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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 · 5 steps
    1. Mex ×3
    2. Wind ×3
    3. Energy storage
    4. Wind ×3
    5. Hovercraft PlatformHovercraft Platformdone 2:01 · 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 · 16 steps
    1. SentrySentry
    2. Construction HovercraftCon hovercraft
    3. SentrySentry
    4. Mex
    5. Construction HovercraftCon hovercraft
    6. SeekerSeeker ×2
    7. Wind
    8. SeekerSeeker ×2
    9. Mex
    10. SeekerSeeker ×3
    11. Wind
    12. SentrySentry
    13. Mex
    14. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    15. Wind ×2
    16. ShipyardShipyarddone 4:31 · 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 · 119 steps
    1. Wind
    2. Construction ShipCon ship
    3. DolphinDolphin
    4. Wind
    5. DolphinDolphin
    6. Mex
    7. DolphinDolphin
    8. Construction ShipCon ship
    9. Mex
    10. Wind
    11. Converter
    12. EllysawFrigate
    13. Mex
    14. EllysawFrigate
    15. Wind
    16. CorsairDestroyerdone 6:00 · typical 5:58
    17. Converter
    18. NettleNettle
    19. Wind
    20. Converter
    21. Mex
    22. Converter
    23. SkaterSkater
    24. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    25. Converter
    26. Wind
    27. Grim ReaperGrim Reaper
    28. SentrySentry
    29. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    30. Converter
    31. Naval NettleNaval Nettle
    32. CorsairDestroyer
    33. Wind
    34. SentrySentry
    35. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    36. Wind
    37. SentrySentry
    38. HarpoonHarpoon
    39. Wind
    40. CorsairDestroyer
    41. SentrySentry
    42. Wind ×2
    43. SkaterSkater
    44. Naval Construction Turret
    45. Wind
    46. CorsairDestroyer
    47. Wind ×4
    48. CorsairDestroyer
    49. Wind ×3
    50. SkaterSkater
    51. Wind ×2
    52. Construction HovercraftCon hovercraft
    53. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    54. Wind ×2
    55. Naval Construction Turret
    56. CorsairDestroyer
    57. Wind
    58. Naval Construction Turret
    59. Wind ×3
    60. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 11:42 · typical 9:28
    61. Wind
    62. CorsairDestroyer
    63. HarpoonHarpoon
    64. Wind ×2
    65. SkaterSkater
    66. Wind
    67. CorsairDestroyer
    68. Wind ×2
    69. HarpoonHarpoon
    70. Wind ×2
    71. CorsairDestroyer
    72. Wind
    73. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    74. DolphinDolphin
    75. Wind
    76. DolphinDolphin ×2
    77. HarpoonHarpoon
    78. DolphinDolphin
    79. Wind
    80. DolphinDolphin ×2
    81. Wind
    82. DolphinDolphin ×2
    83. Wind
    84. DolphinDolphin ×3
    85. Wind
    86. SkaterSkater
    87. CorsairDestroyer
    88. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    89. Mex
    90. Wind
    91. SkaterSkater
    92. Grim ReaperGrim Reaper
    93. Wind
    94. Grim ReaperGrim Reaper
    95. HarpoonHarpoon
    96. Grim ReaperGrim Reaper
    97. Wind
    98. Naval Metal Storage
    99. Naval Construction Turret
    100. Wind
    101. Construction ShipCon ship
    102. Naval NettleNaval Nettle
    103. Naval Construction Turret
    104. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    105. Construction ShipCon ship
    106. Naval Construction Turret ×2
    107. Construction ShipCon ship
    108. HarpoonHarpoon
    109. Construction ShipCon ship
    110. Naval Construction Turret
    111. Construction ShipCon ship
    112. SkaterSkater
    113. Naval Construction Turret
    114. Dragon's ClawDragon's Claw
    115. SkaterSkater ×2
    116. Tidal
    117. Mex
    118. SkaterSkater
    119. Tidal

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is Rexalidus's (37 OS, 03/09/2026); 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

Rexalidus

36.6 OS · 03/09/2026

Open source match ↗

3 received units · includes a constructor
452 metal received · 61200 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