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Pond / Cortex / Economy first / OBSERVED BUILD

Standard pond

Pond boosts front's economy with wind or tidal generators, gets an Advanced Metal Extractor by 9:23, and transitions into supporting units like Grunt and Tick to help hold the middle until T2.

#eco #team support · 108 distinct matches · 30 players · 40% of Cortex Pond games · team won 52% of 110 · Recently observed

THE CATCH, AND WHAT COMES WITH IT
  • FatboyFatboy from an ally in 43%19% of all Pond games by then

Then transitions into grunt (22% 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 108 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 (45%)

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

    The example game in this phase · 14 steps
    1. Tidal ×2for Suicide front
    2. Tidal
    3. Tidal ×6for Suicide front
    4. Tidal
    5. Mex ×3
    6. Wind ×2for Suicide front
    7. Energy storagefor Suicide front
    8. Mex
    9. Wind ×3
    10. Energy storage
    11. Con turret
    12. Converter ×2
    13. Wind ×2
    14. Converter ×2
  2. 2

    5:00 to 10:00

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine2Wind

    Some games also: converter (44%) · con turret (36%) · wind (35%) · con turret (34%) · grunt (31%)

    By 10:00 in all: 4 mex · 15 wind · 2 tidal · 3 converter · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 103 steps
    1. Con turret
    2. Bot LabBot Labdone 6:02
    3. Wind
    4. TickTick
    5. Wind
    6. TickTick
    7. Wind
    8. TickTick
    9. Wind
    10. TickTick
    11. Wind
    12. TickTick
    13. Energy storage
    14. TickTick ×3
    15. Converter
    16. TickTick ×2
    17. Converter
    18. TickTick
    19. Converter
    20. TickTick ×4
    21. Converter
    22. TickTick ×4
    23. Con turret
    24. TickTick ×11
    25. Con turret
    26. TickTick ×11
    27. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 9:11 · typical 9:23
    28. TickTick ×3
    29. Wind
    30. TickTick ×5
    31. Wind
    32. TickTick ×6
    33. Wind
    34. TickTick ×6
    35. Wind
    36. TickTick ×2
    37. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    38. TickTick
    39. Wind
    40. TickTick ×3
    41. Wind
    42. TickTick ×6
    43. Wind
    44. TickTick ×5
    45. Wind
    46. TickTick ×7
    47. Wind
    48. TickTick ×2
    49. Converter
    50. TickTick
    51. Wind
    52. TickTick ×2
    53. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    54. TickTick
    55. Converter
    56. Wind
    57. TickTick ×3
    58. Converter
    59. TickTick ×4
    60. Wind
    61. TickTick ×6
    62. Converter
    63. TickTick ×5
    64. Converter
    65. TickTick
    66. Wind
    67. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    68. TickTick ×2
    69. Wind
    70. TickTick
    71. Converter
    72. Wind
    73. TickTick
    74. Wind
    75. TickTick
    76. Wind
    77. TickTick
    78. Converter
    79. TickTick
    80. Wind ×2
    81. TickTick
    82. Wind
    83. Converter
    84. TickTick
    85. Wind
    86. TickTick ×2
    87. Bot LabBot Labdone 12:56
    88. TickTick
    89. Converter
    90. Con turret
    91. TickTick
    92. Converter
    93. CitadelAnti-nukenot finished by 15:00
    94. TickTick ×3
    95. Wind
    96. TickTick
    97. Wind
    98. TickTick
    99. Wind
    100. TickTick ×2
    101. Converter
    102. TickTick ×2
    103. Converter

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is [Grump]Matsuri's (40 OS, 17/09/2026); 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 sea or Techfirst at 2:28 · in 37% of games
  • Hephaestus1 Heavy transport from Air or Techfirst at 4:41 · in 36% 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 95% 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

110 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0011500
2:0027600
3:0081600
4:00150900
5:00221500
6:00295500
7:0038102930
8:0046191063176
9:0055351545591
10:0066702171899
11:00825026661350
12:001015630851664
13:001249534322143
14:001447138202786
15:001685141903392
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

[Grump]Matsuri

40.4 OS · 17/09/2026

Open source match ↗

6 received units · includes a constructor
279 metal received · 117640 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Advanced Metal Extractor9:23Middle 50%: 8:37–10:28 · n=105

Played most by

[Grump]Matsuri25games of this buildBoozha12games of this buildDeathkebab11games of this buildEXZoPrimer37games of this buildNazarid7games of this build