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Standard pond

Cortex Pond build order · Supreme Isthmus

Standard Pond play: eco first with Bot Lab and later Advanced Metal Extractor, boosting the fronts with Tidal Generators and sending Grunts forward; no special catch.

#eco #team support · 94 distinct matches · 38 players · 13% of Cortex Pond games · team won 47% of 94 · Recently observed

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: Bot Lab by 5:03

  1. Build tidal generators first to start boosting the fronts.
  2. Grab mex and energy storage before committing further.
  3. Put down the bot lab and start sending Grunts forward.
  4. Fill out wind and add a Guard for early defense.
  5. Transition to T2 with an advanced mex once front stabilizes.

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 94 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 Bot Lab

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor4Mex
    • Tidal Generator8Tidalfor allies
    • Tidal Generator2Tidal−2 vs standard
    • Wind Turbine2Wind
    • Energy Storage1Energy storage
    Order
    1. Bot LabBot Lab after 4 mex, 2 tidal, 2 winddone ~3:32, middle half 3:21–4:35

    By 3:13 in all: 4 mex · 2 tidal (standard 4) · 2 wind · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 123 steps
    1. Tidal
    2. Tidal ×8for Suicide front
    3. Mex ×4
    4. Wind ×3
    5. Energy storage
    6. Converter ×6
    7. Wind ×2
    8. Con turret ×2
    9. Wind
    10. Bot LabBot Labdone 5:11
    11. Wind
    12. LazarusLazarus
    13. Con turret
    14. LazarusLazarus
    15. Wind
    16. Construction BotCon bot
    17. Wind ×4
    18. ShipyardShipyarddone 6:34
    19. Wind ×3
    20. Bot LabEat Bot Labreclaimed for its metal
    21. Wind ×2
    22. Construction ShipCon ship
    23. Wind ×4
    24. Naval Construction Turret
    25. Wind ×15
    26. Converter
    27. Wind ×2
    28. ShipyardEat Shipyardreclaimed for its metal
    29. Converter
    30. Wind ×2
    31. Converter
    32. Wind ×3
    33. Converter
    34. Wind
    35. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 8:29 · typical 9:07
    36. Converter
    37. Wind
    38. Converter
    39. Bot LabBot Labnot finished by 15:00
    40. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    41. Wind
    42. Bot LabEat Bot Labreclaimed for its metal
    43. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    44. Wind
    45. Naval Construction Turret
    46. Wind ×4
    47. Naval Construction Turret
    48. Wind
    49. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    50. Wind
    51. Naval Construction Turret
    52. Wind ×2
    53. Seaplane PlatformSeaplane Platformdone 10:10
    54. Wind ×5
    55. Bot LabBot Labdone 10:40
    56. Seaplane PlatformEat Seaplane Platformreclaimed for its metal
    57. Wind
    58. Con turret
    59. Wind ×3
    60. Seaplane PlatformSeaplane Platformdone 10:44
    61. Wind ×2
    62. PawnPawn
    63. Wind
    64. PawnPawn
    65. Dam BusterSeaplane bomber
    66. PawnPawn ×2
    67. Dam BusterSeaplane bomber
    68. PawnPawn ×3
    69. Dam BusterSeaplane bomber
    70. PawnPawn ×2
    71. Dam BusterSeaplane bomber
    72. Converter
    73. PawnPawn
    74. Converter
    75. PawnPawn
    76. Dam BusterSeaplane bomber
    77. SentrySentry
    78. PawnPawn
    79. Converter
    80. Dam BusterSeaplane bomber
    81. PawnPawn
    82. Converter
    83. PawnPawn
    84. Dam BusterSeaplane bomber
    85. PawnPawn
    86. Converter
    87. PawnPawn
    88. Dam BusterSeaplane bomber
    89. PawnPawn
    90. Converter
    91. PawnPawn
    92. Dam BusterSeaplane bomber
    93. PawnPawn
    94. Converter
    95. PawnPawn
    96. Dam BusterSeaplane bomber
    97. PawnPawn
    98. Converter
    99. PawnPawn ×3
    100. Converter
    101. PawnPawn
    102. Dam BusterSeaplane bomber
    103. PawnPawn
    104. Converter
    105. PawnPawn ×2
    106. Dam BusterSeaplane bomber
    107. Converter
    108. PawnPawn ×2
    109. Converter
    110. PawnPawn ×12
    111. CutlassSeaplane gunship
    112. PawnPawn ×2
    113. CutlassSeaplane gunship
    114. Bot LabBot Labdone 13:21
    115. PawnPawn
    116. Naval Metal Storage
    117. Naval Construction Turret
    118. PawnPawn
    119. CenturionCenturion
    120. Naval Construction Turret
    121. PawnPawn
    122. CutlassSeaplane gunship
    123. Bot LabBot Labdone 13:46 · typical 3:32
  2. 2

