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Pond / Cortex / Economy first / OBSERVED BUILD

Standard pond

Economy-first Pond that builds tidal generators and wind for the fronts, often receives a Fatboy from an ally early, then adds a lab and sends units forward while boosting eco throughout.

#eco #team support · 102 distinct matches · 28 players · 40% of Cortex Pond games · team won 55% of 104 · Recently observed

THE CATCH, AND WHAT COMES WITH IT
  • FatboyFatboy from an ally in 43%18% of all Pond games by then

Then transitions into grunt (23% of army), tick (15% of army).

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: T2 constructor by 7:57

  1. Drop 10 tidal generators immediately to boost front's wind.
  2. Take 3 mex, then a fourth, and get a bot lab by 3:02.
  3. Layer in wind and a guard for base defense.
  4. Push for your own T2 constructor once eco is stable.
  5. Transition into advanced mex and small bot army like Grunt and Tick.

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 102 GAMES
  1. 1
  2. 2
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 5:00

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

    Some games also: converter (48%)

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

    The example game in this phase · 16 steps
    1. Tidal ×8for Suicide front
    2. Tidal ×2
    3. Mex ×3
    4. Energy storage
    5. Mex
    6. Bot LabBot Labdone 3:04
    7. Wind
    8. GraverobberGraverobber ×2
    9. Construction BotCon bot
    10. Con turret
    11. Mexfor Suicide front
    12. GuardGuard
    13. Wind
    14. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    15. ThistleThistle
    16. Wind
  2. 2

    5:00 to 10:00

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine3Wind

    Some games also: converter (45%) · con turret (39%) · wind (33%) · grunt (33%) · con turret (31%)

    By 10:00 in all: 4 mex · 16 wind · 2 tidal · 4 converter · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 118 steps
    1. Wind ×3
    2. GuardGuard
    3. Wind ×2
    4. GuardGuard
    5. Wind
    6. ThistleThistle
    7. Wind
    8. ThistleThistle
    9. Con turret
    10. Mexfor Suicide front
    11. ThugThug
    12. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    13. JanusJanus
    14. Energy storage
    15. GuardGuard
    16. ThistleThistle
    17. Con turret
    18. Wind ×5
    19. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 9:41 · typical 9:23
    20. Wind ×4
    21. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    22. Wind ×3
    23. Energy storage
    24. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    25. Advanced solar
    26. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    27. Advanced solar
    28. Con turret ×2
    29. Bot LabBot Labdone 12:31
    30. Con turret
    31. Bot LabBot Labdone 12:40
    32. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    33. Con turret
    34. Construction BotCon bot
    35. TickTick ×2
    36. Construction BotCon bot
    37. TickTick
    38. Construction BotCon bot
    39. TickTick
    40. Converter
    41. TickTick
    42. Wind
    43. TickTick
    44. Construction BotCon bot
    45. TickTick
    46. Construction BotCon bot
    47. TickTick ×2
    48. Converter
    49. Wind
    50. Construction BotCon bot
    51. TickTick
    52. Construction BotCon bot
    53. TickTick ×2
    54. Construction BotCon bot
    55. TickTick
    56. Converter
    57. Wind
    58. TickTick ×6
    59. Con turret
    60. TickTick ×2
    61. Wind ×2
    62. TickTick
    63. Converter
    64. TickTick ×7
    65. Wind
    66. TickTick ×3
    67. Converter
    68. TickTick
    69. Wind
    70. TickTick
    71. Wind
    72. TickTick
    73. Con turret
    74. TickTick ×5
    75. Converter
    76. TickTick ×3
    77. Wind
    78. TickTick
    79. JunoJuno
    80. TickTick ×5
    81. Wind
    82. TickTick ×2
    83. Wind ×2
    84. Converter
    85. TickTick ×6
    86. Wind
    87. TickTick ×3
    88. Wind
    89. TickTick ×2
    90. Wind
    91. TickTick ×2
    92. Wind
    93. TickTick ×6
    94. Wind ×2
    95. TickTick ×4
    96. Wind
    97. TickTick
    98. Wind
    99. TickTick ×4
    100. Converter
    101. TickTick
    102. Wind
    103. TickTick ×3
    104. Wind
    105. TickTick ×2
    106. Wind
    107. TickTick ×3
    108. Wind
    109. TickTick ×3
    110. Wind
    111. TickTick ×5
    112. Wind ×2
    113. TickTick ×2
    114. Wind ×2
    115. Converter
    116. TickTick ×2
    117. Converter
    118. TickTick

