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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 · 107 distinct matches · 29 players · 40% of Cortex Pond games · team won 53% of 109 · 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 107 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 (47%)

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

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

    5:00 to 10:00

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine2Wind

    Some games also: converter (44%) · con turret (38%) · wind (35%) · con turret (33%) · grunt (31%)

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

    The example game in this phase · 121 steps
    1. Wind ×6
    2. Converter ×4
    3. Wind ×8
    4. Con turret
    5. Bot LabBot Labdone 7:36
    6. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 8:27 · typical 9:23
    7. TickTick
    8. Con turret
    9. TickTick ×11
    10. Con turret
    11. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    12. TickTick ×5
    13. Wind
    14. PawnPawn ×2
    15. TickTick ×5
    16. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    17. TickTick
    18. Wind
    19. TickTick ×7
    20. Wind
    21. TickTick ×2
    22. Wind
    23. TickTick ×2
    24. Wind
    25. TickTick ×2
    26. Wind
    27. TickTick
    28. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    29. Wind
    30. TickTick ×2
    31. Wind
    32. TickTick ×2
    33. Wind
    34. TickTick ×2
    35. Wind
    36. TickTick ×4
    37. Converter
    38. TickTick ×3
    39. Converter
    40. TickTick ×2
    41. Converter
    42. TickTick
    43. Energy storage
    44. TickTick
    45. Converter
    46. TickTick
    47. Wind
    48. TickTick
    49. Fusion ReactorFusiondone 13:31
    50. TickTick ×2
    51. Wind
    52. TickTick ×2
    53. Wind
    54. TickTick ×3
    55. Wind
    56. TickTick ×2
    57. Con turret
    58. Wind
    59. TickTick ×3
    60. Wind
    61. TickTick ×2
    62. Con turret
    63. TickTick
    64. Wind
    65. TickTick
    66. TracerTracer
    67. TickTick
    68. Wind
    69. TickTick
    70. Wind
    71. Bot LabBot Labdone 12:26
    72. TickTick
    73. JunoJuno
    74. Wind ×2
    75. TickTick
    76. Wind
    77. TickTick
    78. Wind
    79. TickTick ×7
    80. Wind
    81. Con turret
    82. TickTick ×5
    83. Wind
    84. TickTick ×2
    85. PawnPawn ×4
    86. Wind
    87. PawnPawn ×4
    88. Con turret
    89. PawnPawn
    90. Wind
    91. PawnPawn ×4
    92. Wind
    93. PawnPawn ×3
    94. Wind
    95. PawnPawn ×2
    96. T2 converter
    97. PawnPawn ×2
    98. Wind
    99. PawnPawn ×4
    100. Wind
    101. TickTick ×10
    102. Wind
    103. TickTick ×7
    104. T2 converter
    105. TickTick
    106. Wind
    107. TickTick ×8
    108. Wind
    109. TickTick ×3
    110. Con turret
    111. TickTick ×2
    112. Wind
    113. TickTick ×2
    114. Con turret
    115. TickTick ×2
    116. Wind
    117. TickTick ×2
    118. Con turret
    119. TickTick ×2
    120. Wind
    121. TickTick ×3

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is [Grump]Matsuri's (40 OS, 13/09/2026); 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 37% of games
  • Fatboy1 Fatboy from Techfirst at 5:18 · in 43% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Techfirst at 7:48 · 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

109 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0011500
2:0027900
3:0081600
4:00150900
5:00221600
6:00296100
7:0038223050
8:0046221065180
9:0055511495615
10:0066832159903
11:00820426771360
12:001013830821680
13:001244634272144
14:001443438182791
15:001684341773299
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

39.9 OS · 13/09/2026

Open source match ↗

8 received units · includes a constructor
216 metal received · 167290 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Advanced Metal Extractor9:23Middle 50%: 8:38–10:28 · n=104

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.

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↗[Grump]Matsuri25/09/2026 · 39 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri13/09/2026 · 40 OS↗
32 more of 101, 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↗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↗Boozha16/09/2026 · 38 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-31251-0ceadc7
Naval balance tweaks on