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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 ×2
    3. Wind ×2for Air
    4. Wind ×2
    5. Hovercraft PlatformHovercraft Platformdone 1:35 · 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 · 17 steps
    1. Wind
    2. Construction HovercraftCon hovercraft
    3. SeekerSeeker
    4. Wind
    5. SeekerSeeker ×2
    6. Wind
    7. SeekerSeeker
    8. Wind
    9. SeekerSeeker ×2
    10. Wind
    11. SeekerSeeker
    12. Construction HovercraftCon hovercraft
    13. Wind
    14. Energy storage
    15. Construction HovercraftCon hovercraft
    16. Mex
    17. ShipyardShipyarddone 4:20 · 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 · 61 steps
    1. Construction HovercraftCon hovercraft
    2. Mex ×3
    3. SkaterSkater ×2
    4. Mex ×2
    5. EelSubmarinedone 4:52
    6. Con turret
    7. EelSubmarine
    8. HarpoonHarpoon
    9. DolphinDolphin ×4
    10. CorsairDestroyerdone 7:18 · typical 5:58
    11. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 6:35
    12. Wind
    13. HarpoonHarpoon
    14. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    15. Wind
    16. Converter
    17. Wind ×2
    18. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    19. Wind
    20. CorsairDestroyer
    21. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    22. Wind
    23. DolphinDolphin ×3
    24. EelSubmarine
    25. Wind ×3
    26. EelSubmarine
    27. Wind ×2
    28. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    29. Wind
    30. EelSubmarine
    31. Wind ×5
    32. Con turret
    33. Wind
    34. Sneaky PeteSneaky Pete
    35. ScorpionScorpion
    36. Wind
    37. Con turret
    38. Wind
    39. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    40. Wind
    41. Con turret
    42. Advanced solar
    43. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantnot finished by 15:00
    44. Solar ×2
    45. Con turret
    46. Solar ×2
    47. Wind
    48. Advanced solar
    49. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantdone 12:49
    50. Wind
    51. StorkLight transport ×2
    52. Wind
    53. BeholderBeholder
    54. StorkLight transport
    55. BeholderBeholder
    56. Wind ×9
    57. Fusion ReactorFusionnot finished by 15:00
    58. Metal storage
    59. Wind
    60. Energy storage ×2
    61. Con turret ×2

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is KingBenjai's (46 OS, 09/09/2026); 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

KingBenjai

45.9 OS · 09/09/2026

Open source match ↗

6 received units · includes a constructor
829 metal received · 43080 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