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is [Cookie]Maco's (53 OS, 13/08/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

  • Tidal Generator8 Tidal to Suicide front or Frontfirst at 0:11 · in 97% of games

You get

  • Construction Bot1 Con bot from Geo or Beach seafirst at 2:27 · in 35% of games
  • Hephaestus1 Heavy transport from Air or Techfirst at 4:42 · in 37% of games
  • Fatboy1 Fatboy from Techfirst at 5:18 · in 43% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Techfirst at 7:47 · in 94% 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

02k4k6k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Own metal lost

02k4k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

104 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0011500
2:0027800
3:0081600
4:00151000
5:00221700
6:00296200
7:0038262880
8:0046231070189
9:0055351507591
10:0066512171899
11:00825026931360
12:001019431341695
13:001257434542159
14:001466838212820
15:001700442743392
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

Standard pond wins slightly more than half its games while producing far less metal than most roles, matching its support job.

  • + Team win rate at 52%, the highest among the six standard builds shown.
  • + 42% of games receive a Fatboy from an ally by 5:17, well above the 18% role norm.
  • − Metal produced by 15:00 is only 16843, the lowest of all builds listed.
  • − Own metal lost climbs to 3271 by 15:00 despite the defensive role.
THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

[Cookie]Maco

53.1 OS · 13/08/2026

Open source match ↗

3 received units · includes a constructor
292 metal received · 35410 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Advanced Metal Extractor9:23Middle 50%: 8:39–10:27 · n=99

Played most by

[Grump]Matsuri24games of this buildDeathkebab11games of this buildBoozha9games of this buildEXZoPrimer37games of this buildNazarid7games of this build

Supporting games

Pick a game to read and play it above.

Boozha25/09/2026 · 36 OS↗JustSomeGuy25/09/2026 · 38 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri25/09/2026 · 39 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri25/09/2026 · 39 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri25/09/2026 · 39 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri25/09/2026 · 39 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri25/09/2026 · 39 OS↗Boozha25/09/2026 · 36 OS↗[Cookie]Maco13/08/2026 · 53 OS↗
32 more of 96, the most recentCommandoMan25/09/2026 · 35 OS↗Deathkebab24/09/2026 · 36 OS↗Boozha24/09/2026 · 36 OS↗[Cookie]Maco23/09/2026 · 53 OS↗Deathkebab23/09/2026 · 36 OS↗Deathkebab23/09/2026 · 36 OS↗PongoPygmaeus23/09/2026 · 36 OS↗zeus_on_god23/09/2026 · 37 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri23/09/2026 · 39 OS↗CommandoMan23/09/2026 · 35 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri22/09/2026 · 40 OS↗hihimik21/09/2026 · 35 OS↗zeus_on_god21/09/2026 · 38 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri21/09/2026 · 39 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri21/09/2026 · 39 OS↗Boozha20/09/2026 · 36 OS↗Espera20/09/2026 · 38 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri20/09/2026 · 41 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri19/09/2026 · 41 OS↗zeus_on_god17/09/2026 · 37 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri17/09/2026 · 40 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri17/09/2026 · 40 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri17/09/2026 · 40 OS↗Boozha16/09/2026 · 38 OS↗MischievousDragonGF16/09/2026 · 41 OS↗Boozha16/09/2026 · 38 OS↗[Cookie]Maco15/09/2026 · 52 OS↗MischievousDragonGF15/09/2026 · 42 OS↗MischievousDragonGF15/09/2026 · 42 OS↗MischievousDragonGF15/09/2026 · 42 OS↗EpicTyrannus15/09/2026 · 42 OS↗EpicTyrannus14/09/2026 · 41 OS↗
Supreme Isthmus v2.1
Beyond All Reason test-30922-8064a43
Naval balance tweaks on