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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 · 8 steps
    1. Tidal ×8for Suicide front
    2. Tidal ×3
    3. Mex ×3
    4. Wind ×4
    5. Energy storage
    6. Mex
    7. Wind ×4
    8. Converter ×4
  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 · 63 steps
    1. Bot LabBot Labdone 5:43
    2. Construction BotCon bot ×4
    3. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    4. Construction BotCon bot
    5. Con turret
    6. Construction BotCon bot ×3
    7. GruntGrunt ×7
    8. ThistleThistle
    9. GruntGrunt ×2
    10. Con turret
    11. GruntGrunt ×2
    12. GuardGuard
    13. GruntGrunt ×2
    14. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    15. GruntGrunt
    16. Con turret
    17. GruntGrunt
    18. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 10:42 · typical 9:23
    19. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantnot finished by 15:00
    20. ThistleThistle
    21. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    22. Wind ×5
    23. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    24. Wind ×2
    25. GuardGuard
    26. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    27. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantdone 12:05
    28. Wind
    29. GuardGuard
    30. Wind ×3
    31. HephaestusHeavy transport
    32. Wind ×2
    33. ValiantValiant
    34. Wind
    35. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    36. ValiantValiant
    37. Wind
    38. ValiantValiant
    39. Wind
    40. ValiantValiant
    41. Wind
    42. ValiantValiant
    43. WhirlwindWhirlwind ×2
    44. Con turret ×2
    45. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    46. Con turret
    47. WhirlwindWhirlwind ×5
    48. Wind
    49. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    50. Wind
    51. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    52. Wind ×2
    53. ValiantValiant
    54. Wind
    55. ValiantValiant ×2
    56. Wind
    57. ValiantValiant ×2
    58. Wind
    59. Fusion ReactorFusionnot finished by 15:00
    60. ValiantValiant
    61. Wind ×2
    62. ValiantValiant
    63. Wind

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is arcsiz's (36 OS, 28/08/2026); 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 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

arcsiz

36.3 OS · 28/08/2026

Open source match ↗

3 received units · includes a constructor
261 metal received · 56433 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

Supporting games

Pick a game to read and play it above.

[Crd]VOLT27/09/2026 · 37 OS↗DoctorPinguins26/09/2026 · 37 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri26/09/2026 · 39 OS↗Boozha25/09/2026 · 36 OS↗Boozha25/09/2026 · 36 OS↗Boozha25/09/2026 · 36 OS↗Boozha25/09/2026 · 36 OS↗JustSomeGuy25/09/2026 · 38 OS↗arcsiz28/08/2026 · 36 OS↗
32 more of 102, the most recent[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↗CommandoMan25/09/2026 · 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↗MischievousDragonGF16/09/2026 · 41 OS↗Boozha16/09/2026 · 38 OS↗[Cookie]Maco15/09/2026 · 52 OS↗
Supreme Isthmus v2.1
Beyond All Reason test-31115-21dbf79
Naval balance tweaks on