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Beach sea / Armada / Economy first / OBSERVED BUILD

Hovercraft raid

Player rushes a Hovercraft Platform by 1:10 and pushes out Seeker hovercraft as an early raid by 2:13, well before the shipyard which is delayed to around 4:16, using the raid to harass while sea presence catches up later.

Hovers first

#raid #amphibious #rush · 70 distinct matches · 27 players · 11% of Armada Beach sea games · team won 53% of 70 · Recently observed

THE CATCH, AND WHAT COMES WITH IT
  • Hovercraft PlatformHovercraft Platform in 100%14% of all Beach sea games by then
  • SeekerSeeker in 99%14% of all Beach sea games by then

Then transitions into destroyer (30% of army), seeker (21% of army), dolphin (10% of army).

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: Hovercraft Platform by 1:10

  1. Open with mex and wind instead of straight shipyard.
  2. Build a Hovercraft Platform right after your initial eco.
  3. Push out a Seeker raid to harass enemy sea entry early.
  4. Put down the shipyard once the raid is out.
  5. Add Corsair and settle into standard sea play from here.

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 70 GAMES · AGAINST STANDARD BEACH SEA
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
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 the Hovercraft Platform

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor3Mex
    • Wind Turbine4Wind+3 vs standard
    Order
    1. Hovercraft PlatformHovercraft Platform after 3 mex, 4 winddone ~1:41, middle half 1:37–1:52

    Some games also: energy storage (46%) · wind for allies (39%)

    By 1:10 in all: 3 mex · 4 wind (standard 1)

    The example game in this phase · 3 steps
    1. Mex ×3
    2. Wind ×6
    3. Hovercraft PlatformHovercraft Platformdone 1:38 · typical 1:41
  2. 2

    Hovercraft Platform to Shipyard

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor3Mex
    • Wind Turbine5Wind+4 vs standard
    Order
    1. ShipyardShipyard after 6 mex, 10 winddone ~4:16, middle half 4:00–4:43
    Builders
    • Construction Hovercraft3 Con hovercraft +3 vs standard
    Army
    • Seeker7 Seeker +7 vs standard

    The standard build makes here, this one skips: 2 tidal · 2 con ship · 2 skater · 2 dolphin

    By 3:56 in all: 6 mex · 10 wind (standard 2) · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 13 steps
    1. Wind
    2. Construction HovercraftCon hovercraft ×2
    3. SeekerSeeker ×2
    4. Mex
    5. SeekerSeeker
    6. Wind
    7. SeekerSeeker
    8. Wind
    9. SeekerSeeker ×2
    10. Mex
    11. Construction HovercraftCon hovercraft
    12. Mex
    13. ShipyardShipyarddone 3:49 · typical 4:16
  3. 3

    Shipyard to 10:00

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor4Mex
    • Wind Turbine13Wind
    Builders
    • Construction Turret1 Con turret
    • Grim Reaper1 Grim Reaper
    • Construction Ship1 Con ship
    Army
    • Sentry2 Sentry
    • Dolphin3 Dolphin −2 vs standard
    • Corsair3 Destroyer
    • Skater2 Skater
    Other
    • Naval Radar / Sonar Tower1 Naval Radar / Sonar Tower

    Some games also: Harpoon (47%) · tidal (41%) · Naval Construction Turret (37%) · converter (36%) · frigate (36%)

    By 10:00 in all: 10 mex · 23 wind (standard 15) · 1 energy storage · 1 con turret

