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 · 15 steps
    1. Tidal ×2for Suicide front
    2. Tidal
    3. Tidal ×6for Suicide front
    4. Tidal ×2
    5. Mex ×3
    6. Wind
    7. Mex
    8. Wind ×3
    9. Energy storage
    10. Bot LabBot Labdone 3:43
    11. Wind
    12. GraverobberGraverobber
    13. ThugThug
    14. Wind ×4
    15. Con turret
  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 · 138 steps
    1. Energy storage
    2. Converter
    3. Con turret
    4. Converter ×3
    5. Bot LabBot Labdone 6:48
    6. Converter
    7. Wind ×3
    8. TickTick
    9. Wind
    10. TickTick
    11. Wind
    12. TickTick
    13. Wind
    14. TickTick
    15. Wind
    16. TickTick
    17. Wind
    18. GuardGuard
    19. TickTick ×2
    20. GuardGuard
    21. Converter
    22. TickTick ×2
    23. Converter
    24. TickTick
    25. GuardGuard
    26. TickTick
    27. Converter
    28. TickTick
    29. Converter
    30. GuardGuard
    31. TickTick ×5
    32. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    33. Wind
    34. TickTick
    35. Wind
    36. TickTick
    37. GuardGuard
    38. Wind
    39. TickTick
    40. Wind
    41. TickTick
    42. Wind
    43. TickTick
    44. Wind
    45. TickTick ×5
    46. Con turret
    47. GuardGuard
    48. TickTick ×3
    49. Wind
    50. TickTick
    51. Wind
    52. TickTick
    53. Wind
    54. TickTick
    55. Wind
    56. TickTick
    57. Wind
    58. TickTick
    59. Wind
    60. TickTick
    61. Wind
    62. TickTick ×2
    63. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    64. Wind
    65. TickTick ×5
    66. GuardGuard
    67. TickTick
    68. Converter
    69. GuardGuard
    70. TickTick
    71. Converter
    72. TickTick
    73. GuardGuard
    74. TickTick
    75. Converter
    76. TickTick ×2
    77. Converter
    78. TickTick
    79. GuardGuard
    80. TickTick
    81. Converter
    82. TickTick
    83. Converter
    84. TickTick ×3
    85. Converter
    86. TickTick
    87. GuardGuard
    88. TickTick
    89. Converter
    90. TickTick
    91. Converter
    92. TickTick
    93. Converter
    94. TickTick
    95. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 11:50 · typical 9:23
    96. Converter
    97. TickTick
    98. GuardGuard
    99. TickTick
    100. Converter
    101. TickTick ×4
    102. Con turret
    103. TickTick ×6
    104. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    105. TickTick ×2
    106. Wind
    107. TickTick ×8
    108. Wind
    109. TickTick ×7
    110. Wind
    111. TickTick ×5
    112. Wind
    113. TickTick ×2
    114. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    115. Wind
    116. TickTick ×9
    117. Wind
    118. TickTick ×7
    119. Wind
    120. TickTick ×4
    121. Wind
    122. TickTick ×2
    123. Wind
    124. TickTick
    125. Wind
    126. TickTick ×4
    127. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    128. TickTick ×2
    129. Wind
    130. TickTick ×2
    131. Wind
    132. TickTick
    133. Wind
    134. TickTick ×4
    135. Wind
    136. TickTick ×6
    137. Con turret
    138. TickTick

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is [Grump]Matsuri's (39 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

[Grump]Matsuri

38.8 OS · 26/09/2026

Open source match ↗

4 received units · includes a constructor
149 metal received · 34136 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