    Bot Lab to 5:00

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine1Wind−4 vs standard
    Builders
    • Construction Bot1 Con bot

    Some games also: con turret (47%) · converter (37%) · Graverobber (32%)

    By 5:00 in all: 4 mex · 7 wind · 2 tidal (standard 4) · 1 energy storage · 1 con turret

  3. 3

    5:00 to 10:00

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine18Wind+18 vs standard
    • Energy Converter4Converter+4 vs standard
    Builders
    • Construction Turret1 Con turret

    Some games also: grunt (48%) · con bot (33%) · eat Bot Lab (45%)

    By 10:00 in all: 4 mex · 25 wind (standard 8) · 2 tidal (standard 4) · 6 converter (standard 1) · 1 energy storage · 2 con turret (standard 0)

    The example game in this phase · 53 steps
    1. PawnPawn
    2. Con turret
    3. Naval Construction Turret
    4. CenturionCenturion
    5. PawnPawn
    6. Con turret
    7. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    8. PawnPawn
    9. CutlassSeaplane gunship
    10. PawnPawn
    11. CenturionCenturion
    12. PawnPawn
    13. Con turret
    14. CutlassSeaplane gunship
    15. GruntGrunt
    16. Con turret
    17. PawnPawn
    18. GruntGrunt
    19. CutlassSeaplane gunship
    20. GruntGrunt
    21. CenturionCenturion
    22. PawnPawn ×2
    23. GruntGrunt
    24. CenturionCenturion
    25. PawnPawn
    26. CutlassSeaplane gunship
    27. GruntGrunt
    28. PawnPawn ×2
    29. GruntGrunt
    30. PawnPawn
    31. CutlassSeaplane gunship
    32. PawnPawn
    33. GruntGrunt
    34. Dam BusterSeaplane bomber
    35. PawnPawn
    36. GruntGrunt
    37. PawnPawn
    38. LazarusLazarus
    39. GruntGrunt
    40. PawnPawn
    41. GruntGrunt ×2
    42. PawnPawn
    43. GruntGrunt ×3
    44. PawnPawn
    45. GruntGrunt
    46. LazarusLazarus
    47. GruntGrunt
    48. PawnPawn
    49. GruntGrunt
    50. LazarusLazarus
    51. GruntGrunt
    52. PawnPawn ×2
    53. GruntGrunt

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is EpicTyrannus's (45 OS, 08/10/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

  • Tidal Generator8 Tidal to Suicide front or Frontfirst at 0:14 · in 96% of games

You get

  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Techfirst at 7:22 · in 80% of games

How it plays out

Typical game of this build, running totals by minute

Metal produced

010k20k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Enemy metal destroyed

01k2k3k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Own metal lost

01k2k3k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

94 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0011500
2:0026000
3:0075200
4:00141400
5:00214200
6:00295100
7:00383900
8:0049135173
9:006340185172
10:007751321513
11:009899740796
12:001235111421054
13:001491015751637
14:001720918372073
15:001993426232966
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

This Cortex pond baseline wins under half its games, with enemy metal destroyed just ahead of own losses by 15:00.

  • + Enemy metal destroyed (3099) edges past own metal lost (3482) less than in Armada pond.
  • − Bot Lab finishes later (5:03) than the Armada pond norm (3:41), slower front support.
THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

EpicTyrannus

44.6 OS · 08/10/2026

Open source match ↗

53 received units · includes a constructor
1097 metal received · 323149 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Bot Lab3:32Middle 50%: 3:21–4:35 · n=70
Advanced Metal Extractor9:07Middle 50%: 7:43–10:16 · n=77

Played most by

Yamato18games of this buildzeus_on_god7games of this buildEpicTyrannus6games of this buildEXZoPrimer36games of this buildBoozha5games of this build