    The example game in this phase · 142 steps
    1. Construction HovercraftCon hovercraft
    2. Con turret
    3. Construction ShipCon ship
    4. SkaterSkater
    5. Wind
    6. Mex
    7. EllysawFrigate
    8. Wind
    9. EllysawFrigate
    10. Mex
    11. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    12. Wind
    13. Naval Construction Turret
    14. CorsairDestroyerdone 6:34 · typical 5:58
    15. Mex
    16. Wind
    17. SentrySentry
    18. Wind ×3
    19. SentrySentry
    20. Wind
    21. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    22. Wind
    23. Grim ReaperGrim Reaper
    24. DolphinDolphin
    25. Wind
    26. SentrySentry
    27. Wind
    28. DolphinDolphin
    29. Wind
    30. DolphinDolphin
    31. Wind
    32. SentrySentry
    33. Construction ShipCon ship
    34. Wind ×3
    35. DolphinDolphin
    36. Wind
    37. DolphinDolphin
    38. Wind
    39. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    40. DolphinDolphin
    41. Wind
    42. DolphinDolphin
    43. Wind
    44. DolphinDolphin
    45. Wind
    46. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    47. Wind
    48. DolphinDolphin
    49. Wind
    50. SkaterSkater
    51. Wind
    52. EllysawFrigate
    53. Wind ×3
    54. EllysawFrigate ×2
    55. Wind
    56. Naval Construction Turret
    57. Wind ×3
    58. CorsairDestroyer
    59. Wind ×2
    60. Mex
    61. Wind ×3
    62. SkaterSkater
    63. HarpoonHarpoon
    64. Construction ShipCon ship
    65. Wind ×2
    66. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    67. Wind
    68. EllysawFrigate
    69. Wind ×4
    70. CorsairDestroyer
    71. Wind ×5
    72. Grim ReaperGrim Reaper
    73. Wind ×2
    74. Grim ReaperGrim Reaper
    75. Wind ×3
    76. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    77. SkaterSkater
    78. Wind
    79. EllysawFrigate
    80. Naval Construction Turret
    81. Wind
    82. EllysawFrigate
    83. Wind
    84. EllysawFrigate
    85. Wind ×2
    86. EllysawFrigate
    87. Wind ×2
    88. EllysawFrigate
    89. Wind ×4
    90. EllysawFrigate
    91. Wind ×3
    92. CorsairDestroyer
    93. Con turret
    94. Converter
    95. Wind
    96. Converter
    97. Wind ×2
    98. Grim ReaperGrim Reaper
    99. Converter
    100. Wind
    101. SkaterSkater
    102. Wind ×2
    103. Converter
    104. EllysawFrigate
    105. Wind ×2
    106. Converter
    107. EllysawFrigate
    108. Wind
    109. EllysawFrigate
    110. Converter
    111. Wind
    112. CorsairDestroyer
    113. Converter
    114. Wind ×2
    115. Converter
    116. Wind
    117. Converter
    118. SkaterSkater
    119. Wind ×2
    120. DolphinDolphin
    121. Converter
    122. CorsairDestroyer
    123. Wind
    124. Converter
    125. Wind ×2
    126. Converter
    127. SkaterSkater
    128. Wind
    129. Converter
    130. Construction ShipCon ship
    131. Wind
    132. Converter
    133. EllysawFrigate
    134. Wind
    135. CorsairDestroyer
    136. Converter
    137. Wind
    138. Tidal
    139. Converter
    140. Wind ×2
    141. Tidal
    142. Converter

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is GeeGee's (36 OS, 18/09/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

  • Wind Turbine3 Wind to Airfirst at 1:44 · in 46% of games

You get

  • Finch1 Finch from Airfirst at 1:46 · in 57% of games
  • Valiant1 Valiant from Airfirst at 1:50 · in 30% of games
  • Lazarus1 Lazarus from Geofirst at 2:02 · in 51% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Techfirst at 8:03 · in 80% of games

How it plays out

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

  • This build
  • Standard beach sea

Metal produced

010k20k30k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Enemy metal destroyed

05k10k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Own metal lost

02.5k5k7.5k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

70 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildMetal produced: Standard beach seaEnemy metal destroyed: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: Standard beach seaOwn metal lost: This buildOwn metal lost: Standard beach sea
1:004044040000
2:009389380000
3:00152815810000
4:002347254051515150
5:0036813724444251255125
6:0050625148885564566300
7:006484671912411146851596
8:00799983061869167512541089
9:00947699702428249417151726
10:0011217118023433362021882438
11:0013274141054083457127193269
12:0015620168284667538432783986
13:0018348195795014631238804936
14:0021091222186387706849945841
15:0023236252206667821454246711
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

Won more often than the standard build with a similar economy but far more early kills by 5:00.

  • + Enemy metal destroyed hit 444 by 5:00 vs 180 standard.
  • + Own metal lost stayed lower at 15:00 despite the raid.
  • − Metal produced trails standard by 10:00 and 15:00.
  • − Enemy metal destroyed by 15:00 falls behind standard (6667 vs 8279).
THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

GeeGee

35.5 OS · 18/09/2026

Open source match ↗

0 received units
0 metal received · 5 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Hovercraft Platform1:41Middle 50%: 1:37–1:52 · n=70
Shipyard4:16Middle 50%: 4:00–4:43 · n=58
Corsair5:58Middle 50%: 5:28–7:17 · n=54
Advanced Metal Extractor9:28Middle 50%: 9:01–10:50 · n=58

Played most by

KingBenjai17games of this buildRysica10games of this build[ADS]Kackbarren5games of this buildAdeus4games of this buildCentientWaffle4games of this build