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Pond / Cortex / Economy first / OBSERVED BUILD

Sharpshooter buy

Cortex Pond build order · Supreme Isthmus

Pond buys Sharpshooters from Tech from around 5:09, paying heavily in metal and energy, sending them to fight in the middle as an early skirmish push while keeping its own economy going.

#push #team support · 106 distinct matches · 39 players · 15% of Cortex Pond games · team won 46% of 107 · Recently observed

THE CATCH, AND WHAT COMES WITH IT
  • SharpshooterSniper bot from Tech arrives 5:09 · 12% of role by thenTech makes it and hands it over.

Paid for by sending allies about 710 metal and 17,000 energy by 5:00; standard pond sends 110 metal and 10,000 energy.

Where those units first fight, in 107 games with kill data: in the middle 87%, on their own side 13%.

Those units destroy a typical 2,511 metal of enemy units by 15:00.

Then transitions into grunt (17% of army), tick (11% of army), rascal (10% of army).

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: Sharpshooter handed over by 5:07

  1. Open tidals, mex and heavy wind/converter eco instead of a lab.
  2. Send Tech metal and energy to pay for the sniper buy.
  3. Take Sharpshooter 'sniper bot' units handed over by Tech.
  4. Fly snipers to the middle to support and snipe for front.
  5. Add an Advanced Metal Extractor as the eco transition.

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 106 GAMES · AGAINST STANDARD POND
  1. 1
  2. 2
PLAY THE OPENING

Follow the example game's first 6:09 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 5:00

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor4Mex
    • Tidal Generator8Tidalfor allies
    • Wind Turbine8Wind
    • Tidal Generator2Tidal
    • Energy Storage1Energy storage

    Some games also: converter (37%)

    By 5:00 in all: 4 mex · 8 wind · 2 tidal · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 17 steps
    1. Tidal ×12
    2. Tidalfor Geo
    3. Mex ×2
    4. Mexfor Geo
    5. Mex ×2
    6. Energy storage
    7. Wind ×2
    8. Con turret
    9. Wind
    10. Bot LabBot Labdone 4:13
    11. Wind ×2
    12. GraverobberGraverobber
    13. Wind ×3
    14. GraverobberGraverobber
    15. Wind ×3
    16. Converter
    17. GraverobberGraverobber
  2. 2

    5:00 to 10:00

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine6Wind−11 vs standard

    Some games also: wind (40%) · converter (39%) · Guard (36%) · con turret (36%)

