3 OS · 23/08/2026

Open source match ↗

9 received units · includes a constructor
263 metal received · 17973 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Advanced Metal Extractor9:13Middle 50%: 8:21–10:07 · n=90
Bot Lab10:13Middle 50%: 9:07–11:21 · n=47

Played most by

Boozha38games of this buildDeathkebab36games of this buildDontStreamSnipeMeBro3games of this buildLing_long3games of this buildGoldReasons2games of this build