BAR / BUILD ATLAS
← All builds
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 · 14 steps
    1. Tidal ×9for Front
    2. Tidal
    3. Mex ×4
    4. Wind
    5. Converter
    6. Wind ×4
    7. Converter
    8. Wind ×4
    9. Wind ×2for Suicide front
    10. Converter
    11. Wind ×4for Tech
    12. Converter
    13. Windfor Suicide front
    14. 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 · 96 steps
    1. Wind ×4
    2. Converter
    3. Wind ×5
    4. Converter
    5. Mexfor Suicide front
    6. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 9:25 · typical 9:23
    7. Bot LabBot Labdone 8:35
    8. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    9. GuardGuard
    10. Construction BotCon bot
    11. GraverobberGraverobber ×3
    12. Construction BotCon bot
    13. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    14. Construction BotCon bot
    15. Solar
    16. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    17. GruntGrunt
    18. GraverobberGraverobber
    19. GruntGrunt ×5
    20. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    21. GruntGrunt
    22. GraverobberGraverobber
    23. Wind
    24. Mex
    25. GruntGrunt ×2
    26. Wind
    27. GruntGrunt
    28. JellyfishJellyfish
    29. GruntGrunt
    30. Wind
    31. GruntGrunt ×2
    32. Wind
    33. GraverobberGraverobber
    34. Mex
    35. JellyfishJellyfish
    36. GraverobberGraverobber
    37. Wind
    38. JellyfishJellyfish
    39. GruntGrunt
    40. Converter
    41. GraverobberGraverobber
    42. Wind
    43. GruntGrunt
    44. Wind
    45. GuardGuard
    46. GraverobberGraverobber ×2
    47. Wind ×2
    48. Converter
    49. GruntGrunt
    50. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    51. GruntGrunt ×2
    52. Wind
    53. GruntGrunt ×3
    54. Wind
    55. GruntGrunt ×3
    56. Wind
    57. Converter
    58. GraverobberGraverobber ×2
    59. Wind
    60. GraverobberGraverobber ×2
    61. Wind
    62. GruntGrunt
    63. GuardGuard
    64. Wind
    65. Converter
    66. GruntGrunt ×2
    67. Bot LabBot Labdone 13:51
    68. Wind
    69. GruntGrunt ×2
    70. JellyfishJellyfish
    71. Wind
    72. GruntGrunt ×2
    73. Wind
    74. Converter
    75. JellyfishJellyfish
    76. GruntGrunt
    77. JellyfishJellyfish
    78. GruntGrunt
    79. Wind
    80. GruntGrunt
    81. Construction BotCon bot
    82. Wind
    83. GruntGrunt
    84. Mex
    85. GruntGrunt ×2
    86. Con turret
    87. Wind
    88. Converter
    89. GruntGrunt
    90. Wind
    91. GruntGrunt
    92. Wind
    93. GruntGrunt
    94. Wind
    95. Converter
    96. Construction BotCon bot

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is DoctorPinguins's (37 OS, 26/09/2026); 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

DoctorPinguins

37.0 OS · 26/09/2026

Open source match ↗

4 received units · includes a constructor
146 metal received · 28243 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