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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 · 108 distinct matches · 30 players · 40% of Cortex Pond games · team won 52% of 110 · Recently observed

THE CATCH, AND WHAT COMES WITH IT
  • FatboyFatboy from an ally in 43%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 108 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 (45%)

    By 5:00 in all: 4 mex · 8 wind · 2 tidal · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 9 steps
    1. Tidal ×8for Suicide front
    2. Tidal
    3. Tidalfor Geo
    4. Mex ×4
    5. Energy storage
    6. Wind ×6
    7. Energy storage
    8. Wind ×6
    9. Con turret ×3
  2. 2

    5:00 to 10:00

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine2Wind

    Some games also: converter (44%) · con turret (36%) · wind (35%) · con turret (34%) · grunt (31%)

    By 10:00 in all: 4 mex · 15 wind · 2 tidal · 3 converter · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 85 steps
    1. Wind ×18
    2. Converter
    3. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 7:17
    4. Converter
    5. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    6. Converter
    7. GuardGuard
    8. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    9. GuardGuard ×2
    10. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    11. Wind ×5
    12. ShipyardShipyarddone 9:30
    13. PrevailerPrevailerdone 14:15
    14. Con turret ×2
    15. Construction ShipCon ship
    16. JellyfishJellyfish
    17. Seaplane PlatformSeaplane Platformdone 10:05
    18. JellyfishJellyfish
    19. PuffinPuffin ×2
    20. JellyfishJellyfish
    21. Tidal
    22. Wind
    23. PuffinPuffin
    24. Wind
    25. Tidal
    26. PuffinPuffin
    27. Tidal
    28. Wind
    29. Tidal
    30. PuffinPuffin
    31. Tidal
    32. Wind
    33. PuffinPuffin
    34. Wind
    35. Tidal
    36. PuffinPuffin
    37. Wind
    38. PuffinPuffin
    39. Wind
    40. PuffinPuffin
    41. Wind
    42. PuffinPuffin
    43. Wind
    44. Construction SeaplaneConstruction Seaplanefor Geo sea
    45. PuffinPuffin
    46. Wind
    47. PuffinPuffin
    48. Naval Construction Turret
    49. Wind
    50. Naval Construction Turret ×3
    51. PuffinPuffin
    52. Wind
    53. Naval Construction Turret
    54. Wind
    55. PuffinPuffin
    56. Wind
    57. PuffinPuffin
    58. Wind
    59. PuffinPuffin
    60. Wind
    61. Tidal
    62. PuffinPuffin
    63. Wind
    64. PuffinPuffin
    65. Wind
    66. Tidal
    67. PuffinPuffin
    68. Wind
    69. PuffinPuffin
    70. Tidal
    71. Wind
    72. PuffinPuffin
    73. Tidal
    74. Wind ×2
    75. Tidal ×2
    76. Wind ×2
    77. Tidal
    78. PuffinPuffin
    79. Tidal
    80. Wind
    81. PuffinPuffin
    82. Wind
    83. CycloneCyclone
    84. Tidal
    85. Wind

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is Boozha's (36 OS, 25/09/2026); 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 37% of games
  • Hephaestus1 Heavy transport from Air or Techfirst at 4:41 · in 36% of games
  • Fatboy1 Fatboy from Techfirst at 5:18 · in 43% 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

110 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0011500
2:0027600
3:0081600
4:00150900
5:00221500
6:00295500
7:0038102930
8:0046191063176
9:0055351545591
10:0066702171899
11:00825026661350
12:001015630851664
13:001249534322143
14:001447138202786
15:001685141903392
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

Boozha

35.8 OS · 25/09/2026

Open source match ↗

3 received units · includes a constructor
441 metal received · 30840 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Advanced Metal Extractor9:23Middle 50%: 8:37–10:28 · n=105

Played most by

[Grump]Matsuri25games of this buildBoozha12games of this buildDeathkebab11games of this buildEXZoPrimer37games of this buildNazarid7games of this build