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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 · 10 steps
    1. Tidal ×8for Suicide front
    2. Wind
    3. Mex ×4
    4. Wind ×4
    5. Energy storage
    6. Wind
    7. Wind ×2for unknown
    8. Wind ×6
    9. ThistleThistle
    10. Wind ×6
  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 · 97 steps
    1. Wind
    2. Converter ×4
    3. Wind ×6
    4. ThistleThistle
    5. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantdone 7:13
    6. Construction VehicleCon vehicle ×2
    7. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 8:41 · typical 9:23
    8. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    9. Con turret
    10. Wind
    11. Converter
    12. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    13. Wind
    14. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    15. Converter
    16. Wind
    17. Con turret
    18. Wind
    19. Converter
    20. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    21. Wind ×2
    22. Converter
    23. Wind ×2
    24. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    25. Wind ×2
    26. Converter
    27. Wind ×5
    28. Con turret ×2
    29. Converter
    30. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    31. Wind ×2
    32. Con turret
    33. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    34. Con turret
    35. Wind ×2
    36. Converter
    37. Wind ×3
    38. Energy storage
    39. Wind
    40. Converter
    41. Wind ×4
    42. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantdone 11:48
    43. Wind ×2
    44. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    45. Wind ×2
    46. Converter
    47. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    48. Wind ×2
    49. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    50. Wind ×3
    51. Con turret ×2
    52. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    53. Wind ×2
    54. Converter
    55. Wind ×10
    56. ValiantValiant
    57. Wind
    58. Converter
    59. ValiantValiant ×3
    60. Wind ×2
    61. ValiantValiant
    62. Wind
    63. ValiantValiant
    64. Wind ×2
    65. ValiantValiant
    66. Wind ×3
    67. ValiantValiant ×2
    68. Wind
    69. ValiantValiant
    70. Wind
    71. ValiantValiant
    72. Wind
    73. ValiantValiant
    74. Wind ×2
    75. ValiantValiant
    76. Wind
    77. ValiantValiant
    78. Wind ×2
    79. ValiantValiant
    80. Wind ×5
    81. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    82. Wind ×2
    83. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    84. Wind ×2
    85. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    86. Wind ×2
    87. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    88. Wind ×2
    89. Fusion ReactorFusiondone 14:29
    90. Wind
    91. Construction AircraftCon aircraft
    92. Wind ×2
    93. Construction AircraftCon aircraft
    94. Wind
    95. Con turret
    96. CitadelAnti-nukenot finished by 15:00
    97. Converter

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is MischievousDragonGF's (42 OS, 15/09/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

  • Tidal Generator8 Tidal to Suicide front or Frontfirst at 0:11 · 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

MischievousDragonGF

41.9 OS · 15/09/2026

Open source match ↗

4 received units · includes a constructor
619 metal received · 56625 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↗MischievousDragonGF15/09/2026 · 42 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↗EpicTyrannus15/09/2026 · 42 OS↗EpicTyrannus14/09/2026 · 41 OS↗
Supreme Isthmus v2.1
Beyond All Reason test-31314-7424bfd
Naval balance tweaks on