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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 · 94 distinct matches · 38 players · 13% of Cortex Pond games · team won 47% of 94 · 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 94 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 ~3:32, middle half 3:21–4:35

    By 3:13 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. Mex ×3
    5. Mex
    6. Energy storage ×2for Front
  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 (37%) · Graverobber (32%)

    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 · 7 steps
    1. Con turret ×2
    2. Bot LabBot Labdone 4:35
    3. Wind ×4
    4. Con turret
    5. Converter
    6. Wind ×4
    7. Converter
  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 (48%) · 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 · 117 steps
    1. Wind ×4
    2. Converter
    3. TickTick ×3
    4. Wind
    5. TickTick
    6. Wind
    7. TickTick
    8. Wind
    9. TickTick
    10. Con turret
    11. TickTick
    12. Wind
    13. Converter
    14. TickTick ×2
    15. Wind ×2
    16. CenturionCenturion
    17. Wind
    18. Converter
    19. Wind ×2
    20. Wind
    21. Wind
    22. Wind ×2
    23. Wind
    24. Converter
    25. Wind
    26. Wind
    27. Converter
    28. Wind ×2
    29. TickTick
    30. Wind
    31. Wind
    32. TickTick
    33. Wind
    34. Converter
    35. TickTick
    36. Wind
    37. Wind
    38. TickTick
    39. Wind
    40. Wind
    41. Wind
    42. Converter
    43. TickTick
    44. Wind
    45. TickTick
    46. Wind
    47. Converter
    48. TickTick
    49. Wind
    50. Wind
    51. Wind
    52. TickTick
    53. Wind ×2
    54. TickTick
    55. Wind
    56. Wind
    57. Converter
    58. TickTick
    59. Converter
    60. Wind
    61. TickTick
    62. Wind
    63. Wind
    64. TickTick
    65. Wind
    66. TickTick ×2
    67. Wind
    68. Wind
    69. Wind
    70. TickTick
    71. Converter
    72. Converter
    73. TickTick ×2
    74. Wind
    75. Wind
    76. TickTick
    77. Wind
    78. Wind
    79. TickTick
    80. Wind
    81. Wind
    82. TickTick
    83. Wind
    84. TickTick ×2
    85. Wind
    86. Converter
    87. TickTick ×3
    88. Converter
    89. Wind
    90. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 10:04 · typical 9:07
    91. TickTick
    92. Wind
    93. TickTick
    94. Wind
    95. TickTick ×2
    96. Wind
    97. TickTick ×2
    98. Converter
    99. TickTick ×4
    100. Wind
    101. Construction BotCon bot
    102. Wind ×3
    103. Converter
    104. TickTick
    105. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    106. TickTick ×2
    107. Wind
    108. TickTick
    109. Wind
    110. TickTick
    111. Wind
    112. TickTick
    113. Wind
    114. TickTick
    115. Converter
    116. TickTick ×3
    117. Wind

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is VeryCool's (31 OS, 13/10/2026); 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

94 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0011500
2:0026000
3:0075200
4:00141400
5:00214200
6:00295100
7:00383900
8:0049135173
9:006340185172
10:007751321513
11:009899740796
12:001235111421054
13:001491015751637
14:001720918372073
15:001993426232966
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

30.8 OS · 13/10/2026

Open source match ↗

2 received units · includes a constructor
126 metal received · 39151 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Bot Lab3:32Middle 50%: 3:21–4:35 · n=70
Advanced Metal Extractor9:07Middle 50%: 7:43–10:16 · n=77

Played most by

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