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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 · 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 · 34 steps
    1. Tidal ×10for Suicide front
    2. Mex ×4
    3. Wind ×4
    4. Energy storage
    5. Con turret
    6. Wind ×9
    7. Con turret
    8. Wind ×4
    9. Con turret
    10. Wind ×5
    11. Converter ×2
    12. Wind
    13. Converter ×2
    14. Wind
    15. Converter
    16. Wind
    17. Converter
    18. Wind
    19. Converter
    20. Wind
    21. Converter ×2
    22. Wind
    23. Converter
    24. Wind ×2
    25. Energy storage ×2
    26. Wind ×2
    27. Wind ×3
    28. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 7:00 · typical 9:06
    29. Wind ×2
    30. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    31. Wind
    32. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    33. Wind ×2
    34. Bot LabBot Labdone 7:53 · 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

  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 · 104 steps
    1. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    2. Wind
    3. Construction BotCon bot
    4. Wind
    5. Con turret
    6. Bot LabEat Bot Labreclaimed for its metal
    7. Con turret
    8. Con turret
    9. Wind
    10. GuardGuard
    11. Wind
    12. Wind
    13. Wind ×2
    14. Advanced Bot LabAdvanced Bot Labdone 9:12
    15. Wind ×3
    16. Wind
    17. SkuttleCrawling bombdone 9:30
    18. Wind
    19. Wind
    20. Wind
    21. SkuttleCrawling bomb
    22. Wind
    23. Wind ×3
    24. ManticoreManticore ×2done 9:52
    25. Wind
    26. Wind
    27. Wind
    28. ManticoreManticore
    29. Wind
    30. Wind
    31. TwitcherTwitcher
    32. Wind
    33. Wind
    34. TwitcherTwitcher
    35. Wind
    36. Wind ×2
    37. TwitcherTwitcher
    38. Wind
    39. Wind
    40. Wind
    41. TwitcherTwitcher
    42. Wind
    43. Wind
    44. TwitcherTwitcher
    45. Wind
    46. Wind
    47. Wind
    48. Wind ×2
    49. DeceiverJammer bot
    50. Wind
    51. Wind
    52. AugurRadar bot
    53. Wind
    54. Wind
    55. SheldonSheldondone 11:15
    56. Wind
    57. Wind
    58. Wind
    59. SheldonSheldon
    60. Wind
    61. Wind
    62. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    63. SheldonSheldon
    64. Wind
    65. Wind
    66. SheldonSheldon
    67. Wind
    68. Wind
    69. SheldonSheldon
    70. Wind
    71. ArbiterArbiterdone 11:52
    72. Wind
    73. ArbiterArbiter
    74. Wind
    75. Con turret
    76. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    77. ArbiterArbiter
    78. Wind
    79. Con turret
    80. SheldonSheldon ×5
    81. PrudePrudedone 13:41
    82. SumoSumodone 12:52
    83. SpectreSpectre
    84. Advanced solar
    85. SpectreSpectre ×2
    86. Advanced Construction BotT2 con botfor Suicide front
    87. Advanced solar
    88. Advanced Construction BotT2 con bot
    89. SpectreSpectre
    90. Advanced solar
    91. SpectreSpectre ×2
    92. Advanced Radar TowerAdvanced Radar Tower
    93. SumoSumo
    94. Advanced solar
    95. ArbiterArbiter
    96. Fusion ReactorFusionnot finished by 15:00
    97. ArbiterArbiter
    98. SumoSumo
    99. Con turret
    100. SumoSumo
    101. Con turret ×2
    102. SumoSumo
    103. Advanced solar
    104. Con turret

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is Viltrum's (40 OS, 11/10/2026); 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

Viltrum

40.3 OS · 11/10/2026

Open source match ↗

16 received units · includes a constructor
1353 metal received · 134822 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