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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 · 1486 distinct matches · 252 players · 81% of Cortex Air games · team won 46% of 1790 · 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 1486 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 · 6 steps
    1. Mex ×2
    2. Wind
    3. Mex
    4. Wind ×4
    5. Energy storage
    6. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantdone 1:35 · 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 (41%)

    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 · 30 steps
    1. Wind
    2. FinchFinchfor Geo sea
    3. HerculesLight transportfor Geo sea
    4. FinchFinch
    5. Wind
    6. HerculesLight transportfor Geo sea
    7. Wind ×3
    8. ValiantValiant
    9. FinchFinch
    10. HephaestusHeavy transportfor Beach sea
    11. Wind
    12. FinchFinchfor Beach sea
    13. Wind
    14. ValiantValiant
    15. Mex
    16. Wind
    17. Solar
    18. Construction AircraftCon aircraft
    19. Wind ×2
    20. ValiantValiant
    21. Con turret
    22. HephaestusHeavy transportfor Pond
    23. Wind
    24. ValiantValiant
    25. HerculesLight transportfor Tech
    26. Con turret
    27. Wind
    28. ValiantValiant
    29. Converter
    30. Wind
  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 (48%) · fusion (38%) · con aircraft (35%) · light transport (31%)

    By 10:00 in all: 3 mex · 1 mex · 24 wind · 20 wind · 8 converter · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 304 steps
    1. Converter
    2. Con turret
    3. ValiantValiant
    4. FinchFinch
    5. Converter
    6. Wind
    7. Con turret
    8. Converter
    9. ValiantValiant
    10. Converter ×2
    11. Wind
    12. ValiantValiant
    13. Wind
    14. Converter
    15. ValiantValiant
    16. Wind
    17. Converter
    18. Wind ×2
    19. HerculesLight transport
    20. Wind ×3
    21. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 6:45 · typical 6:54
    22. Aircraft PlantEat Aircraft Plantreclaimed for its metal
    23. Wind
    24. Con turret
    25. Wind
    26. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    27. Wind ×3
    28. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    29. Wind ×2
    30. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    31. Wind ×3
    32. Bot LabBot Labdone 7:44
    33. Con turret
    34. Wind
    35. Construction BotCon bot
    36. Wind ×2
    37. Construction BotCon bot
    38. Wind
    39. Construction BotCon bot
    40. Wind
    41. Construction BotCon bot
    42. Wind
    43. Construction BotCon bot
    44. Wind ×6
    45. Con turret
    46. Wind ×3
    47. Bot LabEat Bot Labreclaimed for its metal
    48. Wind ×3
    49. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantdone 8:36
    50. Wind ×6
    51. ValiantValiant
    52. Wind ×6
    53. ValiantValiant
    54. Wind ×2
    55. ValiantValiant
    56. Wind ×2
    57. ValiantValiant
    58. Wind ×3
    59. ValiantValiant
    60. Wind ×2
    61. ValiantValiant
    62. Wind ×5
    63. ValiantValiant
    64. Wind
    65. Con turret ×2
    66. ValiantValiant
    67. Wind ×2
    68. Con turret
    69. Wind
    70. ValiantValiant
    71. Wind ×3
    72. ValiantValiant
    73. Wind ×4
    74. Construction AircraftCon aircraft
    75. Converter
    76. Wind ×2
    77. Construction AircraftCon aircraft
    78. Wind ×4
    79. Advanced solar
    80. Construction AircraftCon aircraft
    81. Wind ×6
    82. ValiantValiant
    83. Wind ×2
    84. Converter
    85. Wind ×2
    86. ValiantValiant
    87. Wind
    88. Converter
    89. Wind
    90. Converter
    91. Wind ×2
    92. ValiantValiant
    93. Converter
    94. Wind ×2
    95. Con turret
    96. Wind
    97. Con turret
    98. Wind
    99. Converter
    100. Wind ×2
    101. ValiantValiant
    102. Wind
    103. ValiantValiant
    104. Wind ×2
    105. Converter
    106. Wind
    107. ValiantValiant
    108. Converter
    109. Wind ×2
    110. ShurikenShuriken
    111. Wind ×2
    112. ShurikenShuriken
    113. Converter
    114. Wind ×2
    115. ShurikenShuriken
    116. Wind
    117. Converter
    118. ShurikenShuriken
    119. Wind ×4
    120. ShurikenShuriken
    121. Wind
    122. Converter
    123. Wind
    124. ShurikenShuriken
    125. Wind ×3
    126. ShurikenShuriken
    127. Wind ×2
    128. ShurikenShuriken
    129. Wind ×2
    130. Converter
    131. Wind
    132. ShurikenShuriken
