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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 · 15 steps
    1. Tidal ×8for Suicide front
    2. Tidal ×2
    3. Mex ×4
    4. Wind ×4
    5. Energy storage
    6. Wind
    7. Bot LabBot Labdone 3:34
    8. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    9. GraverobberGraverobber
    10. Converter
    11. GraverobberGraverobber
    12. Con turret ×2
    13. Converter
    14. Wind
    15. Converter
  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 · 99 steps
    1. Wind ×3
    2. Converter
    3. Wind ×8
    4. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    5. Wind ×2
    6. GuardGuard
    7. Wind ×2
    8. GuardGuard
    9. Wind ×2
    10. GuardGuard
    11. Bot LabBot Labdone 7:18
    12. Converter ×6
    13. GruntGrunt ×6
    14. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    15. GruntGrunt
    16. GuardGuard
    17. GruntGrunt ×5
    18. GuardGuard
    19. GruntGrunt ×5
    20. Con turret
    21. GruntGrunt ×2
    22. Con turret
    23. GruntGrunt
    24. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantdone 10:46
    25. Mex
    26. GruntGrunt
    27. GuardGuard
    28. BruteBrute
    29. GuardGuard
    30. GruntGrunt
    31. GuardGuard
    32. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 11:38 · typical 9:23
    33. BruteBrute
    34. GuardGuard
    35. GruntGrunt ×2
    36. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    37. GruntGrunt ×2
    38. Wind
    39. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    40. GruntGrunt
    41. Wind
    42. Mex
    43. GruntGrunt
    44. Wind
    45. GruntGrunt
    46. Wind
    47. GruntGrunt
    48. Wind
    49. GruntGrunt
    50. Wind
    51. GruntGrunt
    52. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantdone 13:14
    53. GruntGrunt
    54. Wind
    55. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    56. GruntGrunt
    57. BruteBrute
    58. GruntGrunt
    59. Wind
    60. GruntGrunt
    61. BruteBrute
    62. Wind
    63. GruntGrunt
    64. BruteBrute
    65. GruntGrunt
    66. Wind
    67. BruteBrute
    68. GruntGrunt
    69. ThistleThistle
    70. Wind
    71. BruteBrute
    72. GruntGrunt
    73. ThistleThistle
    74. BruteBrute
    75. Wind
    76. GruntGrunt
    77. ThistleThistle
    78. GruntGrunt
    79. BruteBrute
    80. GruntGrunt
    81. ThistleThistle
    82. Wind
    83. GruntGrunt
    84. BruteBrute
    85. ThistleThistle
    86. Wind
    87. GruntGrunt ×2
    88. BruteBrute
    89. Wind
    90. GruntGrunt
    91. BruteBrute
    92. GruntGrunt
    93. Wind
    94. GruntGrunt
    95. BruteBrute
    96. GruntGrunt
    97. Mex
    98. BruteBrute
    99. GruntGrunt

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is s0uthy's (36 OS, 01/10/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

  • Tidal Generator8 Tidal to Suicide front or Frontfirst at 0:11 · 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

s0uthy

36.4 OS · 01/10/2026

Open source match ↗

5 received units · includes a constructor
146 metal received · 69541 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