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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 · 110 distinct matches · 30 players · 40% of Cortex Pond games · team won 53% of 112 · Recently observed

THE CATCH, AND WHAT COMES WITH IT
  • FatboyFatboy from an ally in 42%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 110 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 (46%)

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

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

    5:00 to 10:00

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine3Wind

    Some games also: converter (44%) · con turret (38%) · wind (36%) · con turret (33%) · grunt (30%)

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

    The example game in this phase · 215 steps
    1. Wind ×3
    2. Con turret
    3. Converter ×2
    4. Bot LabBot Labdone 6:04
    5. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 7:46 · typical 9:23
    6. Converter
    7. TickTick
    8. Converter
    9. TickTick ×4
    10. Wind
    11. TickTick ×4
    12. Wind
    13. TickTick ×3
    14. Wind
    15. TickTick ×3
    16. Wind
    17. TickTick ×3
    18. Wind
    19. TickTick ×2
    20. Wind
    21. TickTick ×4
    22. Wind
    23. TickTick ×3
    24. Wind
    25. TickTick ×2
    26. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    27. Wind
    28. TickTick ×3
    29. Wind
    30. TickTick ×2
    31. Wind
    32. TickTick
    33. Wind
    34. TickTick ×2
    35. Wind
    36. TickTick
    37. Con turret
    38. TickTick ×5
    39. Wind
    40. TickTick ×3
    41. Con turret
    42. TickTick ×6
    43. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    44. TickTick ×15
    45. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    46. TickTick
    47. Con turret
    48. TickTick ×3
    49. Con turret
    50. TickTick ×4
    51. JunoJuno
    52. TickTick ×4
    53. Bot LabBot Labdone 10:59
    54. TickTick ×2
    55. Con turret
    56. PawnPawn
    57. TickTick ×2
    58. PawnPawn
    59. TickTick
    60. PawnPawn
    61. TickTick
    62. Wind
    63. PawnPawn
    64. TickTick
    65. Wind
    66. PawnPawn
    67. TickTick
    68. Wind
    69. TickTick
    70. Wind
    71. TickTick
    72. Wind
    73. TickTick
    74. Wind
    75. TickTick
    76. PawnPawn
    77. TickTick
    78. Wind
    79. PawnPawn
    80. TickTick
    81. Wind
    82. PawnPawn
    83. TickTick ×2
    84. Wind
    85. PawnPawn
    86. TickTick
    87. Wind
    88. TickTick
    89. PawnPawn
    90. TickTick
    91. Wind
    92. PawnPawn
    93. TickTick
    94. Wind
    95. PawnPawn
    96. TickTick
    97. Wind
    98. TickTick
    99. PawnPawn
    100. Wind
    101. TickTick
    102. Wind
    103. TickTick
    104. Wind
    105. PawnPawn
    106. TickTick ×2
    107. PawnPawn
    108. Wind
    109. TickTick ×2
    110. Wind
    111. PawnPawn
    112. TickTick
    113. PawnPawn
    114. TickTick
    115. Wind
    116. PawnPawn
    117. TickTick
    118. PawnPawn
    119. TickTick
    120. PawnPawn
    121. TickTick
    122. PawnPawn
    123. TickTick
    124. PawnPawn
    125. TickTick
    126. PawnPawn
    127. TickTick
    128. PawnPawn
    129. TickTick
    130. PawnPawn
    131. Fusion ReactorFusionnot finished by 15:00
    132. TickTick
    133. PawnPawn
    134. TickTick
    135. Con turret
    136. PawnPawn
    137. TickTick
    138. PawnPawn
    139. TickTick
    140. PawnPawn
    141. TickTick
    142. PawnPawn
    143. TickTick
    144. Con turret
    145. PawnPawn
    146. TickTick
    147. PawnPawn
    148. TickTick
    149. PawnPawn
    150. TickTick
    151. Con turret
    152. PawnPawn
    153. TickTick
    154. PawnPawn
    155. TickTick ×2
    156. PawnPawn
    157. TickTick
    158. Con turret
    159. PawnPawn
    160. TickTick
    161. PawnPawn
    162. TickTick
    163. PawnPawn
    164. TickTick
    165. PawnPawn
    166. TickTick
    167. Con turret
    168. PawnPawn
    169. Con turret
    170. TickTick ×2
    171. PawnPawn
    172. TickTick
    173. PawnPawn
    174. TickTick
    175. PawnPawn
    176. TickTick
    177. PawnPawn
    178. TickTick
    179. PawnPawn
    180. TickTick
    181. PawnPawn
    182. TickTick
    183. PawnPawn
    184. TickTick
    185. PawnPawn
    186. TickTick
    187. PawnPawn
    188. Converter
    189. TickTick
    190. PawnPawn
    191. Converter
    192. TickTick
    193. PawnPawn
    194. TickTick
    195. PawnPawn
    196. TickTick
    197. PawnPawn
    198. Converter
    199. TickTick
    200. PawnPawn
    201. TickTick
    202. Converter
    203. PawnPawn
    204. TickTick ×2
    205. Converter
    206. PawnPawn
    207. TickTick
    208. PawnPawn
    209. Converter
    210. TickTick
    211. PawnPawn
    212. TickTick
    213. PawnPawn
    214. Converter
    215. TickTick

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is [Grump]Matsuri's (39 OS, 21/09/2026); 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 38% of games
  • Hephaestus1 Heavy transport from Air or Techfirst at 4:41 · in 36% of games
  • Fatboy1 Fatboy from Techfirst at 5:18 · in 42% 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

112 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0011500
2:0027800
3:0081600
4:00150900
5:00221600
6:00296000
7:0038172930
8:0046211058176
9:0055351507591
10:0066702117899
11:00825026521350
12:001015630711664
13:001249534192143
14:001447138202820
15:001685141903522
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

[Grump]Matsuri

39.0 OS · 21/09/2026

Open source match ↗

6 received units · includes a constructor
453 metal received · 48085 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Advanced Metal Extractor9:23Middle 50%: 8:37–10:27 · n=107

Played most by

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