BAR / BUILD ATLAS
SUPREME ISTHMUS / 8 VS 8

Know your ground.
Build your advantage.

Openings found in real games.
Follow the sequence. Understand the role.
Find your next first move.

THE OPENING BOOK

Builds from the battlefield09

MOST COMMON FIRST · WHAT SETS EACH BUILD APART · TYPICAL TIMINGSEVIDENCE
01
AirEconomy first#eco#team support#air

Standard air

The usual Cortex air game: Aircraft Plant just after the start, Advanced Metal Extractor around 7 minutes and Fusion Reactor around 11 minutes, making transports and fighters for the team while scaling economy normally.

Aircraft Plant → Advanced Metal Extractor → Fusion Reactor

OPENINGMetal Extractor ×3×3→Solar Collector→Wind Turbine ×2×2→Aircraft Plant→Wind Turbine ×10×10→Metal Extractor→Wind Turbine ×3×3→Construction Turret

80% of Cortex Air games · team won 47% of 559 · Then: valiant, shuriken · Last seen 25 Sept

501MATCHES111 players
02
GeoArmadaEconomy first#raid#air

Centurion push

Geo builds Centurion bots very early (from 2:39) and gets a transport from Air, moving into an early Aircraft Plant with bombers and fighters instead of the usual T2 rush; despite the name, units only reach the middle rather than being…

T1 bot riot from 2:39 · 7% of role by thenLight transport from an ally in 75%Aircraft Plant in 50%Bomber in 48%

Bot Lab → Geothermal Powerplant → Advanced Metal Extractor → Advanced Geothermal Powerplant

OPENINGMetal Extractor ×2×2→Wind Turbine ×3×3→Bot Lab→Wind Turbine ×3×3→Metal Extractor ×2×2→Geothermal Powerplant→Wind Turbine→Energy Storage

5% of Armada Geo games · team won 57% of 60 · Then: Starlight, blitz, bomber · Last seen 23 Sept

60MATCHES12 players
03
GeoArmadaEconomy first#air#drop

Banshee gunships

Geo builds an early Aircraft Plant and commits to Banshee gunships from 5:10, paired with a Stork transport drop, fighting mostly in the middle instead of bringing the usual T2 land units to front.

T1 air gunships from 5:10 · 1% of role by thenAircraft Plant in 100%Light transport in 89%Banshee in 63%

Bot Lab → Geothermal Powerplant → Aircraft Plant → Advanced Metal Extractor

OPENINGMetal Extractor ×2×2→Wind Turbine ×4×4→Bot Lab→Energy Storage→Bot Lab→Metal Extractor ×3×3→Geothermal Powerplant→Construction Turret ×3×3

1% of Armada Geo games · team won 47% of 19 · Then: blitz · Last seen 23 Sept

19MATCHES5 players
04
GeoEconomy first#air#raid

Stormbringer bombers

Geo builds an Aircraft Plant and pushes out Stormbringer bombers from 6:41 with fighter escort, striking directly into the enemy base rather than sending T2 units to front, a clear detour from the standard Geo job.

T1 air bombers from 6:41 · 10% of role by thenAircraft Plant in 92%Valiant in 79%Scout plane in 50%

Bot Lab → Geothermal Powerplant → Advanced Metal Extractor → Aircraft Plant

OPENINGMetal Extractor ×2×2→Wind Turbine ×3×3→Bot Lab→Wind Turbine ×3×3→Metal Extractor ×2×2→Energy Storage→Wind Turbine→Geothermal Powerplant

2% of Armada Geo games · team won 79% of 24 · Then: Starlight, Jaguar · Last seen 21 Sept

24MATCHES13 players
05
AirCortexEconomy first#rush#raid#air

Whirlwind bomber rush

Skips the usual transport-first routine to build Whirlwind bombers from an Aircraft Plant as early as 5 minutes, sending them to hit the enemy base and middle well before the front stabilizes, before easing back into the normal…

T1 air bombers from 5:04 · 7% of role by thenAircraft Plant in 47%Whirlwind in 47%Light transport in 42%

