BAR / BUILD ATLAS
← All builds
Pond / Cortex / Economy first / OBSERVED BUILD

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 · 91 distinct matches · 38 players · 12% of Cortex Pond games · team won 46% of 91 · 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 91 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, 3 wind, 2 tidaldone ~3:33, middle half 3:23–4:45

    By 3:14 in all: 4 mex · 2 tidal (standard 4) · 2 wind · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 9 steps
    1. Tidal ×8for Suicide front
    2. Tidal ×4
    3. Mex ×3
    4. Converter
    5. Mex
    6. Wind ×6
    7. Energy storage ×2
    8. Converter ×8
    9. Bot LabBot Labdone 5:54 · typical 3:33
  2. 2

    Bot Lab to 5:00

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine1Wind−4 vs standard

    Some games also: con bot (49%) · con turret (45%) · converter (36%)

    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 Turbine15Wind+15 vs standard
    • Energy Converter3Converter+3 vs standard
    Builders
    • Construction Turret1 Con turret

    Some games also: grunt (47%) · con bot (32%) · eat Bot Lab (43%)

    By 10:00 in all: 4 mex · 24 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 · 135 steps
    1. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    2. Wind ×2
    3. Construction BotCon bot
    4. Wind
    5. Con turret
    6. Wind ×3
    7. Construction BotCon bot
    8. Wind ×4
    9. Con turret
    10. Construction BotCon bot
    11. GruntGrunt ×4
    12. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantdone 9:20
    13. GruntGrunt ×2
    14. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex ×2done 8:47 · typical 9:06
    15. Bot LabEat Bot Labreclaimed for its metal
    16. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex ×2
    17. Con turret
    18. RascalRascal ×2
    19. Bot LabBot Labdone 10:15
    20. RascalRascal
    21. Con turret
    22. RascalRascal ×2
    23. TickTick
    24. Con turret
    25. TickTick ×2
    26. RascalRascal
    27. TickTick ×3
    28. RascalRascal
    29. Con turret
    30. TickTick ×2
    31. Con turret
    32. RascalRascal
    33. TickTick
    34. RascalRascal
    35. TickTick
    36. RascalRascal
    37. TickTick
    38. RascalRascal
    39. TickTick
    40. RascalRascal
    41. TickTick
    42. RascalRascal
    43. TickTick
    44. RascalRascal
    45. TickTick
    46. RascalRascal
    47. TickTick
    48. RascalRascal
    49. TickTick
    50. RascalRascal
    51. Construction BotCon bot
    52. RascalRascal
    53. TickTick
    54. RascalRascal
    55. Construction BotCon bot
    56. RascalRascal
    57. TickTick
    58. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantdone 11:17
    59. RascalRascal
    60. Construction BotCon bot
    61. Fusion ReactorFusiondone 14:15
    62. RascalRascal ×2
    63. Vehicle PlantEat Vehicle Plantreclaimed for its metal
    64. TickTick
    65. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantdone 11:30
    66. Construction BotCon bot
    67. BlitzBlitz ×3
    68. TickTick
    69. BlitzBlitz
    70. Construction BotCon bot
    71. BlitzBlitz ×2
    72. TickTick
    73. Construction BotCon bot
    74. BlitzBlitz ×2
    75. TickTick
    76. Construction BotCon bot
    77. BlitzBlitz
    78. TickTick
    79. BlitzBlitz
    80. Construction BotCon bot
    81. TickTick
    82. BlitzBlitz
    83. TickTick ×4
    84. BlitzBlitz ×2
    85. TickTick ×3
    86. BlitzBlitz ×2
    87. TickTick ×2
    88. BlitzBlitz
    89. TickTick
    90. BlitzBlitz
    91. TickTick ×2
    92. BlitzBlitz
    93. TickTick
    94. BlitzBlitz
    95. TickTick
    96. BlitzBlitz
    97. TickTick
    98. BlitzBlitz
    99. TickTick
    100. BlitzBlitz
    101. TickTick ×2
    102. BlitzBlitz ×2
    103. TickTick
    104. BlitzBlitz
    105. TickTick
    106. BlitzBlitz
    107. TickTick ×2
    108. BlitzBlitz ×2
    109. TickTick
    110. BlitzBlitz
    111. TickTick
    112. BlitzBlitz
    113. TickTick
    114. BlitzBlitz
    115. TickTick
    116. BlitzBlitz ×2
    117. TickTick
    118. BlitzBlitz
    119. TickTick
    120. T2 converter
    121. BlitzBlitz ×2
    122. TickTick
    123. BlitzBlitz
    124. TickTick
    125. BlitzBlitz ×3
    126. TickTick
    127. BlitzBlitz ×2
    128. TickTick
    129. BlitzBlitz
    130. LazarusLazarus
    131. BlitzBlitz ×2
    132. LazarusLazarus
    133. BlitzBlitz
    134. LazarusLazarus ×2
    135. BlitzBlitz

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is FrontLiner69er's (32 OS, 29/09/2026); 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 7:19 · in 79% 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

91 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0011500
2:0025900
3:0073700
4:00140900
5:00213000
6:00294900
7:00382900
8:0048745486
9:006257220189
10:007661350640
11:009859766836
12:001209211961075
13:001453415781661
14:001688118141995
15:001936126322964
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

FrontLiner69er

32.2 OS · 29/09/2026

Open source match ↗

1 received units · includes a constructor
249 metal received · 95124 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Bot Lab3:33Middle 50%: 3:23–4:45 · n=67
Advanced Metal Extractor9:06Middle 50%: 7:42–10:16 · n=74

Played most by

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