BAR / BUILD ATLAS
← All builds
Air / Cortex / Economy first / OBSERVED BUILD

Standard air

Cortex Air build order · Supreme Isthmus

Economy-first air build: Aircraft Plant then Advanced Metal Extractor and Fusion Reactor, making transports and scouts for allies while transitioning into fighters and occasional bombers over the whole game.

Usually transports first (78%)

#eco #air #team support · 1506 distinct matches · 252 players · 81% of Cortex Air games · team won 46% of 1811 · Recently observed

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: Aircraft Plant by 1:24

  1. Open 3 mex and wind, then drop Aircraft Plant early.
  2. Finish Aircraft Plant and start fighters for scouting and defense.
  3. Eat the Aircraft Plant once production needs outgrow it.
  4. Get Advanced Metal Extractor up to scale eco.
  5. Bring Fusion Reactor online and keep feeding transports, scouts, fighters to allies.

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 1506 GAMES
  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 Aircraft Plant

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor3Mex
    • Wind Turbine4Wind
    Order
    1. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plant after 3 mex, 4 winddone ~1:26, middle half 1:14–1:35

    Some games also: energy storage (38%)

    By 1:07 in all: 3 mex · 4 wind

    The example game in this phase · 4 steps
    1. Mex ×3
    2. Wind ×6
    3. Energy storage
    4. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantdone 1:45 · typical 1:26
  2. 2

    Aircraft Plant to 5:00

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor1Mex
    • Wind Turbine9Wind
    • Wind Turbine3Wind
    Builders
    • Construction Turret2 Con turret
    • Construction Aircraft1 Con aircraft
    Army
    • Valiant5 Valiant
    • Hercules2 Light transport for allies
    • Finch2 Finch for allies
    • Finch1 Finch
    • Hephaestus1 Heavy transport for allies

    Some games also: shuriken (49%) · energy storage (45%) · converter (44%) · light transport (40%)

    By 5:00 in all: 3 mex · 1 mex · 13 wind · 3 wind · 1 energy storage · 2 con turret

    The example game in this phase · 32 steps
    1. ShurikenShuriken ×4
    2. ValiantValiant ×3
    3. Mex
    4. Construction AircraftCon aircraft ×2
    5. Con turret
    6. Wind ×2
    7. Wind
    8. Wind
    9. Con turret
    10. Wind
    11. Wind
    12. Wind
    13. HerculesLight transportfor Tech
    14. Wind
    15. Wind
    16. Wind
    17. Converter ×2
    18. Wind
    19. Wind
    20. Wind
    21. Converter
    22. Wind
    23. Wind
    24. Converter
    25. Wind ×2
    26. Wind
    27. Converter
    28. Wind
    29. Converter
    30. Wind
    31. Wind
    32. Converter
  3. 3

    5:00 to 10:00

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine21Wind
    • Wind Turbine5Wind
    • Energy Converter6Converter
    Order
    1. Aircraft PlantEat Aircraft Plant
    2. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plant after 19 wind, 18 wind, 7 converterin 58% of games
    Builders
    • Construction Turret3 Con turret
    Army
    • Valiant9 Valiant

    Some games also: shuriken (47%) · fusion (38%) · con aircraft (35%) · light transport (31%)

