Pond / Armada / Economy first / OBSERVED BUILD

Rattlesnake defence

Pond builds pop-up artillery (Gauntlet/Rattlesnake/Agitator) from around 6:17, receiving a light transport from an ally early, to reinforce the front's defensive line.

#defence #artillery · 22 distinct matches · 9 players · 3% of Armada Pond games · team won 36% of 22 · Recently observed

THE CATCH, AND WHAT COMES WITH IT

Early defence from 6:17 · 2% of role by thenOnly 2% of Pond games have it by then; others who build it get it around 11:30
Light transport from an ally in 59%9% of all Pond games by then

Started with Gauntlet (45%), Rattlesnake (36%), Agitator (14%), Persecutor (5%).

Where those units first fight, in 22 games with kill data: in the middle 91%, on their own side 9%.

Those units destroy a typical 1,042 metal of enemy units by 15:00.

Then transitions into Rattlesnake (23% of army).

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: Gauntlet by 6:17

0:03Open tidals and mex, then wind, skipping extra eco for boost duty.
2:50Drop a bot lab and start pumping units toward front.
4:43Place first Gauntlet to start the static plasma line.
6:17Layer Rattlesnake and Agitator behind Gauntlet to turtle middle.
9:15+Add advanced mex and keep receiving light transport from air for support.

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 22 GAMES · AGAINST STANDARD POND

10:00
2
37:00

PLAY THE OPENING

Follow the example game's first 7:18 step by step: what to build now, what comes next, and where it goes. At 1× it keeps pace with your own game.

1
Up to the Early defence
0:00 – 6:00
Economy
- 4Mex
- 8Wind−7 vs standard
- 8Tidalfor allies
- 1Tidal
- 1Energy storage
Order
1. Early defence ~6:00after 4 mex, 8 wind, 2 con turret
Builders
- 2 Con turret +2 vs standard
Some games also: converter (36%) · con bot (32%)
The standard build makes here, this one skips: 2 converter
By 6:00 in all: 4 mex · 8 wind (standard 15) · 1 tidal · 1 energy storage · 2 con turret (standard 0)
The example game in this phase · 36 steps
1. 0:03Tidal ×8for Suicide front
2. 1:08Tidal
3. 1:16Tidalfor Air
4. 1:39Mex ×4
5. 2:36Energy storage
6. 3:01Wind ×7
7. 4:02Converter ×3
8. 4:23Con bot ×4
9. 4:56Lazarus
10. 5:13Con turret
11. 5:32Wind ×4
12. 5:46T2 mexdone 6:26 · typical 9:01
13. 5:46Wind
14. 5:48Con turret
15. 5:53Wind
16. 6:02Con bot
17. 6:04Wind ×2
18. 6:15T2 mex
19. 6:28Wind ×2
20. 6:40T2 mex
21. 6:49Wind
22. 6:49T2 mex
23. 6:51Wind ×2
24. 7:03Solar
25. 7:05Wind ×9
26. 7:35Con turret
27. 7:46Wind ×2
28. 7:55Con turret ×2
29. 8:06Wind ×4
30. 8:15Anemone
31. 8:16Wind ×14
32. 8:46Pit Bull
33. 8:46Wind ×15
34. 9:11Pit Bull
35. 9:13Wind ×17
36. 9:42Rattlesnakedone 10:58
2
Early defence to Bot Lab
6:00 – 7:00
Order
1. Bot Lab ~7:00after 4 mex, 8 wind, 1 tidaldone ~7:19, middle half 4:06–10:04
Some games also: wind (41%) · con turret (36%)
The standard build makes here, this one skips: 2 wind
By 7:00 in all: 4 mex · 17 wind · 1 tidal · 1 energy storage · 2 con turret (standard 0)
The example game in this phase · 1 step
1. 3:44Bot Labdone 4:22 · typical 7:19
3
Bot Lab to 10:00
7:00 – 10:00
Economy
- 1Wind−11 vs standard
Some games also: con turret (41%) · Dragon's Teeth (32%)
By 10:00 in all: 4 mex · 19 wind (standard 31) · 1 tidal · 2 converter (standard 4) · 1 energy storage · 3 con turret
The example game in this phase · 105 steps
1. 9:42Wind ×2
2. 9:43Con turret
3. 9:45Wind ×2
4. 9:50Con turret
5. 9:51Wind ×2
6. 9:52Con turret
7. 9:58Wind
8. 10:01Sentry
9. 10:02Wind ×2
10. 10:06Sentry ×2
11. 10:13Wind ×15
12. 11:08Fortification Wall
13. 11:08Wind ×2
14. 11:13Converter
15. 11:13Fortification Wall
16. 11:13Wind
17. 11:16Fortification Wall
18. 11:16Wind
19. 11:18Converter
20. 11:19Fortification Wall
21. 11:21Wind
22. 11:21Converter
23. 11:24Fortification Wall
24. 11:25Wind
25. 11:26Con turret
26. 11:26T2 mex
27. 11:26Converter
28. 11:28Wind ×3
29. 11:32Converter
30. 11:34Sentry
31. 11:36Wind
32. 11:40Converter
33. 11:43Sentry
34. 11:45Con turret
35. 11:46Converter
36. 11:49Dragon's Teeth
37. 11:50Wind
38. 11:51Dragon's Teeth
39. 11:53Converter
40. 11:54Dragon's Teeth
41. 11:56Con turret
42. 11:56Dragon's Teeth
43. 11:56Pulsardone 12:57
44. 12:01Converter
45. 12:04Energy storage ×2
46. 12:09Converter ×2
47. 12:21Energy storage
48. 12:24Converter ×16
49. 13:08Fortification Wall ×2
50. 13:09Converter ×2
51. 13:12Fortification Wall ×2
52. 13:17Converter ×2
53. 13:20Fortification Wall
54. 13:22Converter ×2
55. 13:26Fortification Wall
56. 13:30Converter
57. 13:31Fortification Wall
58. 13:32Advanced Bot Labdone 14:04
59. 13:33Converter ×2
60. 13:36Bot Labdone 13:44
61. 13:36Converter ×3
62. 13:45Fortification Wall
63. 13:46Lazarus
64. 13:49Converter ×2
65. 13:52Con turret
66. 13:54Converter
67. 13:55Lazarus
68. 13:56Converter
69. 13:58Con turret
70. 13:59Fortification Wall
71. 14:00Lazarus
72. 14:02Converter
73. 14:03Fortification Wall
74. 14:04Con turret
75. 14:04Lazarus
76. 14:05T2 con bot
77. 14:07Converter
78. 14:07Fortification Wall
79. 14:08Lazarus
80. 14:09Converter
81. 14:10Con turret
82. 14:11Converter
83. 14:12T2 mex
84. 14:12Lazarus
85. 14:14Con turret
86. 14:16Lazarus
87. 14:17Converter
88. 14:17Con turret
89. 14:21Butler
90. 14:21Lazarus
91. 14:24Converter ×2
92. 14:29Lazarus
93. 14:32Converter
94. 14:34Lazarus
95. 14:36Fusionnot finished by 15:00
96. 14:38Converter ×3
97. 14:44Lazarus
98. 14:45Converter ×2
99. 14:47Pulsar
100. 14:49Lazarus
101. 14:51Fortification Wall
102. 14:53Converter
103. 14:54Lazarus
104. 14:56Fortification Wall
105. 14:56Converter

