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 · 91 distinct matches · 38 players · 12% of Cortex Pond games · team won 46% of 91 · 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 91 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 3:23–4:45

    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 ×10for Suicide front
    2. Mex ×3
    3. ThistleThistle
    4. Mex
    5. Wind ×5
    6. Bot LabBot Labdone 3:24 · typical 3:33
  2. 2

    Bot Lab to 5:00

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine1Wind−4 vs standard

    Some games also: con bot (49%) · con turret (45%) · converter (36%)

    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 · 3 steps
    1. Construction BotCon bot ×4
    2. Con turret
    3. Mexfor Geo sea
  3. 3

    5:00 to 10:00

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine15Wind+15 vs standard
    • Energy Converter3Converter+3 vs standard
    Builders
    • Construction Turret1 Con turret

    Some games also: grunt (47%) · con bot (32%) · eat Bot Lab (43%)

    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 · 120 steps
    1. Con turret ×2
    2. Wind
    3. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    4. Energy storage
    5. Wind
    6. GruntGrunt
    7. Wind ×4
    8. GruntGrunt
    9. Wind
    10. GruntGrunt
    11. Wind ×2
    12. GruntGrunt
    13. Wind ×2
    14. GruntGrunt
    15. Wind ×2
    16. GruntGrunt
    17. Wind ×2
    18. GruntGrunt
    19. Wind ×2
    20. GruntGrunt
    21. Wind ×4
    22. GruntGrunt
    23. Wind ×2
    24. GruntGrunt
    25. Wind ×3
    26. GruntGrunt
    27. Wind ×2
    28. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 10:45 · typical 9:06
    29. Wind ×5
    30. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    31. Wind
    32. Converter ×3
    33. Wind
    34. Converter ×2
    35. Wind
    36. Converter
    37. GruntGrunt
    38. Wind
    39. GruntGrunt
    40. Wind
    41. GruntGrunt
    42. Wind ×2
    43. GruntGrunt
    44. Wind ×2
    45. GruntGrunt
    46. Wind
    47. GruntGrunt
    48. Converter
    49. Wind
    50. Converter
    51. Wind
    52. GruntGrunt
    53. Wind
    54. Converter
    55. GruntGrunt
    56. Wind ×2
    57. GruntGrunt
    58. Converter
    59. GruntGrunt
    60. Wind ×2
    61. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    62. Wind
    63. GruntGrunt
    64. Con turret
    65. GruntGrunt
    66. Wind ×2
    67. GruntGrunt ×2
    68. Wind
    69. GruntGrunt
    70. Wind
    71. GruntGrunt
    72. Wind
    73. GruntGrunt
    74. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    75. Wind
    76. GruntGrunt
    77. Wind ×2
    78. GruntGrunt
    79. Wind ×3
    80. GruntGrunt ×2
    81. Wind
    82. GruntGrunt ×3
    83. Wind
    84. GruntGrunt
    85. Wind ×2
    86. GruntGrunt ×5
    87. Wind
    88. GruntGrunt
    89. Wind ×2
    90. GruntGrunt
    91. Wind
    92. GruntGrunt
    93. Wind ×2
    94. GruntGrunt
    95. Wind
    96. GruntGrunt ×10
    97. Con turret
    98. GruntGrunt
    99. Con turret
    100. GruntGrunt ×4
    101. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    102. Con turret
    103. Metal storage
    104. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    105. Converter
    106. Construction BotCon bot
    107. Converter
    108. Construction BotCon bot ×7
    109. GruntGrunt ×18
    110. Wind
    111. GruntGrunt ×3
    112. Wind
    113. GruntGrunt
    114. RattlesnakeRattlesnakenot finished by 15:00
    115. GruntGrunt ×2
    116. Wind
    117. GruntGrunt ×2
    118. Wind
    119. GruntGrunt ×2
    120. Wind

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is Alexspeed's (34 OS, 09/10/2026); 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 7:19 · in 79% 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

91 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
8:0048745486
9:006257220189
10:007661350640
11:009859766836
12:001209211961075
13:001453415781661
14:001688118141995
15:001936126322964
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

Alexspeed

33.5 OS · 09/10/2026

Open source match ↗

3 received units · includes a constructor
1025 metal received · 82000 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Bot Lab3:33Middle 50%: 3:23–4:45 · n=67
Advanced Metal Extractor9:06Middle 50%: 7:42–10:16 · n=74

Played most by

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