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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 · 20 steps
    1. Solar ×6for Suicide front
    2. Solar
    3. Mex ×3
    4. Wind ×2
    5. Mex
    6. Wind ×3
    7. Converter ×2
    8. Energy storage
    9. Wind
    10. Bot LabBot Labdone 3:40
    11. Wind
    12. GraverobberGraverobber
    13. Wind ×3
    14. Construction BotCon bot
    15. Converter
    16. GraverobberGraverobber
    17. Converter
    18. Advanced solarfor Front
    19. Construction BotCon bot
    20. 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 · 97 steps
    1. Converter
    2. GraverobberGraverobber
    3. Converter
    4. Construction BotCon bot
    5. Con turret
    6. Advanced solarfor Suicide front
    7. GraverobberGraverobber ×2
    8. Advanced solar
    9. GraverobberGraverobber
    10. Energy storage
    11. Advanced solar
    12. GraverobberGraverobber ×2
    13. Energy storage
    14. Advanced solar
    15. GraverobberGraverobber
    16. Converter
    17. Energy storage
    18. GraverobberGraverobber
    19. Energy storage
    20. GraverobberGraverobber
    21. Converter
    22. GruntGrunt ×2
    23. Con turret
    24. GruntGrunt ×2
    25. Converter
    26. Advanced solar
    27. GruntGrunt ×6
    28. Converter
    29. GruntGrunt
    30. GraverobberGraverobber
    31. GruntGrunt ×2
    32. Energy storage
    33. Converter
    34. GruntGrunt ×4
    35. GraverobberGraverobber
    36. GruntGrunt ×3
    37. Converter
    38. Advanced solar
    39. GruntGrunt ×3
    40. Con turret
    41. GraverobberGraverobber
    42. Converter
    43. GruntGrunt ×2
    44. Advanced solar
    45. Converter
    46. GruntGrunt
    47. Advanced solar
    48. GruntGrunt ×3
    49. GraverobberGraverobber
    50. Converter
    51. Advanced solar
    52. GruntGrunt
    53. Advanced solar
    54. GruntGrunt
    55. Converter
    56. GruntGrunt ×2
    57. Converter
    58. GruntGrunt
    59. Advanced solar ×2
    60. GruntGrunt
    61. Converter
    62. GraverobberGraverobber
    63. Con turret
    64. Metal storage
    65. Converter
    66. GruntGrunt
    67. Bot LabBot Labdone 12:14
    68. GruntGrunt
    69. Converter
    70. GruntGrunt ×2
    71. Advanced solar
    72. Converter
    73. GruntGrunt ×4
    74. Converter
    75. GraverobberGraverobber
    76. GruntGrunt
    77. Advanced solar
    78. GruntGrunt ×4
    79. GraverobberGraverobber
    80. GruntGrunt
    81. Converter
    82. GruntGrunt ×14
    83. Converter
    84. GraverobberGraverobber
    85. GruntGrunt
    86. Advanced solar
    87. GruntGrunt ×6
    88. GraverobberGraverobber
    89. GruntGrunt ×2
    90. Converter
    91. GruntGrunt ×6
    92. Advanced solar
    93. GruntGrunt ×4
    94. Converter
    95. GraverobberGraverobber
    96. GruntGrunt ×7
    97. Converter

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is CommandoMan's (35 OS, 23/09/2026); 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

CommandoMan

35.3 OS · 23/09/2026

Open source match ↗

7 received units
172 metal received · 258945 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