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is UsurpeR's (49 OS, 25/08/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

8 Tidal to Suicide front or Frontfirst at 0:10 · in 95% of games

You get

1 Con bot from Geo or Front or Suicide frontfirst at 2:20 · in 36% of games
1 Light transport from Airfirst at 2:52 · in 64% of games
1 T2 con bot from Techfirst at 6:43 · in 86% of games
2 Butler from Techfirst at 9:29 · in 32% 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

02k4k6k

0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

22 games.

Show as table

By	Metal produced: This build	Metal produced: Standard pond	Enemy metal destroyed: This build	Enemy metal destroyed: Standard pond	Own metal lost: This build	Own metal lost: Standard pond
1:00	115	115	0	0	0	0
2:00	292	273	0	0	0	0
3:00	870	817	0	0	0	0
4:00	1531	1510	0	0	0	0
5:00	2296	2231	0	0	0	0
6:00	3317	2985	27	0	0	0
7:00	4122	3841	236	480	0	0
8:00	5307	4742	301	1276	217	148
9:00	6677	5693	838	2025	217	379
10:00	8775	6872	935	2865	697	720
11:00	10179	8334	2065	3317	2364	1188
12:00	12243	10290	2489	3684	2420	1616
13:00	13942	12593	2624	4262	2990	1966
14:00	16092	14914	3497	4780	4802	2454
15:00	19181	17456	4307	5324	4802	3030

WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

Team won less than the standard build and this turtle destroyed far less enemy metal by 15:00 despite similar income.

+ Metal production ahead of standard by 10:00 (8547 vs 6855).
+ Gets Hercules transport support far earlier than role norm (57% by 2:50 vs 9%).

− Own metal lost by 15:00 is much higher than standard (4678 vs 3041).
− Enemy metal destroyed by 15:00 far below standard (4208 vs 5316).

THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

UsurpeR

49.0 OS · 25/08/2026

Open source match ↗

6 received units · includes a constructor
2038 metal received · 82991 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Bot Lab7:19Middle 50%: 4:06–10:04 · n=15

Advanced Metal Extractor9:01Middle 50%: 7:48–10:25 · n=20

Played most by

UsurpeR10games of this build _X_3games of this build Dad_The_Speedrunner2games of this build Handicapping_mySelf2games of this build [Cookie]Baby_Evis1game of this build

Rattlesnake defence

Phase by phase

Up to the Early defence

Early defence to Bot Lab

Bot Lab to 10:00

Team trades

You hand over

You get

How it plays out

Metal produced

Enemy metal destroyed

Own metal lost

UsurpeR

Typical milestones

Played most by

Supporting games