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Tzar rush

Pond rushes straight to an Advanced Vehicle Plant by 4:02 and pushes out a Tzar by 4:45 backed by Quaker and Fury, bringing T2 vehicle assault to the front far earlier than any other Pond build, often fighting into the enemy base.

#t2 #rush #push · 12 distinct matches · one player ([AFUS]Trotski) · 4% of Cortex Pond games · team won 83% of 12 · Recently observed

THE CATCH, AND WHAT COMES WITH IT
  • TzarT2 vehicle assault from 4:04 · 5% of role by thenFrom the Advanced Vehicle Plant. Only 5% of Pond games have it by then; others who build it get it around 4:36
  • Advanced Vehicle PlantAdvanced Vehicle Plant in 100%7% of all Pond games by then
  • Vehicle PlantVehicle Plant in 100%7% of all Pond games by then
  • OmenRadar vehicle in 100%6% of all Pond games by then
  • TigerTiger in 92%5% of all Pond games by then

Started with Tzar (92%), Tiger (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 10,764 metal of enemy units by 15:00.

Then transitions into tiger (60% of army), quaker (16% of army).

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: Tzar by 4:45

  1. Open with mex and wind, skip usual boosting, rush Vehicle Plant.
  2. Push straight to Advanced Vehicle Plant far earlier than role norm.
  3. Commit first unit as Tzar heavy assault tank instead of T1 army.
  4. Add radar vehicle (Omen) support right behind the Tzar.
  5. Add anti-air (Fury) then transition into Tiger-led T2 push.

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 12 GAMES · AGAINST STANDARD POND
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
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 Vehicle Plant

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor3Mex+3 vs standard
    • Wind Turbine5Wind+5 vs standard
    Order
    1. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plant after 3 mex, 5 winddone ~1:24, middle half 1:06–1:40

    Some games also: energy storage (50%)

    By 1:05 in all: 3 mex (standard 0) · 5 wind (standard 0)

    The example game in this phase · 3 steps
    1. Mex ×3
    2. Wind ×2
    3. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantdone 0:57 · typical 1:24
  2. 2

    Vehicle Plant to Advanced Vehicle Plant

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor1Mex−3 vs standard
    • Wind Turbine3Wind−2 vs standard
    Order
    1. Advanced Vehicle PlantAdvanced Vehicle Plant after 4 mex, 6 wind, 1 energy storagedone ~4:02, middle half 3:32–4:32
    Builders
    • Construction Turret1 Con turret
    • Construction Vehicle6 Con vehicle for allies +6 vs standard
    • Construction Vehicle1 Con vehicle

    Some games also: energy storage (42%)

    By 3:18 in all: 4 mex · 6 wind · 1 energy storage · 1 con turret

    The example game in this phase · 12 steps
    1. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    2. Wind ×2
    3. Construction VehicleCon vehiclefor Air
    4. Energy storage
    5. Mex
    6. Wind
    7. Construction VehicleCon vehiclefor Geo
    8. Wind
    9. Construction VehicleCon vehiclefor Geo
    10. Con turret
    11. Construction VehicleCon vehicle ×3for Geo sea
    12. Advanced Vehicle PlantAdvanced Vehicle Plantdone 3:25 · typical 4:02
  3. 3

    Advanced Vehicle Plant to T2 vehicle assault

    Order
    1. TzarT2 vehicle assault after 4 mex, 8 wind, 1 energy storagedone ~4:45, middle half 4:22–5:06
    Builders
    • Construction Vehicle1 Con vehicle for allies

    Some games also: wind (42%)

    By 4:04 in all: 4 mex · 8 wind (standard 6) · 1 energy storage · 1 con turret

    The example game in this phase · 3 steps
    1. Construction VehicleCon vehicle ×2for Suicide front
    2. Wind
    3. TzarTzardone 4:17 · typical 4:45
  4. 4

    T2 vehicle assault to 10:00

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine1Wind−7 vs standard
    Army
    • Tiger10 Tiger +10 vs standard
    • Quaker5 Quaker +5 vs standard
    • Omen1 Radar vehicle
    • Obscurer1 Jammer
    • Fury1 Fury

    Some games also: Guard (50%) · Thistle (33%) · Radar Tower (33%)

    By 10:00 in all: 4 mex · 13 wind · 1 energy storage · 1 con turret

    The example game in this phase · 5 steps
    1. Wind ×8
    2. OmenRadar vehicle
    3. FuryFurydone 4:37 · typical 5:30
    4. QuakerQuaker ×5done 4:47 · typical 5:10
    5. TigerTiger ×16done 5:36 · typical 6:24

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is [AFUS]Trotski's (83 OS, 17/09/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

  • Construction Vehicle7 Con vehicle to Beach sea or Air or Frontfirst at 2:42 · in 100% of games

You get

  • Wind Turbine6 Wind from Geo sea or Pondfirst at 0:37 · in 58% of games
  • Construction Vehicle1 Con vehicle from Beach sea or Pond or Airfirst at 6:07 · in 33% 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

010k20k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Own metal lost

02k4k
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
1:004101150000
2:009572780000
3:0016128160000
4:00286915090000
5:003562221632000
6:0042352960694000
7:00492038174605293650
8:005583462189681058840176
9:00635455351298015072514591
10:00685566701478021173197899
11:007191825015929265237501350
12:0075101015615929307137501664
13:0075101249515929341937502143
14:0075101447115929382037502820
15:0075101685115929419037503522
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

Won almost every game and heavily outdestroyed the standard build despite far lower own metal production.

  • + Destroyed 16822 metal by 15:00 vs 4391 for standard build.
  • + Team win rate 92% vs 52% for standard build.
  • − Metal production collapses by 15:00 (7711 vs 16843) if the push stalls.
THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

[AFUS]Trotski

82.8 OS · 17/09/2026

Open source match ↗

16 received units
4314 metal received · 53780 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Vehicle Plant1:24Middle 50%: 1:06–1:40 · n=12
Advanced Vehicle Plant4:02Middle 50%: 3:32–4:32 · n=12
Tzar4:45Middle 50%: 4:22–5:06 · n=12
Quaker5:10Middle 50%: 4:56–5:40 · n=12
Fury5:30Middle 50%: 4:50–6:11 · n=11
Tiger6:24Middle 50%: 5:45–6:53 · n=12

Played most by

[AFUS]Trotski12games of this build