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Pond / Cortex / Economy first / OBSERVED BUILD

Thug bot assault

Pond opens a Bot Lab by 3:15 and pushes Thugs (with some Mace) into the middle from about 4:03, forming a T1 bot assault well ahead of the role's usual timing.

#push #raid · 13 distinct matches · 10 players · 5% of Cortex Pond games · team won 54% of 13 · 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 77%4% of all Pond games by then
  • Bot LabBot Lab in 46%17% of all Pond games by then

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

Where those units first fight, in 13 games with kill data: in the middle 85%, on their own side 15%.

Those units destroy a typical 1,960 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 13 GAMES · AGAINST STANDARD POND
  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 the T1 bot assault

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor4Mex
    • Wind Turbine9Wind+3 vs standard
    • Tidal Generator1Tidal
    • Energy Storage1Energy storage
    Order
    1. Bot LabBot Lab after 4 mex, 8 wind, 1 energy storage
    2. ThugT1 bot assault after 4 mex, 9 wind, 1 energy storage
    Builders
    • Construction Bot2 Con bot +2 vs standard

    Some games also: con turret (46%) · tidal for allies (38%) · Graverobber (31%) · converter (31%) · Guard (31%)

    By 4:03 in all: 4 mex · 9 wind (standard 6) · 1 tidal · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 12 steps
    1. Mex ×4
    2. Wind ×6
    3. Solar
    4. Wind ×3
    5. Energy storage
    6. Wind ×3
    7. ThistleThistle
    8. GuardGuard
    9. ThistleThistle
    10. Wind
    11. Bot LabBot Labdone 3:51 · typical 3:30
    12. ThugThugdone 3:59
  2. 2

    T1 bot assault to 10:00

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine9Wind
    Army
    • Guard1 Guard
    • Thug13 Thug +13 vs standard
    Other
    • Radar Tower1 Radar Tower

    Some games also: converter (46%) · mex (46%) · con bot (46%) · con turret (46%) · Graverobber (38%)

    By 10:00 in all: 4 mex · 27 wind (standard 15) · 1 tidal · 3 converter · 1 energy storage · 2 con turret (standard 0)

    The example game in this phase · 30 steps
    1. ThugThug ×4
    2. GraverobberGraverobber ×2
    3. ThugThug ×3
    4. ThistleThistle
    5. ThugThug ×2
    6. GraverobberGraverobber ×2
    7. ThugThug
    8. Construction BotCon bot ×3
    9. ThugThug
    10. AgitatorAgitatordone 7:23
    11. ThugThug
    12. AgitatorAgitator
    13. Advanced Bot LabAdvanced Bot Labdone 8:47
    14. SheldonSheldon ×3done 9:11
    15. GuardGuard
    16. SheldonSheldon ×3
    17. GuardGuard ×2
    18. BedbugCrawling bomb ×3
    19. GuardGuard
    20. SheldonSheldon
    21. GuardGuard
    22. Advanced Construction BotT2 con bot
    23. GuardGuard
    24. TwitcherTwitcher
    25. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexnot finished by 15:00
    26. TwitcherTwitcher
    27. Mex
    28. TwitcherTwitcher
    29. Con turret
    30. TwitcherTwitcher

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is UsurpeR's (49 OS, 27/08/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

  • Tidal Generator8 Tidal to Suicide front or Frontfirst at 0:16 · in 38% of games

You get

  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Tech or Geofirst at 8:01 · in 77% 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

13 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
2:003812780000
3:0010128160000
4:00169915090000
5:00252122160000
6:00374529603600430
7:00513238174342936500
8:006212462199010581303176
9:0078605535148415071861591
10:0089706670331121172743899
11:001047882504719265242531350
12:0012379101565174307146731664
13:0014278124955240341946732143
14:0015858144715240382046732820
15:0015858168515240419046863522
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

UsurpeR

48.7 OS · 27/08/2026

Open source match ↗

0 received units
1 metal received · 2826 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Bot Lab3:30Middle 50%: 2:25–4:00 · n=12
Advanced Metal Extractor9:54Middle 50%: 8:13–10:04 · n=9

Played most by

Rysica3games of this buildUsurpeR2games of this build[AFUS]Trotski1game of this buildDeathkebab1game of this buildEpicTyrannus1game of this build