BAR / BUILD ATLAS
← All builds
Pond / Cortex / Economy first / OBSERVED BUILD

Standard pond

Cortex Pond build order · Supreme Isthmus

Standard Pond play: eco first with Bot Lab and later Advanced Metal Extractor, boosting the fronts with Tidal Generators and sending Grunts forward; no special catch.

#eco #team support · 89 distinct matches · 38 players · 12% of Cortex Pond games · team won 46% of 89 · Recently observed

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: Bot Lab by 5:03

  1. Build tidal generators first to start boosting the fronts.
  2. Grab mex and energy storage before committing further.
  3. Put down the bot lab and start sending Grunts forward.
  4. Fill out wind and add a Guard for early defense.
  5. Transition to T2 with an advanced mex once front stabilizes.

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 89 GAMES · AGAINST STANDARD POND
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
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 the Bot Lab

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor4Mex
    • Tidal Generator8Tidalfor allies
    • Tidal Generator2Tidal−2 vs standard
    • Wind Turbine2Wind
    • Energy Storage1Energy storage
    Order
    1. Bot LabBot Lab after 4 mex, 3 wind, 2 tidaldone ~3:33, middle half 3:23–4:37

    By 3:14 in all: 4 mex · 2 tidal (standard 4) · 2 wind · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 6 steps
    1. Tidal ×8for Suicide front
    2. Tidal ×2
    3. Energy storage
    4. Wind ×3
    5. Mex ×4
    6. Bot LabBot Labdone 3:30 · typical 3:33
  2. 2

    Bot Lab to 5:00

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine1Wind−4 vs standard
    Builders
    • Construction Bot1 Con bot

    Some games also: con turret (46%) · converter (37%) · Graverobber (30%)

    By 5:00 in all: 4 mex · 7 wind · 2 tidal (standard 4) · 1 energy storage · 1 con turret

    The example game in this phase · 8 steps
    1. Construction BotCon bot ×3
    2. Con turret
    3. GraverobberGraverobber
    4. Con turret
    5. Bot LabEat Bot Labreclaimed for its metal
    6. Wind
    7. Advanced Bot LabAdvanced Bot Labdone 6:45
    8. Wind ×3
  3. 3

    5:00 to 10:00

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine17Wind+17 vs standard
    • Energy Converter3Converter+3 vs standard
    Builders
    • Construction Turret1 Con turret

    Some games also: grunt (47%) · con bot (33%) · eat Bot Lab (44%)

    By 10:00 in all: 4 mex · 24 wind (standard 8) · 2 tidal (standard 4) · 6 converter (standard 1) · 1 energy storage · 2 con turret (standard 0)

    The example game in this phase · 64 steps
    1. Wind ×10
    2. Converter
    3. Advanced Construction BotT2 con bot
    4. Wind ×2
    5. Converter ×2
    6. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 8:56
    7. Converter ×2
    8. TwitcherTwitcher
    9. Wind ×6
    10. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    11. Metal storage
    12. Wind ×4
    13. TwitcherTwitcher
    14. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    15. Con turret
    16. Advanced Radar TowerAdvanced Radar Tower
    17. Con turret
    18. Wind
    19. Con turret
    20. FiendFiend
    21. Wind ×2
    22. FiendFiend
    23. Wind ×3
    24. FiendFiend
    25. Wind
    26. FiendFiend
    27. Wind ×3
    28. TwitcherTwitcher
    29. Wind ×2
    30. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    31. Wind ×4
    32. DeceiverJammer botfor Front
    33. Wind ×2
    34. AugurRadar botfor Front
    35. Wind
    36. SheldonSheldonfor Frontdone 13:12
    37. Wind ×3
    38. Converter
    39. SheldonSheldon
    40. Converter
    41. ManticoreManticoredone 13:46
    42. Wind
    43. Converter ×2
    44. SheldonSheldonfor Front
    45. Converter
    46. Wind
    47. SheldonSheldon ×2for Front
    48. Wind
    49. SheldonSheldonfor Front
    50. Wind
    51. SheldonSheldonfor Front
    52. Wind ×2
    53. SheldonSheldonfor Front
    54. Converter
    55. Wind
    56. SheldonSheldonfor Front
    57. BirdshotBirdshot
    58. SheldonSheldonfor Front
    59. Wind
    60. SheldonSheldon
    61. Converter
    62. SumoSumonot finished by 15:00
    63. Wind ×2
    64. NemesisNemesis

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is XuunnY's (32 OS, 12/10/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

  • Tidal Generator8 Tidal to Suicide front or Frontfirst at 0:14 · in 96% of games

You get

  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Techfirst at 7:22 · in 80% 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

01k2k3k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Own metal lost

01k2k3k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

89 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0011500
2:0025900
3:0073700
4:00140900
5:00213000
6:00294900
7:00382900
8:0049055486
9:006290220189
10:007724350640
11:009878714836
12:001218111401032
13:001453415711661
14:001688117971995
15:001936126322968
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

This Cortex pond baseline wins under half its games, with enemy metal destroyed just ahead of own losses by 15:00.

  • + Enemy metal destroyed (3099) edges past own metal lost (3482) less than in Armada pond.
  • − Bot Lab finishes later (5:03) than the Armada pond norm (3:41), slower front support.
THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

XuunnY

31.8 OS · 12/10/2026

Open source match ↗

1 received units · includes a constructor
1610 metal received · 56087 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Bot Lab3:33Middle 50%: 3:23–4:37 · n=65
Advanced Metal Extractor9:06Middle 50%: 7:42–10:16 · n=72

Played most by

Yamato18games of this buildzeus_on_god7games of this buildEpicTyrannus6games of this buildEXZoPrimer36games of this buildBoozha5games of this build