    By 10:00 in all: 3 mex · 1 mex · 25 wind · 20 wind · 8 converter · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 336 steps
    1. Wind
    2. Wind
    3. Wind
    4. Wind ×2
    5. Wind
    6. Converter
    7. Wind ×4
    8. Converter
    9. Wind ×2
    10. Wind
    11. Wind ×2
    12. Converter
    13. ValiantValiant
    14. Wind ×2
    15. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 6:16 · typical 6:54
    16. Wind
    17. Wind ×2
    18. Converter
    19. Wind
    20. Wind
    21. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    22. Converter
    23. Wind
    24. Wind
    25. Wind
    26. Wind
    27. Wind
    28. Converter
    29. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    30. Wind ×2
    31. Converter
    32. Wind
    33. Wind
    34. Converter
    35. Wind
    36. Bot LabBot Labdone 7:45
    37. Converter
    38. Wind
    39. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    40. Converter
    41. Construction BotCon bot
    42. Converter
    43. Construction BotCon bot
    44. Con turret
    45. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    46. Wind
    47. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    48. Wind
    49. Wind
    50. Construction BotCon bot
    51. Wind
    52. Wind
    53. Wind
    54. Construction BotCon bot
    55. Wind
    56. Wind
    57. Construction BotCon bot
    58. Wind ×2
    59. Converter
    60. Construction BotCon bot
    61. Wind
    62. Wind ×2
    63. Construction BotCon bot
    64. Wind
    65. Wind
    66. Converter
    67. Wind ×2
    68. Construction BotCon bot
    69. Wind ×2
    70. Wind
    71. Wind
    72. Converter
    73. Wind
    74. Wind
    75. Wind ×5
    76. Converter
    77. Wind
    78. Wind ×3
    79. Construction AircraftCon aircraft
    80. Wind
    81. Wind
    82. Wind
    83. Converter
    84. Wind
    85. Wind
    86. Wind ×4
    87. Converter
    88. Wind
    89. ValiantValiant
    90. Wind ×2
    91. Con turret
    92. Wind ×2
    93. Wind
    94. Wind ×3
    95. Con turret
    96. ValiantValiant
    97. Wind
    98. Wind
    99. Wind
    100. Converter
    101. Wind ×3
    102. ValiantValiant
    103. Wind
    104. Wind
    105. Wind
    106. Con turret
    107. Wind ×2
    108. Wind
    109. Wind
    110. Con turret
    111. ValiantValiant
    112. Wind ×3
    113. Con turret
    114. Wind ×2
    115. Wind
    116. Wind ×3
    117. Wind
    118. Wind
    119. ValiantValiant
    120. Wind
    121. Converter
    122. Wind ×2
    123. ValiantValiant
    124. Wind
    125. Converter
    126. Wind ×2
    127. ValiantValiant
    128. Wind ×2
    129. Wind
    130. ValiantValiant
    131. Wind ×3
    132. ValiantValiant ×2
    133. Wind
    134. Wind
    135. ShurikenShuriken
    136. Wind
    137. ShurikenShuriken
    138. Wind
    139. ShurikenShuriken
    140. Wind
    141. Wind
    142. ShurikenShuriken
    143. Con turret
    144. ShurikenShuriken
    145. Wind
    146. Con turret
    147. Wind ×3
    148. Wind
    149. Wind
    150. Con turret
    151. Wind
    152. ShurikenShuriken
    153. Con turret ×2
    154. Wind ×3
    155. Con turret
    156. Wind
    157. Wind
    158. ShurikenShuriken
    159. Wind ×2
    160. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantdone 11:14
    161. ShurikenShuriken
    162. Wind ×2
    163. Wind
    164. Wind ×3
    165. ShurikenShuriken
    166. Wind
    167. ShurikenShuriken
    168. Wind
    169. Wind
    170. ValiantValiant
    171. ShurikenShuriken
    172. ValiantValiant
    173. ShurikenShuriken
    174. Wind
    175. Wind
    176. ShurikenShuriken
    177. Wind ×2
    178. ValiantValiant
    179. ShurikenShuriken
    180. Wind
    181. ShurikenShuriken ×2
    182. Wind
    183. Wind
    184. Bot LabEat Bot Labreclaimed for its metal
    185. Wind
    186. ShurikenShuriken ×2
    187. Wind ×2
    188. ShurikenShuriken ×5
    189. Wind
    190. Wind
    191. Wind ×2
    192. ShurikenShuriken ×2
    193. Wind
    194. ShurikenShuriken ×3
    195. Wind
    196. ShurikenShuriken
    197. Wind
    198. ShurikenShuriken ×2
    199. Wind ×2
    200. ShurikenShuriken ×2
    201. Wind
    202. ShurikenShuriken ×2
    203. Wind
    204. ShurikenShuriken
    205. Wind
    206. ShurikenShuriken ×3
    207. Wind ×2
    208. ShurikenShuriken ×2
    209. Wind ×2
    210. ShurikenShuriken ×2
    211. Wind
    212. ShurikenShuriken ×2
    213. Wind ×2
    214. ValiantValiant ×2
    215. Wind ×2
    216. ValiantValiant ×2
    217. Wind
    218. Wind ×2
    219. ValiantValiant ×2
    220. Wind ×2
    221. ValiantValiant
    222. Wind
    223. ValiantValiant
    224. Converter
    225. ValiantValiant
    226. Wind ×2
    227. Converter ×2
    228. ValiantValiant
    229. Wind ×2
    230. ValiantValiant
    231. Wind
    232. ValiantValiant
    233. Converter
    234. ValiantValiant
    235. Wind
    236. Converter
    237. Wind
    238. ValiantValiant
    239. Wind
    240. Converter
    241. Wind
    242. ValiantValiant
    243. Wind
    244. ValiantValiant ×2
    245. Wind
    246. Converter
    247. ValiantValiant
    248. Wind
    249. Converter
    250. Wind
    251. Wind
    252. ValiantValiant
    253. Wind
    254. ValiantValiant ×2
    255. Converter
    256. ValiantValiant
    257. Wind ×2
    258. ValiantValiant
    259. Wind
    260. Wind
    261. Converter
    262. ValiantValiant ×2
    263. Wind
    264. Converter
    265. ValiantValiant ×2
    266. Wind
    267. Wind ×2
    268. Converter
    269. Wind
    270. ValiantValiant ×2
    271. Wind
    272. Converter
    273. ValiantValiant ×2
    274. Wind ×3
    275. ValiantValiant ×2
    276. Wind
    277. ValiantValiant
    278. Wind
    279. Converter
    280. ValiantValiant
    281. Wind
    282. Converter
    283. ValiantValiant
    284. Wind
    285. ValiantValiant
    286. Wind
    287. ValiantValiant
    288. Wind
    289. Converter
    290. ValiantValiant ×2
    291. Wind
    292. ValiantValiant
    293. Wind
    294. Wind
    295. Converter
    296. ValiantValiant ×3
    297. Wind
    298. ValiantValiant
    299. Wind
    300. Converter
    301. Wind
    302. ValiantValiant
    303. Wind ×2
    304. ValiantValiant
    305. Converter
    306. ValiantValiant
    307. Wind
    308. Wind
    309. ValiantValiant
    310. Wind ×2
    311. ValiantValiant
    312. Wind
    313. ValiantValiant ×2
    314. Wind
    315. Wind
    316. ValiantValiant
    317. Wind ×3
    318. ValiantValiant ×2
    319. Wind
    320. ValiantValiant
    321. Wind ×3
    322. ValiantValiant ×2
    323. Wind
    324. WhirlwindWhirlwind ×2
    325. Wind ×4
    326. WhirlwindWhirlwind ×3
    327. Wind ×3
    328. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    329. Wind
    330. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    331. Wind
    332. WhirlwindWhirlwind ×2
    333. Wind
    334. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    335. Wind ×3
    336. WhirlwindWhirlwind ×2

