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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 · 5 steps
    1. Tidal ×8for Suicide front
    2. Tidal ×4
    3. Mex ×3
    4. Wind ×4
    5. Bot LabBot Labdone 3:16 · typical 3:33
  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 · 6 steps
    1. GraverobberGraverobber
    2. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    3. Con turret
    4. Mex
    5. Converter
    6. GruntGrunt ×7
  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 · 102 steps
    1. GruntGrunt
    2. Wind
    3. GruntGrunt ×2
    4. Wind
    5. GruntGrunt
    6. Wind
    7. GruntGrunt
    8. Wind
    9. GruntGrunt
    10. Wind
    11. GruntGrunt
    12. Wind
    13. GruntGrunt
    14. Wind
    15. GruntGrunt
    16. Wind
    17. GruntGrunt
    18. Converter
    19. Wind
    20. GruntGrunt
    21. Converter
    22. GruntGrunt
    23. Wind
    24. GruntGrunt ×2
    25. Converter
    26. GruntGrunt
    27. Wind
    28. GruntGrunt ×2
    29. Wind
    30. GruntGrunt
    31. Wind
    32. GruntGrunt ×2
    33. Wind
    34. GruntGrunt
    35. Wind
    36. GruntGrunt
    37. Wind
    38. GruntGrunt
    39. Energy storage
    40. Wind
    41. GruntGrunt ×3
    42. Wind
    43. Con turret
    44. GruntGrunt
    45. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 9:33 · typical 9:06
    46. Wind ×2
    47. Converter
    48. GruntGrunt
    49. Converter
    50. Wind
    51. GruntGrunt
    52. Wind
    53. GruntGrunt
    54. Wind
    55. GruntGrunt
    56. Wind
    57. GruntGrunt ×4
    58. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    59. GruntGrunt
    60. Con turret
    61. GruntGrunt ×7
    62. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    63. GruntGrunt ×2
    64. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    65. GruntGrunt ×8
    66. Con turret
    67. GruntGrunt ×11
    68. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    69. GruntGrunt ×3
    70. Con turret
    71. GruntGrunt ×5
    72. Wind
    73. GruntGrunt
    74. Wind
    75. GruntGrunt
    76. Wind
    77. GruntGrunt
    78. SAMSAM
    79. Wind
    80. GruntGrunt
    81. SAMSAM
    82. GruntGrunt
    83. Wind
    84. GruntGrunt
    85. Wind
    86. GruntGrunt
    87. Wind
    88. GruntGrunt
    89. Wind
    90. GruntGrunt ×6
    91. Wind
    92. GruntGrunt
    93. Con turret
    94. Wind
    95. GruntGrunt ×2
    96. Con turret
    97. Wind
    98. GruntGrunt
    99. Con turret
    100. GruntGrunt
    101. Wind
    102. Con turret

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is BLORGY's (35 OS, 07/08/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

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

BLORGY

35.1 OS · 07/08/2026

Open source match ↗

2 received units · includes a constructor
497 metal received · 38372 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