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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 · 4 steps
    1. Mex ×3
    2. Wind ×4
    3. Wind ×2for Air
    4. 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 · 9 steps
    1. Wind
    2. Construction HovercraftCon hovercraft
    3. Wind ×5
    4. SeekerSeeker
    5. Wind
    6. SeekerSeeker ×6
    7. Construction HovercraftCon hovercraft ×2
    8. Mex
    9. ShipyardShipyarddone 4:28 · 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 · 155 steps
    1. Mex
    2. SkaterSkater ×2
    3. Mex
    4. Con turret
    5. Mex
    6. Construction ShipCon ship
    7. EelSubmarinedone 5:09
    8. Mex ×2
    9. EelSubmarine ×2
    10. Naval Construction Turret
    11. NettleNettle
    12. EelSubmarine
    13. HarpoonHarpoon
    14. Wind
    15. SentrySentry
    16. Converter
    17. Wind
    18. Converter
    19. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    20. Converter
    21. Wind
    22. Grim ReaperGrim Reaper
    23. Wind ×2
    24. SentrySentry
    25. HarpoonHarpoon
    26. DolphinDolphin
    27. Wind
    28. DolphinDolphin
    29. Wind
    30. DolphinDolphin
    31. Mex
    32. Wind
    33. DolphinDolphin
    34. SentrySentry
    35. Wind
    36. DolphinDolphin
    37. Grim ReaperGrim Reaper
    38. Wind ×3
    39. SentrySentry
    40. Grim ReaperGrim Reaper
    41. Wind ×2
    42. Converter
    43. NettleNettle
    44. Wind
    45. Converter
    46. Naval Construction Turret
    47. Wind
    48. Converter
    49. Wind
    50. Converter
    51. Wind ×2
    52. Metal storage
    53. Converter
    54. Wind
    55. CorsairDestroyerdone 9:28 · typical 5:58
    56. Converter
    57. Wind ×2
    58. Converter
    59. CorsairDestroyer
    60. Wind
    61. Converter
    62. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 10:00
    63. Converter
    64. Wind
    65. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantdone 10:16
    66. Wind
    67. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    68. Wind
    69. StorkLight transport
    70. Wind ×2
    71. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    72. BansheeBanshee
    73. Wind
    74. BansheeBanshee
    75. Con turret
    76. Con turret
    77. BansheeBanshee ×2
    78. Naval Construction Turret
    79. Wind
    80. Energy storage
    81. Wind
    82. Naval Construction Turret
    83. Wind
    84. Energy storage
    85. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 12:31 · typical 9:28
    86. Tidal
    87. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    88. Tidal
    89. BansheeBanshee
    90. Tidal
    91. CorsairDestroyer
    92. Tidal
    93. Wind
    94. Con turret
    95. Wind ×3
    96. CorsairDestroyer
    97. Wind
    98. Tidal
    99. Con turret
    100. BansheeBanshee
    101. Wind ×2
    102. BansheeBanshee
    103. Tidal
    104. Wind
    105. SkaterSkater
    106. Tidal
    107. BansheeBanshee
    108. Wind
    109. SkaterSkater
    110. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    111. Tidal
    112. Wind
    113. SkaterSkater
    114. Tidal
    115. Wind
    116. SkaterSkater
    117. Tidal
    118. SkaterSkater
    119. Wind
    120. SkaterSkater
    121. Tidal
    122. Wind
    123. Advanced ShipyardAdvanced Shipyarddone 13:51
    124. Fusion ReactorFusionnot finished by 15:00
    125. Grim ReaperGrim Reaper
    126. Wind
    127. Wind
    128. Wind
    129. Grim ReaperGrim Reaper
    130. Wind
    131. Wind
    132. Wind ×2
    133. Wind
    134. Wind
    135. Grim ReaperGrim Reaper
    136. Tidal
    137. Advanced Construction SubAdvanced Construction Sub
    138. Wind
    139. Tidal
    140. Wind
    141. Grim ReaperGrim Reaper
    142. Tidal
    143. Wind
    144. Wind
    145. T2 converter
    146. Wind ×2
    147. Advanced Construction SubAdvanced Construction Sub
    148. Grim ReaperGrim Reaper
    149. Tidal
    150. Wind
    151. Naval Advanced Metal ExtractorNaval Advanced Metal Extractornot finished by 15:00
    152. Wind
    153. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    154. Wind
    155. Wind

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 ↗

25 received units · includes a constructor
2870 metal received · 48883 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