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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 · 8 steps
    1. Tidal ×7for Suicide front
    2. Tidal
    3. Wind
    4. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantdone 2:04
    5. HephaestusHeavy transport
    6. Mex ×3
    7. HephaestusHeavy transport
    8. Mex
  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 · 5 steps
    1. Construction AircraftCon aircraft
    2. Con turret
    3. Aircraft PlantEat Aircraft Plantreclaimed for its metal
    4. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×5
    5. GuardGuard
  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 · 47 steps
    1. GuardGuard
    2. Wind
    3. Con turret
    4. Solar
    5. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 7:19
    6. Solar ×4
    7. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    8. Wind ×4
    9. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    10. Con turret
    11. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    12. Wind ×6
    13. Energy storage
    14. Wind ×8
    15. Con turret
    16. Wind ×5
    17. Energy storage
    18. Wind
    19. Con turret ×2
    20. Wind ×3
    21. Legion Bot LabLegion Bot Labdone 10:54
    22. Legion Construction BotLegion Construction Bot
    23. Energy storage
    24. Wind
    25. Fusion ReactorFusiondone 12:12
    26. Wind
    27. Legion Drone PlantLegion Drone Plantdone 11:21
    28. Legion Bot LabEat Legion Bot Labreclaimed for its metal
    29. Wind ×5
    30. Legion Drone PlantLegion Drone Plantnot finished by 15:00
    31. Con turret ×2
    32. Wind
    33. MartyrMartyr ×3
    34. Legion Drone PlantEat Legion Drone Plantreclaimed for its metal
    35. MartyrMartyr ×12
    36. BlindfoldBlindfold
    37. MartyrMartyr ×14
    38. NoctuaNoctua ×5
    39. Legion Drone PlantEat Legion Drone Plantreclaimed for its metal
    40. Legion Advanced Bot LabLegion Advanced Bot Labdone 14:08
    41. PhalanxPhalanx ×2done 14:21
    42. VisionVision ×9
    43. TiresiasJammer bot
    44. VisionVision ×8
    45. EuclidRadar bot
    46. ArquebusArquebusdone 14:59
    47. Converter

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is zeus_on_god's (38 OS, 04/10/2026); 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

zeus_on_god

37.9 OS · 04/10/2026

Open source match ↗

2 received units · includes a constructor
107 metal received · 68689 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