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Pond / Cortex / Economy first / OBSERVED BUILD

Thug bot assault

Pond opens a Bot Lab by ~3:15 and pushes Thugs into the middle from just after 4 minutes, fighting forward instead of the usual pure economy start.

#raid #push · 12 distinct matches · 9 players · 5% of Cortex Pond games · team won 50% of 12 · Recently observed

THE CATCH, AND WHAT COMES WITH IT
  • ThugT1 bot assault from 4:03 · 4% of role by thenFrom the Bot Lab. Only 4% of Pond games have it by then; others who build it get it around 4:40
  • ThugThug in 75%3% of all Pond games by then
  • Bot LabBot Lab in 50%18% of all Pond games by then
  • GruntGrunt in 42%6% of all Pond games by then

Started with Thug (92%), Mace (8%).

Where those units first fight, in 12 games with kill data: in the middle 83%, on their own side 17%.

Those units destroy a typical 2,363 metal of enemy units by 15:00.

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: Bot Lab by 4:03, first Thug by 4:40

  1. Open tidals, mex, and wind as usual for Pond eco.
  2. Get Bot Lab up early instead of the usual lab timing.
  3. Commit to T1 bot assault led by Thug from lab.
  4. Keep Thug output flowing to middle to support front.
  5. Add Grunt as the push transitions into sustained fighting.

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 12 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
    • Wind Turbine7Wind+3 vs standard
    • Energy Storage1Energy storage
    Order
    1. Bot LabBot Lab after 4 mex, 7 wind, 1 energy storagedone ~3:15, middle half 2:20–3:50

    Some games also: tidal (50%) · tidal for allies (33%) · Guard (33%)

    The standard build makes here, this one skips: 2 tidal

    By 3:13 in all: 4 mex · 7 wind (standard 4) · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 12 steps
    1. Tidal ×7for Suicide front
    2. Tidal
    3. Wind ×4
    4. Mex
    5. Wind
    6. Mex ×2
    7. Wind ×2
    8. Mex
    9. Wind ×9
    10. Energy storage
    11. Converter ×3
    12. Bot LabBot Labdone 5:05 · typical 3:15
  2. 2

    Bot Lab to T1 bot assault

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine2Wind
    Order
    1. ThugT1 bot assault after 4 mex, 9 wind, 1 energy storage
    Builders
    • Construction Bot2 Con bot +2 vs standard

    Some games also: con turret (50%) · Graverobber (33%)

    By 4:01 in all: 4 mex · 9 wind (standard 6) · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 8 steps
    1. Construction BotCon bot
    2. Wind ×2
    3. Construction BotCon bot
    4. Con turret
    5. Wind ×5
    6. Con turret
    7. Wind
    8. ThugThugdone 6:31
  3. 3

    T1 bot assault to 10:00

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine13Wind+5 vs standard
    Army
    • Guard1 Guard
    • Thug14 Thug +14 vs standard
    Other
    • Radar Tower1 Radar Tower

    Some games also: converter (50%) · con bot (50%) · con turret (50%) · Graverobber (42%) · mex (42%)

    The standard build makes here, this one skips: 2 converter

    By 10:00 in all: 5 mex · 26 wind (standard 16) · 2 converter (standard 4) · 1 energy storage · 2 con turret (standard 0)

