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Pond / Cortex / Economy first / OBSERVED BUILD

Shuriken air support

Pond goes air instead of the usual ground boost, building an Aircraft Plant by ~3:30 and dropping in a transport, then sending Shuriken and Valiant to fight forward in the middle from under 5 minutes.

Usually goes air (85%)

#air #drop #push · 13 distinct matches · 6 players · 5% of Cortex Pond games · team won 62% of 13 · Recently observed

THE CATCH, AND WHAT COMES WITH IT
  • ShurikenT1 air support from 4:39 · 10% of role by thenFrom the Aircraft Plant. Only 10% of Pond games have it by then; others who build it get it around 4:51
  • Aircraft PlantAircraft Plant in 100%15% of all Pond games by then
  • HephaestusHeavy transport in 92%11% of all Pond games by then
  • ShurikenShuriken in 69%4% of all Pond games by then
  • ValiantValiant in 69%7% of all Pond games by then

Where those units first fight, in 13 games with kill data: in the middle 85%, on their own side 15%.

Then transitions into valiant (16% of army), grunt (10% of army).

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: Aircraft Plant by 3:34

  1. Open tidals and wind, get mex up, boost eco as usual for Pond.
  2. Build Aircraft Plant well before the role norm.
  3. Get a heavy transport (Hephaestus) to drop units behind enemy lines.
  4. Lead with Shuriken paralyzer drones out of the Aircraft Plant.
  5. Add Valiant fighters and transition into T2 constructor as normal.

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 13 GAMES · AGAINST STANDARD POND
  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 Aircraft Plant

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor4Mex
    • Tidal Generator8Tidalfor allies
    • Wind Turbine7Wind+2 vs standard
    • Energy Storage1Energy storage
    Order
    1. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plant after 4 mex, 7 wind, 1 energy storagedone ~3:52, middle half 3:29–4:24

    Some games also: tidal (31%)

    The standard build makes here, this one skips: 2 tidal

    By 3:34 in all: 4 mex · 7 wind (standard 5) · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 13 steps
    1. Tidal ×8for Suicide front
    2. Tidal
    3. Mex ×4
    4. Wind
    5. Bot LabBot Labdone 2:52
    6. GraverobberGraverobber ×2
    7. Wind
    8. Construction BotCon bot
    9. Energy storage
    10. Con turret
    11. Mexfor Suicide front
    12. Wind
    13. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantdone 4:37 · typical 3:52
  2. 2

    Aircraft Plant to T1 air support

    Order
    1. ShurikenT1 air support after 4 mex, 9 wind, 1 energy storage
    Army
    • Hephaestus1 Heavy transport

    Some games also: con aircraft (31%) · wind (31%)

    The standard build makes here, this one skips: 2 wind

    By 4:39 in all: 4 mex · 9 wind · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 2 steps
    1. HephaestusHeavy transport
    2. ShurikenShurikendone 4:54
  3. 3

    T1 air support to 10:00

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine16Wind+12 vs standard
    Builders
    • Construction Turret3 Con turret +3 vs standard
    Army
    • Shuriken11 Shuriken +11 vs standard
    • Valiant3 Valiant +3 vs standard
    • Hercules1 Light transport

    Some games also: converter (38%) · con aircraft (38%) · energy storage (31%) · Guard (31%)

    By 10:00 in all: 4 mex · 22 wind (standard 16) · 1 energy storage · 3 con turret (standard 0)

    The example game in this phase · 32 steps
    1. ShurikenShuriken ×2
    2. ValiantValiant ×3
    3. ShurikenShuriken ×3
    4. UrchinUrchin
    5. ShurikenShuriken ×4
    6. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 7:24 · typical 8:40
    7. ShurikenShuriken
    8. GuardGuard
    9. HephaestusHeavy transport
    10. Wind ×3
    11. GuardGuard
    12. Wind ×2
    13. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    14. Wind ×5
    15. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    16. Wind ×3
    17. HerculesLight transport
    18. Wind
    19. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    20. Wind ×2
    21. Bot LabBot Labdone 10:21
    22. Wind
    23. Construction BotCon botfor Geo
    24. Con turret
    25. PawnPawn ×7
    26. Wind
    27. PawnPawn ×2
    28. Wind
    29. PawnPawn ×2
    30. Wind
    31. Fusion ReactorFusionnot finished by 15:00
    32. Wind

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is krtf's (41 OS, 04/09/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

  • Tidal Generator8 Tidal to Suicide front or Frontfirst at 0:18 · in 77% of games

You get

  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Tech or Airfirst at 6:53 · in 77% 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

13 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 pond
1:001151150000
2:003022780000
3:008928160000
4:00155415100000
5:002221221721000
6:00289429622760730
7:00361238263672884220
8:004406462340110701023189
9:005658553560015071202591
10:007202665178821711327899
11:0086698250788269317191360
12:001079810194884313432301695
13:001289012574884345432302159
14:0013121146681069382132302820
15:0015046170041373427440513392
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

Won more often than the standard build despite producing less metal by 15:00 and destroying far less enemy metal.

  • + Team win rate 57% vs 52% for standard build.
  • + Higher metal produced by 10:00 (7120 vs 6657).
  • − Enemy metal destroyed by 15:00 far lower (1418 vs 4391).
  • − Own metal lost by 15:00 higher (3798 vs 3271).
THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

krtf

40.8 OS · 04/09/2026

Open source match ↗

4 received units · includes a constructor
293 metal received · 29017 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Aircraft Plant3:52Middle 50%: 3:29–4:24 · n=13
Advanced Metal Extractor8:40Middle 50%: 7:48–9:44 · n=10

Played most by

zeus_on_god4games of this buildkrtf3games of this buildBoozha2games of this buildRysica2games of this build[Grump]Grumpiness1game of this build