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Lasher skirmishers

Vehicle Plant opens instead of Bot Lab, and by 2:08 the player commits to Lasher missile trucks (with early Incisor raiding) that push straight to middle and fight there, well ahead of the role's usual T2 constructor timing.

#raid #artillery #push · 17 distinct matches · 11 players · 7% of Cortex Front games · team won 59% of 17 · Recently observed

THE CATCH, AND WHAT COMES WITH IT
  • LasherT1 vehicle skirmishers from 2:08 · 9% of role by thenFrom the Vehicle Plant. Only 9% of Front games have it by then; others who build it get it around 2:33
  • Vehicle PlantVehicle Plant in 100%25% of all Front games by then
  • IncisorIncisor in 100%24% of all Front games by then
  • LasherLasher in 82%8% of all Front games by then
  • IncisorIncisor in 47%13% of all Front games by then

Where those units first fight, in 17 games with kill data: in the middle 100%.

Those units destroy a typical 2,421 metal of enemy units by 15:00.

Then transitions into incisor (18% of army), brute (9% of army).

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: Vehicle Plant by 0:42, Lasher line from 2:08

  1. Skip bot lab, open vehicle plant immediately instead.
  2. Push Incisor raiders out fast before committing further.
  3. Bring Lasher skirmishers to middle far ahead of role norm.
  4. Layer guards and extra mex to hold the wider front.
  5. Transition into Brute-led T1 vehicle assault composition.

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 17 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 ~0:48, middle half 0:28–0:51

    Some games also: wind (47%)

    By 0:23 in all: 2 mex

    The example game in this phase · 2 steps
    1. Wind
    2. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantdone 0:28 · typical 0:48
  2. 2

    Vehicle Plant to T1 vehicle skirmishers

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor3Mex
    • Wind Turbine1Wind
    Order
    1. LasherT1 vehicle skirmishers after 5 mex, 2 wind
    Builders
    • Construction Vehicle3 Con vehicle +3 vs standard
    Army
    • Rascal4 Rascal +4 vs standard
    • Incisor1 Incisor

    Some games also: pounder (47%)

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

    By 2:08 in all: 5 mex · 2 wind

    The example game in this phase · 11 steps
    1. Mex
    2. IncisorIncisor
    3. Mex
    4. Wind
    5. IncisorIncisor ×2
    6. Mex
    7. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    8. Mex
    9. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    10. Mex
    11. LasherLasherdone 2:20
  3. 3

    T1 vehicle skirmishers to 5:00

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor2Mex
    • Wind Turbine4Wind+2 vs standard
    Builders
    • Construction Turret1 Con turret
    Army
    • Guard2 Guard
    • Lasher9 Lasher +9 vs standard

    Some games also: Twin Guard (35%) · con vehicle (35%)

    The standard build makes here, this one skips: 3 aggravator · 3 thug

    By 5:00 in all: 6 mex · 7 wind (standard 5) · 1 con turret

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

    5:00 to 10:00

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor1Mex
    • Wind Turbine16Wind
    • Energy Storage1Energy storage
    Builders
    • Construction Turret3 Con turret
    • Construction Vehicle2 Con vehicle +2 vs standard
    Army
    • Guard2 Guard
    • Lasher5 Lasher +5 vs standard
    • Incisor1 Incisor
    Other
    • Radar Tower1 Radar Tower

    Some games also: advanced solar (41%) · brute (35%) · Dragon's Teeth (35%)

    The standard build makes here, this one skips: 7 grunt

    By 10:00 in all: 7 mex · 18 wind · 1 energy storage · 3 con turret

    The example game in this phase · 48 steps
    1. LasherLasher ×2
    2. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantdone 5:50
    3. LasherLasher
    4. Wind
    5. HephaestusHeavy transport
    6. Wind ×2
    7. HephaestusHeavy transport
    8. Wind ×3
    9. ShurikenShuriken
    10. Wind
    11. IncisorIncisor
    12. ShurikenShuriken
    13. IncisorIncisor
    14. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 8:40 · typical 8:55
    15. IncisorIncisor ×2
    16. ShurikenShuriken
    17. IncisorIncisor ×2
    18. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    19. ShurikenShuriken ×5
    20. Solar
    21. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    22. Energy storage
    23. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    24. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    25. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    26. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    27. Advanced solar
    28. Con turret
    29. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    30. Wind ×6
    31. Advanced solar
    32. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    33. Con turret
    34. Fortification WallFortification Wall ×5
    35. Advanced solar
    36. Fortification WallFortification Wall ×5
    37. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    38. Fortification WallFortification Wall ×3
    39. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    40. Fortification WallFortification Wall ×2
    41. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    42. Fortification WallFortification Wall ×3
    43. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    44. Fortification WallFortification Wall ×2
    45. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    46. Fortification WallFortification Wall
    47. Converter
    48. BeamerBeamer ×2for Pond

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is _X_'s (43 OS, 23/09/2026); 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 71% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Geo or Techfirst at 7:21 · in 71% 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

17 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
2:008958640000
3:0016651632718512086
4:0028212697292352250348
5:0038813807761950505947
6:00496250691191170410081785
7:00599464032050258114272693
8:00714876932544332715483737
9:00828690813516392020474434
10:009754108054190442428045184
11:0011345127354190508233835966
12:0013332149454361529741447104
13:0016096173244485594759577675
14:0019203197285034633171368778
15:0022084225285572690171369802
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

Won more often than the standard build while losing dramatically less metal for slightly less destruction.

  • + Own metal lost less than half the standard build by 10:00 and 15:00.
  • + Team win rate well above the role's standard build.
  • − Enemy metal destroyed slightly trails standard at every checkpoint.
  • − Rare opening, only 9% of role games hit Lasher this early.
THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

_X_

43.3 OS · 23/09/2026

Open source match ↗

38 received units · includes a constructor
110 metal received · 17584 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Vehicle Plant0:48Middle 50%: 0:28–0:51 · n=17
Advanced Metal Extractor8:55Middle 50%: 8:33–10:07 · n=14

Played most by

_X_4games of this buildErilium3games of this buildMischievousDragonGF2games of this build_Hawkey_1game of this build[crd]sisa1game of this build