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is [BAC]Prime_Hybrid's (34 OS, 04/08/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

  • Finch2 Finch to Geo sea or Beach seafirst at 1:50 · in 96% of games
  • Hercules3 Light transport to Tech or Geo sea or Beach seafirst at 2:06 · in 99% of games
  • Hephaestus1 Heavy transport to Beach sea or Pond or Techfirst at 2:23 · in 72% of games

You get

  • Wind Turbine3 Wind from Beach sea or Geo seafirst at 1:37 · in 64% of games
  • Wind Turbine3 Wind from Beach sea or Geo sea or Pondfirst at 1:42 · in 46% of games
  • Construction Bot1 Con bot from Techfirst at 2:23 · in 88% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Techfirst at 6:05 · in 96% of games

How it plays out

Typical game of this build, running totals by minute

Metal produced

010k20k30k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Enemy metal destroyed

01k2k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Own metal lost

01k2k3k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

1811 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0039200
2:0092300
3:00145600
4:002052051
5:0027635173
6:003707102124
7:005089146167
8:006902190219
9:009284230270
10:0011758292380
11:0014356369536
12:0017069512781
13:00198597811102
14:002270412641689
15:002573618132420
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

Standard air play wins less than half its games, with very low combat losses and kills since the role mostly supports rather than fights.

  • + Own metal lost stays very low, only 2701 by 15:00.
  • + Metal production reaches 25740 by 15:00, a strong support economy.
  • − Team wins under half of games (47%).
  • − Enemy metal destroyed stays low at 2097 by 15:00, showing little direct impact.
THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

[BAC]Prime_Hybrid

33.5 OS · 04/08/2026

Open source match ↗

2 received units · includes a constructor
600 metal received · 46049 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Aircraft Plant1:26Middle 50%: 1:14–1:35 · n=1811
Advanced Metal Extractor6:54Middle 50%: 6:27–7:26 · n=1751
Fusion Reactor10:53Middle 50%: 9:45–12:17 · n=1159

Played most by

TheGeneraI114games of this buildDad_The_Speedrunner72games of this buildHunfore62games of this buildDRM52games of this buildMilkdragon52games of this build