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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 · 8 steps
    1. Tidal ×8
    2. Mex ×3
    3. GuardGuard
    4. Mex
    5. Wind ×5
    6. Energy storage
    7. Wind ×3
    8. Bot LabBot Labdone 3:50 · 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 · 4 steps
    1. Wind
    2. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    3. Con turret ×2
    4. ThugThugnot finished by 15:00
  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 · 117 steps
    1. Con turret
    2. ThugThug ×2
    3. Wind
    4. ThugThug
    5. Wind ×2
    6. Converter
    7. ThugThug
    8. Wind ×2
    9. Converter ×2
    10. Wind ×2
    11. Converter ×2
    12. Wind ×2
    13. Converter
    14. ThugThug
    15. Wind ×13
    16. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantdone 6:53
    17. Wind ×5
    18. GuardGuard
    19. Wind ×6
    20. GuardGuard
    21. Wind ×4
    22. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 8:13 · typical 9:57
    23. Wind ×3
    24. ThugThug
    25. ShurikenShuriken
    26. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    27. Wind ×2
    28. ShurikenShuriken ×2
    29. ThugThug
    30. Wind
    31. ShurikenShuriken
    32. ThugThug
    33. Wind
    34. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    35. ThugThug
    36. Wind
    37. ShurikenShuriken ×2
    38. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    39. Wind
    40. ThistleThistle
    41. Wind ×2
    42. ThugThug
    43. ShurikenShuriken
    44. Wind ×2
    45. ThugThug
    46. Wind
    47. ShurikenShuriken ×2
    48. Wind ×2
    49. ThugThug
    50. Wind ×2
    51. ThugThug ×2
    52. Wind
    53. Mex
    54. Wind
    55. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    56. Wind
    57. Con turret ×2
    58. Wind ×3
    59. CastroCastro
    60. Wind ×6
    61. Energy storage
    62. Wind ×5
    63. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    64. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    65. Wind ×3
    66. GuardGuard
    67. Wind ×2
    68. Mex
    69. Wind ×3
    70. Exploiter
    71. Wind ×2
    72. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    73. Wind ×3
    74. Bot LabBot Labdone 11:50
    75. Wind
    76. Con turret
    77. Wind ×2
    78. CastroCastro
    79. Wind ×3
    80. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    81. Wind ×5
    82. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    83. Wind
    84. Construction BotCon bot
    85. Wind
    86. Construction BotCon bot
    87. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    88. Wind ×2
    89. Construction BotCon bot
    90. Wind ×3
    91. Con turret
    92. Wind ×6
    93. SAMSAM
    94. Wind ×3
    95. Con turret
    96. Wind ×2
    97. Con turret
    98. Wind ×8
    99. Pit BullPit Bull
    100. Wind ×2
    101. Con turret
    102. Wind
    103. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantdone 14:30
    104. Wind
    105. Con turret
    106. Wind
    107. Con turret
    108. Wind
    109. Con turret
    110. Wind ×2
    111. BeholderBeholder
    112. Wind
    113. HerculesLight transport
    114. Wind
    115. Pit BullPit Bull
    116. Wind ×10
    117. VeilVeil

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is Rysica's (40 OS, 02/09/2026); 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

Rysica

40.3 OS · 02/09/2026

Open source match ↗

40 received units · includes a constructor
1906 metal received · 16933 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