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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 · 12 steps
    1. Mex ×3
    2. Wind ×8
    3. Energy storage
    4. Wind ×2
    5. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantdone 2:11
    6. Construction AircraftCon aircraft
    7. Con turret
    8. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    9. ThistleThistle
    10. Mex
    11. ValiantValiant
    12. Wind ×2
  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 · 19 steps
    1. HerculesLight transport
    2. Wind ×2
    3. ShurikenShuriken
    4. Wind
    5. ShurikenShuriken
    6. Wind ×2
    7. HerculesLight transport
    8. Wind
    9. ShurikenShuriken
    10. Wind
    11. ValiantValiant
    12. Wind ×2
    13. ValiantValiant
    14. Wind ×4
    15. ValiantValiant
    16. Wind
    17. HerculesLight transport
    18. Wind
    19. HerculesLight transport
  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 · 129 steps
    1. ShurikenShuriken
    2. Construction AircraftCon aircraft
    3. Wind
    4. ShurikenShuriken ×2
    5. Con turret
    6. Wind ×2
    7. Con turret
    8. ValiantValiant
    9. Wind
    10. Con turret
    11. Wind
    12. ValiantValiant
    13. Wind ×2
    14. ValiantValiant
    15. Converter
    16. Wind
    17. Tidal
    18. ValiantValiant
    19. Converter
    20. Wind
    21. Converter
    22. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    23. Wind ×3
    24. Converter
    25. Wind
    26. Tidal
    27. Wind ×5
    28. Converter
    29. Wind ×2
    30. Converter
    31. Tidal
    32. Wind ×2
    33. Converter
    34. Wind ×2
    35. Converter
    36. Wind ×2
    37. Aircraft PlantEat Aircraft Plantreclaimed for its metal
    38. Advanced Vehicle PlantAdvanced Vehicle Plantdone 9:34
    39. Converter
    40. Wind ×2
    41. Tidal
    42. Wind
    43. Converter
    44. Wind ×2
    45. Converter
    46. Tidal
    47. Wind
    48. Converter ×4
    49. Tidal
    50. Wind
    51. Converter ×2
    52. Tidal
    53. Wind
    54. Converter
    55. Advanced Construction VehicleT2 con vehicle
    56. Wind
    57. Tidal
    58. Wind ×4
    59. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 10:42
    60. Wind
    61. FuryFurynot finished by 15:00
    62. Tidal
    63. Wind
    64. Tidal
    65. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex ×2
    66. Tidal
    67. Con turret ×2
    68. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    69. Tidal
    70. Con turret
    71. Metal storage
    72. Fusion ReactorFusiondone 12:51
    73. Tidal
    74. Advanced Vehicle PlantEat Advanced Vehicle Plantreclaimed for its metal
    75. Con turret
    76. Tidal
    77. Con turret
    78. Wind
    79. Con turret
    80. Wind
    81. Con turret
    82. Advanced Aircraft PlantAdvanced Aircraft Plantdone 13:48
    83. Wind
    84. Tidal
    85. Wind ×3
    86. Tidal
    87. Wind
    88. NighthawkNighthawk
    89. Wind
    90. Converter
    91. Wind
    92. NighthawkNighthawk
    93. Wind
    94. T2 converter
    95. Converter
    96. Tidal
    97. Con turret
    98. Wind
    99. NighthawkNighthawk ×2
    100. Wind
    101. Converter
    102. NighthawkNighthawk
    103. Wind
    104. NighthawkNighthawk
    105. Converter
    106. NighthawkNighthawk
    107. Converter
    108. Wind
    109. Tidal
    110. NighthawkNighthawk
    111. Wind
    112. Con turret
    113. Converter
    114. NighthawkNighthawk
    115. Wind
    116. Converter
    117. NighthawkNighthawk
    118. Wind
    119. Converter
    120. Wind
    121. NighthawkNighthawk
    122. Converter
    123. Wind
    124. NighthawkNighthawk
    125. Tidal
    126. Con turret
    127. Wind
    128. Converter ×2
    129. NighthawkNighthawk

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is EpicTyrannus's (41 OS, 14/09/2026); 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

EpicTyrannus

41.2 OS · 14/09/2026

Open source match ↗

2 received units · includes a constructor
5 metal received · 263 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