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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 · 93 distinct matches · 38 players · 12% of Cortex Pond games · team won 46% of 93 · 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 93 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, 2 tidal, 2 winddone ~3:31, middle half 3:21–4:37

    By 3:13 in all: 4 mex · 2 tidal (standard 4) · 2 wind · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 17 steps
    1. Wind ×12for Suicide front
    2. Wind ×2
    3. ShipyardShipyardfor Geo seadone 1:58
    4. Construction ShipCon shipfor Geo sea
    5. Mex ×4
    6. Wind ×2for Suicide front
    7. Wind
    8. Energy storagefor Geo sea
    9. Wind ×3for Front
    10. Energy storagefor Suicide front
    11. Windfor Suicide front
    12. Con turret
    13. Energy storagefor Front
    14. Con turret
    15. Wind ×4for Geo sea
    16. Converterfor Geo sea
    17. Bot LabBot Labdone 6:23 · typical 3:31
  2. 2

    Bot Lab to 5:00

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

    Some games also: con turret (47%) · converter (38%) · Graverobber (32%)

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

  3. 3

    5:00 to 10:00

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine18Wind+18 vs standard
    • Energy Converter4Converter+4 vs standard
    Builders
    • Construction Turret1 Con turret

    Some games also: grunt (47%) · con bot (33%) · eat Bot Lab (45%)

    By 10:00 in all: 4 mex · 25 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 · 161 steps
    1. Wind ×4for Geo sea
    2. Construction BotCon botfor Geo sea
    3. Converterfor Geo sea
    4. Construction BotCon botfor Geo sea
    5. Wind ×4for Geo sea
    6. GruntGrunt
    7. Converterfor Geo sea
    8. GruntGrunt
    9. Wind
    10. GruntGrunt
    11. Wind ×2
    12. GruntGrunt
    13. Wind
    14. GruntGrunt
    15. Converter
    16. GruntGrunt
    17. Wind
    18. GruntGrunt
    19. Wind
    20. GruntGrunt
    21. Wind
    22. Converter
    23. GruntGrunt ×2
    24. Wind
    25. GruntGrunt
    26. Wind
    27. GruntGrunt
    28. Wind
    29. Mexfor Geo sea
    30. Wind
    31. GruntGrunt
    32. Converter
    33. GruntGrunt
    34. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    35. GruntGrunt
    36. Wind
    37. Mexfor Geo sea
    38. Wind ×3
    39. Converter
    40. Wind ×2
    41. Construction BotCon bot
    42. Wind ×2
    43. Converter
    44. Wind ×3
    45. Construction BotCon botfor Suicide front
    46. Wind
    47. Converter
    48. Mex
    49. Wind ×4
    50. Converter
    51. GruntGrunt ×2
    52. Wind
    53. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×3
    54. GruntGrunt
    55. Wind
    56. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    57. Wind
    58. GruntGrunt
    59. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×3
    60. Wind
    61. GruntGrunt
    62. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    63. Converter
    64. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    65. GruntGrunt
    66. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    67. Wind
    68. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    69. Wind
    70. GruntGrunt
    71. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    72. Wind
    73. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    74. GruntGrunt
    75. Wind
    76. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    77. Converter
    78. GruntGrunt
    79. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    80. Wind
    81. GruntGrunt
    82. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    83. Wind
    84. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    85. GruntGrunt
    86. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    87. Wind
    88. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    89. Wind
    90. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    91. GruntGrunt
    92. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    93. Converter
    94. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    95. GruntGrunt
    96. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    97. Wind
    98. GruntGrunt
    99. Wind ×2
    100. GruntGrunt
    101. Wind
    102. Converter
    103. GruntGrunt
    104. GuardGuard
    105. GruntGrunt
    106. Wind ×2
    107. GruntGrunt
    108. Wind
    109. GruntGrunt
    110. Converter
    111. GuardGuard
    112. GruntGrunt
    113. Wind
    114. GruntGrunt
    115. Wind
    116. GruntGrunt
    117. Wind
    118. Construction BotCon bot
    119. Wind
    120. Converter
    121. Wind
    122. Construction BotCon botfor Suicide front
    123. Wind ×3
    124. Construction BotCon botfor Geo sea
    125. Converter
    126. Wind
    127. Construction BotCon botfor Geo sea
    128. Wind ×2
    129. GruntGrunt
    130. Wind
    131. GruntGrunt
    132. Converter
    133. GruntGrunt
    134. Wind
    135. GruntGrunt
    136. Wind
    137. GruntGrunt
    138. Wind
    139. Mexfor Suicide front
    140. GruntGrunt
    141. Wind
    142. Converter
    143. GruntGrunt ×2
    144. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 13:45 · typical 9:07
    145. Wind ×2
    146. GruntGrunt
    147. Mexfor Suicide front
    148. Wind
    149. GruntGrunt
    150. Wind
    151. GruntGrunt
    152. Converter
    153. GruntGrunt ×2
    154. Mexfor Suicide front
    155. Con turret
    156. GruntGrunt ×5
    157. Construction BotCon bot ×4
    158. GruntGrunt
    159. Con turret
    160. Construction BotCon bot ×4
    161. Wind

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is VeryCool's (31 OS, 06/08/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

  • Tidal Generator8 Tidal to Suicide front or Frontfirst at 0:14 · 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

93 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0011500
2:0025900
3:0074400
4:00141100
5:00213000
6:00294900
7:00383000
8:0049205160
9:006389159172
10:007777312509
11:009920714774
12:001252011401032
13:001501415711612
14:001713118141995
15:001990926142968
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

VeryCool

31.1 OS · 06/08/2026

Open source match ↗

14 received units · includes a constructor
633 metal received · 2981 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Bot Lab3:31Middle 50%: 3:21–4:37 · n=69
Advanced Metal Extractor9:07Middle 50%: 7:43–10:19 · n=76

Played most by

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