Aircraft Plant → Advanced Metal Extractor → Fusion Reactor

OPENINGMetal Extractor ×3×3→Wind Turbine ×4×4→Aircraft Plant→Wind Turbine ×10×10→Metal Extractor→Thistle ×2×2→Construction Turret→Wind Turbine

3% of Cortex Air games · team won 63% of 19 · Then: valiant, fighter · Last seen 24 Sept

19MATCHES12 players
06
PondCortexEconomy first#air#drop#push

Shuriken air support

Pond goes air instead of the usual ground boost, building an Aircraft Plant by ~3:30 and dropping in a transport, then sending Shuriken and Valiant to fight forward in the middle from under 5 minutes.

T1 air support from 4:39 · 10% of role by thenAircraft Plant in 100%Heavy transport in 92%Shuriken in 69%

Aircraft Plant → Advanced Metal Extractor

OPENINGTidal Generator ×9×9→Wind Turbine ×2×2→Metal Extractor ×4×4→Wind Turbine→Energy Storage→Wind Turbine→Aircraft Plant→Energy Converter ×3×3

5% of Cortex Pond games · team won 62% of 13 · Then: valiant, grunt · Last seen 22 Sept

13MATCHES6 players
07
PondArmadaEconomy first#air#raid

Banshee air

Pond opens an Aircraft Plant by ~2:57 and commits to Banshee gunships with Falcon support from around 3:15, an unusual full air-focused build for the role with dedicated repeat players.

T1 air gunships from 3:15 · 2% of role by thenAircraft Plant in 100%Fighter in 71%Fighter in 57%

Aircraft Plant → Bot Lab → Advanced Metal Extractor

OPENINGTidal Generator ×9×9→Metal Extractor ×4×4→Energy Storage→Wind Turbine ×3×3→Aircraft Plant→Construction Turret→Wind Turbine ×7×7→Metal Extractor

2% of Armada Pond games · team won 33% of 21 · Then: blitz, fighter · Last seen 12 Sept

21MATCHES7 players
08
GeoCortexEconomy first#air#drop#rush

Valiant push

Geo builds an Aircraft Plant almost immediately and uses a light transport to drop Valiant fighters and Whirlwind bombers behind enemy lines from under 4 minutes, well before any T1 lab norm timing.

T1 air fighters from 3:53 · 3% of role by thenAircraft Plant in 100%Light transport in 83%Whirlwind in 75%

Bot Lab → Geothermal Powerplant → Aircraft Plant → Advanced Metal Extractor

OPENINGMetal Extractor ×3×3→Wind Turbine ×3×3→Metal Extractor→Wind Turbine ×2×2→Bot Lab→Geothermal Powerplant→Construction Turret ×2×2→Wind Turbine

3% of Cortex Geo games · team won 83% of 12 · Then: Sumo, Arbiter · Last seen 20 Sept

12MATCHES2 players
09
GeoLegionEconomy first#t2#air#drop

Drone plant T2

Com-blow economy that adds a Legion Drone Plant before Advanced Geothermal, using the drones and T2 vehicles (anti-air, support) to send an Aeolus drop into the enemy base by mid-game instead of just funneling T2 units to front.

Aeolus in 67%Legion Drone in 67%Flak in 67%Radar jammer in 67%

Legion Bot Lab → Geothermal Powerplant → Advanced Metal Extractor → Legion Drone Plant

OPENINGMetal Extractor ×2×2→Wind Turbine ×4×4→Legion Bot Lab→Wind Turbine ×2×2→Metal Extractor→Wind Turbine ×2×2→Metal Extractor→Wind Turbine ×2×2

15% of Legion Geo games · team won 2 of 6 · Then: Boreas, Medusa, transport · Last seen 24 Sept

6MATCHES3 players
Initial collection in progressHow builds are found ↗
01 / OBSERVE

Real games. Real sequences.

02 / RECOGNISE

Repeated openings, made readable.

03 / ADAPT

A starting point for your own game.