Sounds like you really had a rough time playing/got wrecked or you don't know what you're talking about. Probably both.Personally, I can't see the appeal. Tried it a few times with a few friends. It's boring, unbalanced and the general "building" aspect is almost completely negligible and the game would have been better with a much bigger focus on it, or doing without it entirely.
Building helps in all types of situations, it doesn't matter if it's the end of the game or the start of the game or the middle of the game.