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Suicide front / Cortex / Economy first / OBSERVED BUILD

Pounder assault push

Cortex Suicide front build order · Supreme Isthmus

Opens Vehicle Plant and leads with a T1 vehicle riot push, Pounder arriving by 1:16, supported by Rascal raiders and Wolverine artillery, fighting forward in the middle as the early commitment well ahead of role norms.

Usually 3 mex, then lab (66%)

#rush #push #artillery · 31 distinct matches · 14 players · 2% of Cortex Suicide front games · team won 63% of 32 · Recently observed

THE CATCH, AND WHAT COMES WITH IT
  • PounderT1 vehicle riot from 1:16 · 7% of role by thenFrom the Vehicle Plant. Only 7% of Suicide front games have it by then; others who build it get it around 1:47
  • Vehicle PlantVehicle Plant in 100%8% of all Suicide front games by then
  • RascalRascal in 88%6% of all Suicide front games by then
  • WolverineWolverine in 81%4% of all Suicide front games by then
  • BruteBrute in 59%3% of all Suicide front games by then

Where those units first fight, in 32 games with kill data: in the middle 94%, on their own side 6%.

Those units destroy a typical 1,443 metal of enemy units by 15:00.

Then transitions into brute (21% of army), wolverine (12% of army).

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: Pounder by 1:16

  1. Open Vehicle Plant right away, same as usual Suicide front start.
  2. Send Rascal raiders out ahead of the normal role timing.
  3. Commit to Pounder riot pushing into the middle early.
  4. Add Wolverine artillery to support the riot push.
  5. Shift the army toward Brute as the main late push unit.

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 31 GAMES · AGAINST STANDARD SUICIDE FRONT
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
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 T1 vehicle riot

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor3Mex
    • Wind Turbine1Wind
    Order
    1. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plant after 3 mex
    2. PounderT1 vehicle riot after 3 mex, 1 wind

    Some games also: con vehicle (50%) · rascal (38%) · Guard (34%)

    By 1:09 in all: 3 mex · 1 wind

    The example game in this phase · 10 steps
    1. Mex
    2. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantdone 0:29 · typical 0:48
    3. RascalRascal
    4. Mex
    5. RascalRascal
    6. Mex
    7. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    8. Wind
    9. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    10. PounderPounderdone 1:46
  2. 2

    T1 vehicle riot to 5:00

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor2Mex
    • Wind Turbine5Wind+4 vs standard
    Builders
    • Construction Vehicle3 Con vehicle +3 vs standard
    Army
    • Guard2 Guard
    • Wolverine6 Wolverine +6 vs standard
    • Pounder3 Pounder +3 vs standard
    Other
    • Radar Tower1 Radar Tower

    Some games also: rascal (44%) · con turret (38%) · Twin Guard (34%) · brute (31%)

    The standard build makes here, this one skips: 3 Graverobber · 2 con bot · 16 thug

    By 5:00 in all: 5 mex · 7 wind (standard 3)

    The example game in this phase · 8 steps
    1. Mex
    2. PounderPounder ×2
    3. Mex
    4. WolverineWolverine ×6
    5. IncisorIncisor ×2
    6. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    7. Construction VehicleCon vehicle ×3
    8. IncisorIncisor
  3. 3

    5:00 to 10:00

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor1Mex
    • Wind Turbine15Wind
    Builders
    • Construction Turret2 Con turret
    • Construction Vehicle2 Con vehicle +2 vs standard
    Army
    • Guard1 Guard
    • Brute6 Brute +6 vs standard
    • Pounder2 Pounder +2 vs standard
    • Rascal2 Rascal +2 vs standard
    Other
    • Radar Tower1 Radar Tower

    Some games also: lasher (47%) · Dragon's Teeth (44%) · wolverine (44%) · energy storage (38%) · Twin Guard (34%)

    The standard build makes here, this one skips: 3 Graverobber

    By 10:00 in all: 6 mex · 23 wind (standard 16) · 3 con turret

    The example game in this phase · 64 steps
    1. IncisorIncisor
    2. Wind
    3. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    4. IncisorIncisor ×3
    5. GuardGuard
    6. Wind
    7. IncisorIncisor ×2
    8. Wind
    9. AgitatorAgitatornot finished by 15:00
    10. IncisorIncisor
    11. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    12. IncisorIncisor
    13. LasherLasher
    14. Wind ×2
    15. LasherLasher
    16. Wind
    17. LasherLasher
    18. Wind
    19. LasherLasher
    20. Wind
    21. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    22. LasherLasher
    23. Wind
    24. AgitatorAgitator
    25. Wind
    26. LasherLasher
    27. Wind
    28. LasherLasher
    29. Wind ×2
    30. LasherLasher
    31. Wind
    32. Mex
    33. LasherLasher
    34. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    35. LasherLasher
    36. Energy storage
    37. WardenWarden
    38. Mex
    39. LasherLasher
    40. CastroCastro
    41. Con turret ×2
    42. LasherLasher
    43. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex ×2not finished by 15:00 · typical 10:27
    44. Con turret
    45. LasherLasher
    46. Con turret ×2
    47. LasherLasher
    48. Con turret ×2
    49. LasherLasher
    50. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    51. LasherLasher
    52. Con turret
    53. LasherLasher
    54. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plant ×3not finished by 15:00
    55. RattlesnakeRattlesnakedone 14:21
    56. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantnot finished by 15:00
    57. LasherLasher
    58. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantnot finished by 15:00
    59. LasherLasher
    60. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    61. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    62. LasherLasher
    63. Con turret
    64. Wind

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is Etherift's (30 OS, 02/10/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

Nothing regular.

You get

  • Tidal Generator4 Tidal from Pondfirst at 0:13 · in 66% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Geo or Techfirst at 8:35 · in 56% of games

How it plays out

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

  • This build
  • Standard suicide front

Metal produced

010k20k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Enemy metal destroyed

05k10k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Own metal lost

05k10k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

32 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildMetal produced: Standard suicide frontEnemy metal destroyed: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: Standard suicide frontOwn metal lost: This buildOwn metal lost: Standard suicide front
1:004003300000
2:009409430000
3:001731203614521613173
4:0027733125604734304633
5:0037794279126015546021394
6:00483854671981251711512334
7:00613266432730364615613321
8:00738778284010458323754356
9:00833689444342533230345265
10:009409102095454603342696149
11:0010582115725475658047516916
12:0012186131616060709661527728
13:0014166147516874777768818397
14:0016067163608236837778818939
15:0017930177428453900187999578
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

Won clearly more often than the standard build with notably lower own metal losses at every checkpoint.

  • + Own metal lost roughly 40% lower than standard build at 5:00 and 10:00.
  • + Metal produced by 15:00 exceeds the standard build's.
  • − Enemy metal destroyed is lower than standard at every checkpoint.
  • − Metal produced trails standard build early at 5:00 and 10:00.
THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

Etherift

30.1 OS · 02/10/2026

Open source match ↗

24 received units · includes a constructor
32 metal received · 18970 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Vehicle Plant0:48Middle 50%: 0:46–0:54 · n=32
Advanced Metal Extractor10:27Middle 50%: 9:39–11:11 · n=25

Played most by

CommandoMan14games of this buildMischievousDragonGF4games of this buildRAM_Ricardo3games of this build[crd]sisa1game of this buildEtherift1game of this build