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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 · 110 distinct matches · 30 players · 40% of Cortex Pond games · team won 53% of 112 · Recently observed

THE CATCH, AND WHAT COMES WITH IT
  • FatboyFatboy from an ally in 42%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 110 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 (46%)

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

    The example game in this phase · 12 steps
    1. Tidalfor Front
    2. Tidal
    3. Tidal ×7for Suicide front
    4. ShipyardShipyardfor Geo seadone 1:50
    5. Construction ShipCon shipfor Geo sea
    6. Mex ×4
    7. Wind ×4for Tech
    8. Energy storage
    9. Wind ×4for Tech
    10. Wind ×4
    11. Con turret
    12. Wind
  2. 2

    5:00 to 10:00

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine3Wind

    Some games also: converter (44%) · con turret (38%) · wind (36%) · con turret (33%) · grunt (30%)

    By 10:00 in all: 4 mex · 15 wind · 2 tidal · 3 converter · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 93 steps
    1. Wind ×37
    2. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 8:32 · typical 9:23
    3. Wind ×4
    4. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    5. Wind ×3
    6. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    7. Wind ×2
    8. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    9. Con turret
    10. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantdone 11:16
    11. RascalRascal ×5
    12. Converter
    13. RascalRascal ×4
    14. Wind
    15. RascalRascal
    16. Wind
    17. RascalRascal
    18. Wind
    19. Converter
    20. RascalRascal
    21. Wind
    22. RascalRascal
    23. Wind
    24. RascalRascal
    25. Wind
    26. RascalRascal ×2
    27. Converter
    28. Wind
    29. RascalRascal ×2
    30. Wind
    31. RascalRascal ×2
    32. Wind
    33. Wind
    34. RascalRascal
    35. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    36. Wind
    37. RascalRascal ×2
    38. JunoJuno
    39. Wind
    40. RascalRascal ×3
    41. Wind
    42. RascalRascal ×3
    43. Wind
    44. RascalRascal ×3
    45. Wind
    46. Wind
    47. RascalRascal ×2
    48. Wind
    49. RascalRascal
    50. Wind
    51. IncisorIncisor
    52. Wind
    53. RascalRascal
    54. Wind
    55. IncisorIncisor
    56. Wind
    57. Con turret
    58. RascalRascal
    59. IncisorIncisor
    60. Wind
    61. RascalRascal
    62. IncisorIncisor
    63. Wind
    64. RascalRascal
    65. Con turret
    66. IncisorIncisor
    67. RascalRascal
    68. Wind
    69. IncisorIncisor
    70. RascalRascal
    71. IncisorIncisor
    72. RascalRascal
    73. IncisorIncisor
    74. Con turret
    75. Wind
    76. RascalRascal
    77. IncisorIncisor
    78. Bot LabBot Labdone 14:33
    79. RascalRascal
    80. Wind
    81. IncisorIncisor
    82. GraverobberGraverobber
    83. RascalRascal
    84. IncisorIncisor
    85. GraverobberGraverobber
    86. Wind
    87. RascalRascal
    88. IncisorIncisor
    89. GraverobberGraverobber
    90. Converter
    91. RascalRascal
    92. IncisorIncisor
    93. GraverobberGraverobber

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is [Crd]VOLT's (37 OS, 27/09/2026); 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 38% of games
  • Hephaestus1 Heavy transport from Air or Techfirst at 4:41 · in 36% of games
  • Fatboy1 Fatboy from Techfirst at 5:18 · in 42% 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

112 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0011500
2:0027800
3:0081600
4:00150900
5:00221600
6:00296000
7:0038172930
8:0046211058176
9:0055351507591
10:0066702117899
11:00825026521350
12:001015630711664
13:001249534192143
14:001447138202820
15:001685141903522
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

[Crd]VOLT

37.1 OS · 27/09/2026

Open source match ↗

15 received units · includes a constructor
649 metal received · 46034 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Advanced Metal Extractor9:23Middle 50%: 8:37–10:27 · n=107

Played most by

[Grump]Matsuri25games of this buildBoozha13games of this buildDeathkebab11games of this buildEXZoPrimer37games of this buildNazarid7games of this build