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Pond / Cortex / Economy first / OBSERVED BUILD

Standard pond

Economy-first Pond that builds tidal generators and wind for the fronts, often receives a Fatboy from an ally early, then adds a lab and sends units forward while boosting eco throughout.

#eco #team support · 102 distinct matches · 28 players · 40% of Cortex Pond games · team won 55% of 104 · Recently observed

THE CATCH, AND WHAT COMES WITH IT
  • FatboyFatboy from an ally in 43%18% of all Pond games by then

Then transitions into grunt (23% 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 102 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 (48%)

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

    The example game in this phase · 13 steps
    1. Tidal ×2for Suicide front
    2. Tidal
    3. Tidal ×6for Suicide front
    4. Tidal
    5. Tidalfor Geo
    6. Mex ×3
    7. Wind
    8. Mex
    9. Wind ×5
    10. Energy storage
    11. Converter ×4
    12. Con turret
    13. Wind ×6
  2. 2

    5:00 to 10:00

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine3Wind

    Some games also: converter (45%) · con turret (39%) · wind (33%) · grunt (33%) · con turret (31%)

    By 10:00 in all: 4 mex · 16 wind · 2 tidal · 4 converter · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 133 steps
    1. Energy storage
    2. Converter ×4
    3. Wind ×8
    4. Bot LabBot Labdone 6:43
    5. TickTick ×3
    6. Con turret
    7. TickTick ×4
    8. Wind
    9. TickTick
    10. Wind
    11. TickTick
    12. Wind
    13. TickTick
    14. Wind
    15. TickTick
    16. Wind
    17. TickTick
    18. Wind
    19. TickTick
    20. Wind ×2
    21. TickTick ×2
    22. Con turret
    23. TickTick ×5
    24. Converter
    25. TickTick ×2
    26. Converter
    27. TickTick
    28. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 9:23 · typical 9:23
    29. TickTick ×2
    30. Converter
    31. TickTick ×2
    32. Converter
    33. TickTick ×3
    34. Wind
    35. TickTick ×2
    36. Wind ×2
    37. TickTick
    38. Wind
    39. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    40. TickTick ×3
    41. Wind
    42. TickTick
    43. Wind
    44. TickTick ×3
    45. Wind
    46. TickTick ×2
    47. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    48. TickTick ×4
    49. Wind ×2
    50. TickTick
    51. Wind
    52. TickTick ×5
    53. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    54. Wind
    55. TickTick ×2
    56. Wind
    57. TickTick ×2
    58. Wind
    59. TickTick ×3
    60. Wind
    61. TickTick ×7
    62. Con turret
    63. TickTick ×11
    64. Bot LabBot Labdone 13:06
    65. TickTick ×3
    66. Fusion ReactorFusiondone 14:16
    67. TickTick ×16
    68. Con turret
    69. TickTick ×2
    70. GuardGuard
    71. TickTick ×6
    72. GuardGuard
    73. TickTick ×5
    74. Wind
    75. TickTick ×4
    76. Wind
    77. TickTick
    78. PawnPawn
    79. TickTick
    80. GuardGuard
    81. PawnPawn
    82. TickTick
    83. Wind
    84. PawnPawn
    85. TickTick
    86. PawnPawn
    87. TickTick
    88. PawnPawn
    89. GuardGuard
    90. TickTick
    91. PawnPawn
    92. TickTick
    93. PawnPawn
    94. TickTick
    95. Wind
    96. PawnPawn
    97. TickTick
    98. PawnPawn
    99. TickTick
    100. PawnPawn
    101. TickTick
    102. LazarusLazarus
    103. TickTick
    104. Wind
    105. LazarusLazarus
    106. TickTick
    107. Wind
    108. PawnPawn
    109. TickTick
    110. Wind
    111. PawnPawn
    112. T2 converter
    113. TickTick
    114. Wind
    115. TickTick
    116. PawnPawn
    117. TickTick
    118. PawnPawn
    119. TickTick
    120. PawnPawn
    121. TickTick
    122. PawnPawn
    123. TickTick
    124. PawnPawn
    125. TickTick
    126. Wind
    127. TickTick
    128. GuardGuard
    129. TickTick
    130. PawnPawn
    131. Wind
    132. TickTick ×2
    133. PawnPawn

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is [Grump]Matsuri's (40 OS, 17/09/2026); 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 seafirst at 2:27 · in 35% of games
  • Hephaestus1 Heavy transport from Air or Techfirst at 4:42 · in 37% of games
  • Fatboy1 Fatboy from Techfirst at 5:18 · in 43% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Techfirst at 7:47 · in 94% 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

104 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0011500
2:0027800
3:0081600
4:00151000
5:00221700
6:00296200
7:0038262880
8:0046231070189
9:0055351507591
10:0066512171899
11:00825026931360
12:001019431341695
13:001257434542159
14:001466838212820
15:001700442743392
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

40.4 OS · 17/09/2026

Open source match ↗

5 received units · includes a constructor
66 metal received · 37564 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Advanced Metal Extractor9:23Middle 50%: 8:39–10:27 · n=99

Played most by

[Grump]Matsuri24games of this buildDeathkebab11games of this buildBoozha9games of this buildEXZoPrimer37games of this buildNazarid7games of this build

Supporting games

Pick a game to read and play it above.

Boozha25/09/2026 · 36 OS↗JustSomeGuy25/09/2026 · 38 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri25/09/2026 · 39 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri25/09/2026 · 39 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri25/09/2026 · 39 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri25/09/2026 · 39 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri25/09/2026 · 39 OS↗Boozha25/09/2026 · 36 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri17/09/2026 · 40 OS↗
32 more of 96, the most recentCommandoMan25/09/2026 · 35 OS↗Deathkebab24/09/2026 · 36 OS↗Boozha24/09/2026 · 36 OS↗[Cookie]Maco23/09/2026 · 53 OS↗Deathkebab23/09/2026 · 36 OS↗Deathkebab23/09/2026 · 36 OS↗PongoPygmaeus23/09/2026 · 36 OS↗zeus_on_god23/09/2026 · 37 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri23/09/2026 · 39 OS↗CommandoMan23/09/2026 · 35 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri22/09/2026 · 40 OS↗hihimik21/09/2026 · 35 OS↗zeus_on_god21/09/2026 · 38 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri21/09/2026 · 39 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri21/09/2026 · 39 OS↗Boozha20/09/2026 · 36 OS↗Espera20/09/2026 · 38 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri20/09/2026 · 41 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri19/09/2026 · 41 OS↗zeus_on_god17/09/2026 · 37 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri17/09/2026 · 40 OS↗[Grump]Matsuri17/09/2026 · 40 OS↗Boozha16/09/2026 · 38 OS↗MischievousDragonGF16/09/2026 · 41 OS↗Boozha16/09/2026 · 38 OS↗[Cookie]Maco15/09/2026 · 52 OS↗MischievousDragonGF15/09/2026 · 42 OS↗MischievousDragonGF15/09/2026 · 42 OS↗MischievousDragonGF15/09/2026 · 42 OS↗EpicTyrannus15/09/2026 · 42 OS↗EpicTyrannus14/09/2026 · 41 OS↗
Supreme Isthmus v2.1
Beyond All Reason test-31320-e17e8b7
Naval balance tweaks off