    The standard build makes here, this one skips: 3 converter

    By 10:00 in all: 4 mex · 20 wind · 2 tidal · 2 converter (standard 6) · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 126 steps
    1. Construction BotCon bot
    2. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    3. Converter
    4. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×8
    5. Converter
    6. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    7. Converter ×2
    8. GuardGuard
    9. Converter
    10. AggravatorAggravatorfor Suicide front
    11. Wind
    12. AggravatorAggravatorfor Suicide front
    13. GuardGuard
    14. Wind ×3
    15. GuardGuard
    16. AggravatorAggravatorfor Suicide front
    17. Wind
    18. AggravatorAggravatorfor Suicide front
    19. Wind ×2
    20. AggravatorAggravatorfor Suicide front
    21. Wind ×2
    22. GuardGuard
    23. ThugThugfor Suicide front
    24. Wind ×2
    25. ThugThug
    26. Wind
    27. ThugThug
    28. Wind
    29. Con turret
    30. Wind ×2
    31. Con turret
    32. Wind ×3
    33. GraverobberGraverobber
    34. Wind
    35. GraverobberGraverobber ×2
    36. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantdone 9:05
    37. Bot LabEat Bot Labreclaimed for its metal
    38. GuardGuard
    39. OspreyHeavy transport
    40. GuardGuard ×3
    41. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantdone 9:53
    42. Aircraft PlantEat Aircraft Plantreclaimed for its metal
    43. IncisorIncisor
    44. GuardGuard
    45. IncisorIncisor ×3
    46. PounderPounder
    47. GuardGuard
    48. Converter
    49. PounderPounder
    50. Converter
    51. GuardGuard
    52. PounderPounder
    53. Converter
    54. PounderPounder
    55. GuardGuard
    56. Converter
    57. PounderPounder
    58. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 11:29 · typical 10:06
    59. Vehicle PlantEat Vehicle Plantreclaimed for its metal
    60. Converter ×5
    61. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    62. GuardGuard
    63. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    64. Bot LabBot Labdone 12:27
    65. Con turret
    66. TickTick
    67. Wind
    68. TickTick
    69. Con turret
    70. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    71. TickTick
    72. Wind
    73. TickTick
    74. Wind
    75. TickTick
    76. Wind
    77. TickTick
    78. Wind
    79. TickTick
    80. Con turret
    81. Wind
    82. TickTick
    83. GuardGuard
    84. Wind
    85. TickTick
    86. GuardGuard
    87. Wind
    88. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantdone 13:54
    89. TickTick
    90. Wind ×2
    91. TickTick
    92. GuardGuard
    93. Wind
    94. TickTick ×3
    95. LazarusLazarus
    96. Wind
    97. LazarusLazarus
    98. GuardGuard
    99. TickTick
    100. LazarusLazarus
    101. Advanced solar
    102. Wind
    103. LazarusLazarus
    104. Wind
    105. LazarusLazarus
    106. Wind
    107. TickTick ×2
    108. Wind
    109. TickTick
    110. Advanced solar
    111. PounderPounder
    112. TickTick
    113. Wind
    114. TickTick
    115. Wind ×2
    116. TickTick
    117. PounderPounder
    118. Wind
    119. TickTick
    120. Wind
    121. TickTick
    122. PounderPounder
    123. Wind
    124. TickTick
    125. PounderPounder
    126. TickTick

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is TrollHardGoPro's (37 OS, 11/10/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

  • Tidal Generator8 Tidal to Suicide front or Frontfirst at 0:16 · in 97% of games

You get

  • Construction Bot1 Con bot from Geofirst at 2:26 · in 39% of games
  • Hercules1 Light transport from Air or Techfirst at 5:08 · in 36% of games
  • Sharpshooter2 Sniper bot from Techfirst at 5:09 · in 100% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Techfirst at 8:30 · in 97% 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

02k4k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Metal sent to allies

01k2k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Energy sent to allies

025k50k75k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

107 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildMetal produced: Standard pondEnemy metal destroyed: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: Standard pondOwn metal lost: This buildOwn metal lost: Standard pondMetal sent to allies: This buildMetal sent to allies: Standard pondEnergy sent to allies: This buildEnergy sent to allies: Standard pond
1:001151150000001464995
2:0026725900000032012365
3:0079973700000059504436
4:00147214090000243089886554
5:002194213000007121131677710268
6:0029002949000010354032771311852
7:003702382937000012294453518314303
8:00449348741160541408612794534032817340
9:0053766257185522047018913284684533021198
10:00641476612560350102164013884684718022906
11:00782998593233766138683614224685486425778
12:00986312092361211961892107514944826055827224
13:001195914534399815782088166115304826775032595
14:001409816881457518142628199515545326907437744
15:001612019361510426323074296416775486926941136
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

Won more often than the standard build, trading lower metal production for notably higher enemy metal destroyed.

  • + Destroyed 3035 enemy metal by 10:00, well above standard's 1229.
  • + Hercules transports arrive by 4:55 in 46% of games vs 15% role norm.
  • − Metal produced fell behind at every checkpoint, 16992 vs 19066 by 15:00.
  • − Own metal lost climbed to 1354 by 10:00 vs 755 standard.
THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

TrollHardGoPro

36.9 OS · 11/10/2026

Open source match ↗

5 received units · includes a constructor
61 metal received · 11411 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Advanced Metal Extractor10:06Middle 50%: 9:14–10:56 · n=100

Played most by

Boozha18games of this build[Grump]Matsuri13games of this buildDouglasBacon7games of this buildpyrothraxus5games of this build[Crd]Mind_The_Gap4games of this build