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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 · 4 steps
    1. Tidal ×8for Suicide front
    2. Mex ×4
    3. Wind ×4
    4. Bot LabBot Labdone 3:02 · 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

    The example game in this phase · 6 steps
    1. Construction BotCon bot ×4
    2. GruntGrunt
    3. GraverobberGraverobber
    4. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    5. GraverobberGraverobber
    6. Wind
  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 · 80 steps
    1. Wind ×4
    2. Converter
    3. Wind ×2
    4. Converter
    5. Wind ×2
    6. Converter
    7. Wind ×2
    8. Converter
    9. Wind ×2
    10. Converter
    11. Wind ×2
    12. Converter
    13. Wind ×2
    14. Converter
    15. Wind ×2
    16. Converter
    17. Wind ×2
    18. Converter
    19. Wind
    20. Converter
    21. Wind ×2
    22. Converter
    23. Wind ×2
    24. Converter
    25. Wind ×2
    26. Converter
    27. Wind ×2
    28. Converter
    29. Wind ×2
    30. Converter
    31. Wind ×2
    32. Converter
    33. Wind ×2
    34. Converter
    35. Wind ×2
    36. Converter
    37. Wind
    38. Converter
    39. Wind ×2
    40. Converter
    41. Wind ×2
    42. Converter
    43. Wind ×2
    44. Converter
    45. Wind ×2
    46. Converter
    47. Wind ×2
    48. Energy storage
    49. Wind ×4
    50. Converter
    51. Wind ×2
    52. Converter
    53. Wind ×2
    54. Converter
    55. Wind ×2
    56. Converter
    57. Wind ×2
    58. Converter
    59. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 11:38 · typical 9:07
    60. Wind ×2
    61. Converter
    62. Wind ×2
    63. Converter
    64. Wind ×6
    65. Bot LabEat Bot Labreclaimed for its metal
    66. Wind ×4
    67. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    68. Wind ×6
    69. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    70. Wind ×10
    71. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    72. Wind ×10
    73. Naval Hovercraft PlatformNaval Hovercraft Platformdone 14:29
    74. Wind ×6
    75. Advanced Radar TowerAdvanced Radar Tower
    76. Construction HovercraftCon hovercraft
    77. Wind ×3
    78. Seaplane PlatformSeaplane Platformnot finished by 15:00
    79. Naval Construction Turret
    80. Wind

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is DouglasBacon's (31 OS, 01/09/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

  • Tidal Generator8 Tidal to Suicide front or Frontfirst at 0:14 · 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

DouglasBacon

31.3 OS · 01/09/2026

Open source match ↗

1 received units · includes a constructor
177 metal received · 81213 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