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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
    2. Tidal ×8for Suicide front
    3. Tidal ×2
    4. Tidalfor Front
    5. Mex ×3
    6. Energy storagefor Suicide front
    7. Mex
    8. Energy storage
  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 · 7 steps
    1. Wind ×3
    2. Converter
    3. Wind ×2
    4. Con turret
    5. Converter
    6. Con turret
    7. Wind ×2
  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 · 89 steps
    1. Wind
    2. Converter
    3. Wind ×3
    4. Converter
    5. Wind ×3
    6. Converter
    7. Wind ×2
    8. Converter
    9. Wind ×2
    10. Converter
    11. Wind ×2
    12. Converter
    13. Wind
    14. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 6:36 · typical 9:06
    15. Wind
    16. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    17. Wind ×2
    18. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    19. Wind
    20. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    21. Wind ×3
    22. Con turret
    23. Wind ×2
    24. Hovercraft PlatformHovercraft Platformdone 8:22
    25. Wind
    26. MangonelHover rocket bot
    27. Wind
    28. MangonelHover rocket bot
    29. Wind
    30. MangonelHover rocket bot
    31. Wind
    32. Solar
    33. Wind
    34. MangonelHover rocket bot
    35. Solar
    36. Wind
    37. MangonelHover rocket bot
    38. Wind
    39. HalberdHalberddone 9:15
    40. Wind ×3
    41. HalberdHalberd
    42. Wind ×3
    43. HalberdHalberd
    44. Wind ×3
    45. HalberdHalberd
    46. Wind ×3
    47. BirdeaterHover anti-air
    48. Converter
    49. Wind ×2
    50. Converter
    51. Wind
    52. Construction HovercraftCon hovercraft
    53. Converter
    54. Wind
    55. Converter
    56. Wind
    57. Converter
    58. Wind ×2
    59. Converter
    60. Wind
    61. Converter
    62. Construction HovercraftCon hovercraft
    63. Wind ×2
    64. Converter
    65. Wind
    66. Hovercraft PlatformEat Hovercraft Platformreclaimed for its metal
    67. Naval Construction Turret
    68. Con turret
    69. Metal storage
    70. Fusion ReactorFusiondone 12:50
    71. Con turret ×3
    72. Wind
    73. Naval Construction Turret
    74. Wind
    75. Fusion ReactorFusion
    76. Seaplane PlatformSeaplane Platformdone 13:40
    77. Converter ×3
    78. Con turret
    79. Construction SeaplaneConstruction Seaplane
    80. Converter ×2
    81. Con turret
    82. Converter
    83. CitadelAnti-nukedone 14:42
    84. Converter
    85. Wind
    86. Converter
    87. Wind
    88. Fusion ReactorFusion
    89. Wind

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is Slow_but_sure's (31 OS, 16/09/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

  • Tidal Generator8 Tidal to Suicide front or Frontfirst at 0:14 · 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

Slow_but_sure

31.4 OS · 16/09/2026

Open source match ↗

2 received units · includes a constructor
257 metal received · 26176 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