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Lasher skirmishers

Cortex Front build order · Supreme Isthmus

Vehicle Plant from the start leads into early T1 vehicle raid and riot, then Lasher skirmishers pushed to middle from around 2:09, well ahead of the role norm, fighting forward in the middle rather than reacting at home.

#raid #artillery #push · 45 distinct matches · 20 players · 6% of Cortex Front games · team won 53% of 45 · Recently observed

THE CATCH, AND WHAT COMES WITH IT
  • LasherT1 vehicle skirmishers from 2:09 · 8% of role by thenFrom the Vehicle Plant. Only 8% of Front games have it by then; others who build it get it around 2:30
  • Vehicle PlantVehicle Plant in 100%20% of all Front games by then
  • RascalRascal in 100%20% of all Front games by then
  • PounderPounder in 71%13% of all Front games by then
  • LasherLasher in 69%5% of all Front games by then

Where those units first fight, in 45 games with kill data: in the middle 96%.

Those units destroy a typical 2,393 metal of enemy units by 15:00.

Then transitions into incisor (11% of army), brute (10% of army), pounder (10% of army).

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: Lasher by 5:55

  1. Rush Vehicle Plant almost immediately off the opening mex.
  2. Send Incisor raiders out well ahead of the usual role timing.
  3. Add Pounder riot to back the raiders in the middle.
  4. Commit to Lasher skirmishers pushing into middle, not holding.
  5. Transition to Advanced Metal Extractor once the push stabilizes.

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 45 GAMES · AGAINST STANDARD FRONT
  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 Extractor2Mex
    Order
    1. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plant after 2 mexdone ~0:45, middle half 0:29–0:50

    Some games also: wind (40%)

    By 0:23 in all: 2 mex

    The example game in this phase · 3 steps
    1. Mex
    2. Wind
    3. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantdone 0:36 · typical 0:45
  2. 2

    Vehicle Plant to T1 vehicle skirmishers

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor3Mex
    • Wind Turbine2Wind
    Order
    1. LasherT1 vehicle skirmishers after 4 mex, 2 wind
    Builders
    • Construction Vehicle2 Con vehicle +2 vs standard
    Army
    • Rascal4 Rascal +4 vs standard
    • Pounder1 Pounder

    Some games also: incisor (42%)

    The standard build makes here, this one skips: 2 con bot · 3 grunt · 2 thug

    By 2:09 in all: 4 mex · 2 wind

    The example game in this phase · 12 steps
    1. Wind
    2. RascalRascal
    3. Mex
    4. RascalRascal ×2
    5. Wind
    6. IncisorIncisor
    7. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    8. Mex
    9. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    10. Mex
    11. PounderPounder
    12. LasherLasherdone 2:10
  3. 3

    T1 vehicle skirmishers to 5:00

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor2Mex
    • Wind Turbine1Wind
    Army
    • Guard2 Guard
    • Lasher8 Lasher +8 vs standard

    Some games also: con turret (44%) · wolverine (38%) · con vehicle (36%)

    The standard build makes here, this one skips: 6 thug · 5 aggravator

    By 5:00 in all: 6 mex · 4 wind

    The example game in this phase · 10 steps
    1. Mex
    2. LasherLasher ×2
    3. GuardGuard
    4. LasherLasher
    5. Mex
    6. LasherLasher
    7. GuardGuard
    8. PounderPounder
    9. WolverineWolverine ×3
    10. LasherLasher ×4
  4. 4

    5:00 to 10:00

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor1Mex
    • Wind Turbine16Wind
    Builders
    • Construction Turret2 Con turret
    • Construction Vehicle2 Con vehicle +2 vs standard
    Army
    • Guard2 Guard
    • Lasher5 Lasher +5 vs standard
    Other
    • Radar Tower1 Radar Tower

    Some games also: energy storage (44%) · pounder (42%) · incisor (40%) · brute (33%) · wolverine (31%)

