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Pond / Cortex / Economy first / OBSERVED BUILD

Standard pond

Cortex Pond build order · Supreme Isthmus

Economy-first play boosting wind and tidal for the fronts, taking an Advanced Metal Extractor around 9:23 and often receiving a Fatboy from an ally early, then building a lab and sending units front.

#eco #team support · 111 distinct matches · 31 players · 40% of Cortex Pond games · team won 53% of 113 · Recently observed

THE CATCH, AND WHAT COMES WITH IT
  • FatboyFatboy from an ally in 42%18% of all Pond games by then

Then transitions into grunt (22% of army), tick (14% 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 111 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 (47%)

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

    The example game in this phase · 14 steps
    1. Tidal ×9for Suicide front
    2. Tidal
    3. Energy storage
    4. Mex ×3
    5. Wind ×4
    6. Mex
    7. Energy storage
    8. Wind ×5
    9. Con turret
    10. Wind
    11. Converter ×3
    12. Wind
    13. Energy storage
    14. Wind
  2. 2

    5:00 to 10:00

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine3Wind

    Some games also: converter (44%) · con turret (37%) · wind (35%) · con turret (33%) · grunt (31%)

    By 10:00 in all: 4 mex · 16 wind · 2 tidal · 4 converter · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 57 steps
    1. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    2. Wind ×5
    3. JellyfishJellyfish
    4. Wind ×2
    5. Con turret
    6. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantnot finished by 15:00
    7. JunoJuno
    8. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    9. GuardGuard
    10. Bot LabBot Labdone 8:31
    11. LazarusLazarus
    12. Con turret
    13. TickTick
    14. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 10:46 · typical 9:23
    15. Con turret
    16. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower ×2
    17. SlingshotSlingshot
    18. Wind
    19. TickTick
    20. Wind
    21. TickTick ×3
    22. Wind
    23. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    24. TickTick
    25. Wind
    26. TickTick
    27. Wind
    28. TickTick
    29. Wind
    30. TickTick ×2
    31. Wind
    32. TickTick
    33. Wind
    34. TickTick
    35. CenturionCenturion
    36. Wind ×2
    37. CenturionCenturion
    38. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    39. Wind
    40. CenturionCenturion
    41. Wind
    42. SlingshotSlingshot
    43. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    44. Wind
    45. CenturionCenturion
    46. Wind ×2
    47. CenturionCenturion
    48. Wind ×2
    49. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    50. CenturionCenturion
    51. Wind ×2
    52. Mex
    53. Wind ×2
    54. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    55. UmbraJammer
    56. ArbalestArbalest
    57. Con turret

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is jazmastah's (40 OS, 21/08/2026); 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 2:29 · in 37% of games
  • Hephaestus1 Heavy transport from Air or Techfirst at 4:41 · in 35% of games
  • Fatboy1 Fatboy from Techfirst at 5:18 · in 42% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Techfirst at 7:48 · 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

113 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0011500
2:0027900
3:0081900
4:00150900
5:00221500
6:00296300
7:0038222710
8:0046221050172
9:0055511495559
10:0066832159882
11:00829626551330
12:001017330821596
13:001254434272104
14:001450738182780
15:001685841773299
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

jazmastah

39.8 OS · 21/08/2026

Open source match ↗

3 received units · includes a constructor
55 metal received · 97893 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Advanced Metal Extractor9:23Middle 50%: 8:37–10:29 · n=108

Played most by

[Grump]Matsuri25games of this buildBoozha13games of this buildDeathkebab11games of this buildEXZoPrimer37games of this buildNazarid7games of this build

Supporting games

Pick a game to read and play it above.

s0uthy01/10/2026 · 36 OS↗Espera28/09/2026 · 39 OS↗[Crd]VOLT27/09/2026 · 37 OS↗DoctorPinguins26/09/2026 · 37 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri26/09/2026 · 39 OS↗Boozha25/09/2026 · 36 OS↗Boozha25/09/2026 · 36 OS↗Boozha25/09/2026 · 36 OS↗jazmastah21/08/2026 · 40 OS↗
32 more of 105, the most recentBoozha25/09/2026 · 36 OS↗JustSomeGuy25/09/2026 · 38 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri25/09/2026 · 39 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri25/09/2026 · 39 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri25/09/2026 · 39 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri25/09/2026 · 39 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri25/09/2026 · 39 OS↗Boozha25/09/2026 · 36 OS↗CommandoMan25/09/2026 · 35 OS↗Deathkebab24/09/2026 · 36 OS↗Boozha24/09/2026 · 36 OS↗[Cookie]Maco23/09/2026 · 53 OS↗Deathkebab23/09/2026 · 36 OS↗Deathkebab23/09/2026 · 36 OS↗PongoPygmaeus23/09/2026 · 36 OS↗zeus_on_god23/09/2026 · 37 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri23/09/2026 · 39 OS↗CommandoMan23/09/2026 · 35 OS↗Boozha22/09/2026 · 37 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri22/09/2026 · 40 OS↗hihimik21/09/2026 · 35 OS↗zeus_on_god21/09/2026 · 38 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri21/09/2026 · 39 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri21/09/2026 · 39 OS↗Boozha20/09/2026 · 36 OS↗Espera20/09/2026 · 38 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri20/09/2026 · 41 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri19/09/2026 · 41 OS↗zeus_on_god17/09/2026 · 37 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri17/09/2026 · 40 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri17/09/2026 · 40 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri17/09/2026 · 40 OS↗
Supreme Isthmus v2.1
Beyond All Reason test-31001-7b9fbd4
Naval balance tweaks on