    The example game in this phase · 150 steps
    1. Wind
    2. ThugThug
    3. Wind
    4. ThugThug ×5
    5. Wind
    6. ThugThug ×5
    7. Wind
    8. Construction BotCon bot
    9. Wind
    10. Converter
    11. Construction BotCon bot
    12. Wind
    13. Converter
    14. Construction BotCon bot
    15. Converter
    16. Wind
    17. Wind
    18. Construction BotCon bot
    19. Converter
    20. Wind
    21. Converter
    22. Wind
    23. Construction BotCon bot
    24. Converter
    25. Construction BotCon bot
    26. Wind
    27. Wind
    28. Converter
    29. Construction BotCon bot
    30. Wind
    31. Converter
    32. Wind
    33. Wind
    34. Construction BotCon bot
    35. Converter
    36. Wind
    37. Construction BotCon bot
    38. Wind
    39. Converter
    40. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 10:53 · typical 9:57
    41. Wind
    42. Construction BotCon bot
    43. Wind
    44. Converter
    45. Wind
    46. Converter
    47. Wind
    48. Wind
    49. Converter
    50. Wind ×2
    51. Converter
    52. Wind
    53. Converter
    54. Wind ×2
    55. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    56. Wind ×2
    57. Wind
    58. Wind ×5
    59. Wind
    60. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    61. Wind ×5
    62. Wind
    63. Wind ×6
    64. Wind
    65. Wind ×3
    66. Wind
    67. Wind ×2
    68. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    69. Wind
    70. Wind
    71. Wind ×2
    72. Converter
    73. Wind
    74. Wind ×4
    75. Converter
    76. Wind
    77. Wind
    78. Wind ×3
    79. Converter
    80. Wind ×2
    81. Advanced Bot LabAdvanced Bot Labdone 13:14
    82. Wind
    83. Wind ×3
    84. Converter
    85. Wind ×2
    86. Wind
    87. Wind ×3
    88. Converter
    89. Wind ×2
    90. Wind
    91. Wind ×3
    92. Converter
    93. FiendFiend
    94. Wind ×2
    95. Wind
    96. Wind ×2
    97. Converter
    98. FiendFiend
    99. Wind
    100. Wind
    101. Wind ×2
    102. FiendFiend
    103. Converter
    104. Wind ×2
    105. FiendFiend
    106. Wind
    107. Wind ×2
    108. FiendFiend
    109. Wind
    110. Converter
    111. Wind ×2
    112. FiendFiend
    113. Con turret
    114. Wind
    115. Wind ×2
    116. Converter
    117. Wind
    118. FiendFiend
    119. Wind ×2
    120. Wind
    121. FiendFiend
    122. Converter
    123. Wind ×2
    124. FiendFiend
    125. Wind
    126. Wind
    127. Wind
    128. FiendFiend
    129. Converter
    130. Wind ×2
    131. FiendFiend
    132. Wind
    133. Wind
    134. FiendFiend
    135. Wind ×2
    136. Converter
    137. FiendFiend
    138. Wind ×2
    139. FiendFiend
    140. Wind
    141. Wind
    142. Converter
    143. FiendFiend
    144. Wind ×3
    145. FiendFiend
    146. Wind
    147. Wind
    148. FiendFiend
    149. Wind
    150. Converter

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is maccommander's (39 OS, 11/09/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

  • Tidal Generator7–8 Tidal to Suicide front or Frontfirst at 0:12 · in 33% of games

You get

  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Tech or Geofirst at 8:27 · in 75% of games

How it plays out

Typical game of this build against the role’s standard build, running totals by minute

  • This build
  • Standard pond

Metal produced

010k20k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Enemy metal destroyed

02k4k6k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Own metal lost

02k4k6k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

12 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildMetal produced: Standard pondEnemy metal destroyed: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: Standard pondOwn metal lost: This buildOwn metal lost: Standard pond
1:001151150000
2:003902780000
3:0010278160000
4:00170715100000
5:00266222170000
6:003920296234601570
7:00521538266972885120
8:0062524623118210701377189
9:0078705535154915072186591
10:0092596651335521713722899
11:001067882504947269348431360
12:0011991101945305313450531695
13:0013909125745485345450532159
14:0014699146685727382150532820
15:0015358170045748427450593392
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

Won less often than the standard build despite producing more metal, and lost far more metal by 15:00.

  • + Produces more metal by 10:00 (8970 vs 6657)
  • + Destroys more enemy metal by 15:00 (6255 vs 4391)
  • − Loses far more metal by 10:00 (2743 vs 941)
  • − Team win rate well below the standard build's 52%
THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

maccommander

39.2 OS · 11/09/2026

Open source match ↗

5 received units · includes a constructor
454 metal received · 149798 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Bot Lab3:15Middle 50%: 2:20–3:50 · n=11
Advanced Metal Extractor9:57Middle 50%: 8:32–10:16 · n=8

Played most by

Rysica3games of this buildUsurpeR2games of this build[AFUS]Trotski1game of this buildEpicTyrannus1game of this buildkirinokirino1game of this build