    The standard build makes here, this one skips: 2 Graverobber · 8 grunt · 4 thug

    By 10:00 in all: 7 mex · 19 wind · 3 con turret

    The example game in this phase · 99 steps
    1. LasherLasher
    2. PounderPounder
    3. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    4. LasherLasher
    5. GuardGuard
    6. LasherLasher ×2
    7. Con turret
    8. LasherLasher ×2
    9. PounderPounder
    10. GuardGuard
    11. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    12. LasherLasher
    13. Advanced solar
    14. Con turret
    15. LasherLasher
    16. Mex
    17. Solar ×2
    18. GuardGuard
    19. Con turret
    20. GauntletGauntletdone 8:50
    21. GuardGuard
    22. LasherLasher
    23. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 9:52 · typical 9:32
    24. Advanced solar
    25. LasherLasher
    26. Mex
    27. Advanced solar
    28. GuardGuard
    29. LasherLasher
    30. GuardGuard
    31. Advanced solar
    32. WolverineWolverine
    33. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    34. Advanced solar
    35. WolverineWolverine
    36. GuardGuard
    37. RascalRascal ×2
    38. GuardGuard
    39. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    40. Advanced solar
    41. RascalRascal
    42. GuardGuard
    43. RascalRascal
    44. Advanced solar
    45. RascalRascal ×3
    46. Advanced solar
    47. RascalRascal ×3
    48. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    49. RascalRascal ×4
    50. Energy storage ×2
    51. RascalRascal ×3
    52. PounderPounder ×3
    53. RascalRascal ×2
    54. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    55. RascalRascal ×3
    56. Bot LabBot Labdone 12:43
    57. RascalRascal ×4
    58. Con turret
    59. GraverobberGraverobber
    60. RascalRascal ×4
    61. GraverobberGraverobber
    62. RascalRascal
    63. Converter
    64. GraverobberGraverobber
    65. RascalRascal
    66. Converter
    67. RascalRascal
    68. GraverobberGraverobber
    69. RascalRascal
    70. GraverobberGraverobber
    71. RascalRascal
    72. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    73. Converter
    74. GraverobberGraverobber
    75. RascalRascal ×2
    76. Converter
    77. GraverobberGraverobber
    78. RascalRascal
    79. Converter
    80. GraverobberGraverobber
    81. RascalRascal
    82. Converter
    83. GraverobberGraverobber
    84. RascalRascal
    85. GraverobberGraverobber
    86. RascalRascal
    87. Converter
    88. RascalRascal
    89. Converter
    90. PounderPounder
    91. RascalRascal ×2
    92. PounderPounder ×2
    93. Construction BotCon bot
    94. PounderPounder ×3
    95. RascalRascal
    96. Advanced Vehicle PlantAdvanced Vehicle Plantnot finished by 15:00
    97. RascalRascal ×2
    98. Con turret
    99. RascalRascal ×3

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is XuunnY's (32 OS, 20/08/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

Nothing regular.

You get

  • Tidal Generator4 Tidal from Pondfirst at 0:15 · in 78% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Geo or Techfirst at 7:23 · in 60% of games

How it plays out

Typical game of this build against the role’s standard build, running totals by minute

  • This build
  • Standard front

Metal produced

010k20k30k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Enemy metal destroyed

02.5k5k7.5k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Own metal lost

05k10k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

45 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildMetal produced: Standard frontEnemy metal destroyed: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: Standard frontOwn metal lost: This buildOwn metal lost: Standard front
1:003313310000
2:0084985621000
3:0015781627931047886
4:0026312711292389284341
5:0037153853743921513839
6:0047365109119115898711556
7:00582363952088237214132474
8:00695677262593312520753385
9:00819791513602383724534291
10:009753107984190453833005079
11:0011510126424751520543825987
12:0013395145085047569052436925
13:0016096168145189620662847630
14:0019057189695546666373208539
15:0022084206326964725783549305
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

Won clearly more often than the standard build while losing far less metal by every checkpoint.

  • + Own metal lost is roughly half the standard build's at 5:00 and 10:00.
  • + Metal produced by 15:00 is higher than standard despite the rush.
  • − Enemy metal destroyed is slightly lower than standard at every checkpoint.
  • − Commits to Vehicle Plant by 0:29 in 100% of games, leaving little flexibility.
THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

XuunnY

32.5 OS · 20/08/2026

Open source match ↗

7 received units · includes a constructor
126 metal received · 28955 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Vehicle Plant0:45Middle 50%: 0:29–0:50 · n=45
Advanced Metal Extractor9:32Middle 50%: 8:29–10:24 · n=38

Played most by

XuunnY8games of this buildTheGeneraI6games of this buildErilium5games of this build_X_4games of this buildMischievousDragonGF3games of this build