    133. Wind ×2
    134. ShurikenShuriken
    135. Wind ×2
    136. ValiantValiant
    137. Wind ×2
    138. Converter
    139. Wind ×2
    140. ValiantValiant
    141. Wind ×2
    142. ValiantValiant
    143. Wind ×2
    144. ValiantValiant
    145. Converter
    146. Wind ×3
    147. FinchFinch
    148. Wind
    149. FinchFinch
    150. Wind ×3
    151. FinchFinch
    152. Converter
    153. Wind ×2
    154. FinchFinch
    155. Wind ×2
    156. FinchFinch
    157. Wind
    158. ValiantValiant
    159. Wind ×2
    160. Converter ×2
    161. Wind
    162. ValiantValiant
    163. Wind
    164. Advanced solar
    165. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    166. Wind ×5
    167. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    168. Converter
    169. Wind ×4
    170. Converter
    171. Wind ×2
    172. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    173. Advanced solar
    174. Wind ×3
    175. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    176. Wind
    177. Converter
    178. Wind ×3
    179. Advanced solar
    180. Converter
    181. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    182. Wind ×5
    183. Converter ×2
    184. Wind
    185. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    186. Wind ×4
    187. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    188. Converter
    189. Wind ×4
    190. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    191. Wind ×2
    192. WhirlwindWhirlwind ×2
    193. ValiantValiant
    194. Wind ×3
    195. ValiantValiant
    196. Converter
    197. Wind
    198. ValiantValiant
    199. Wind ×2
    200. ValiantValiant
    201. Converter
    202. Wind ×3
    203. ValiantValiant
    204. Wind ×3
    205. ValiantValiant
    206. Wind
    207. Converter
    208. Wind ×2
    209. Construction AircraftCon aircraft
    210. Wind ×3
    211. ValiantValiant
    212. Wind ×2
    213. Converter
    214. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantdone 13:08
    215. Wind
    216. ValiantValiant
    217. Converter
    218. Wind
    219. ValiantValiant
    220. Wind ×2
    221. ShurikenShuriken
    222. ValiantValiant
    223. Wind
    224. Converter
    225. Wind ×3
    226. ValiantValiant
    227. ShurikenShuriken
    228. Wind
    229. ValiantValiant
    230. Converter
    231. Wind
    232. ValiantValiant
    233. Wind ×2
    234. ValiantValiant
    235. Wind ×2
    236. ValiantValiant ×2
    237. Wind ×2
    238. Converter
    239. ValiantValiant
    240. Wind
    241. ValiantValiant
    242. Wind ×2
    243. ValiantValiant ×2
    244. Wind
    245. ValiantValiant
    246. Wind ×2
    247. ValiantValiant
    248. Converter
    249. ValiantValiant
    250. Wind ×3
    251. ValiantValiant
    252. Wind
    253. ValiantValiant
    254. Wind
    255. Converter
    256. ValiantValiant ×2
    257. Wind ×3
    258. ValiantValiant ×2
    259. Con turret
    260. Converter
    261. ValiantValiant
    262. Wind ×2
    263. ValiantValiant
    264. Con turret
    265. ValiantValiant
    266. Wind ×4
    267. Converter
    268. Wind
    269. ValiantValiant
    270. Con turret
    271. ValiantValiant
    272. Converter
    273. ValiantValiant
    274. Wind
    275. ValiantValiant
    276. Wind
    277. ValiantValiant ×2
    278. Converter
    279. Wind ×3
    280. ValiantValiant
    281. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    282. Wind
    283. ValiantValiant
    284. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    285. Wind ×3
    286. ValiantValiant
    287. Converter
    288. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    289. ValiantValiant
    290. Wind ×2
    291. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    292. ValiantValiant
    293. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    294. Wind ×2
    295. ValiantValiant
    296. Converter
    297. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    298. Wind ×2
    299. ValiantValiant
    300. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    301. Wind ×2
    302. ValiantValiant
    303. Converter
    304. WhirlwindWhirlwind

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is bob7's (31 OS, 13/09/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

  • Finch2 Finch to Geo sea or Beach seafirst at 1:51 · 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 47% of games
  • Construction Bot1 Con bot from Techfirst at 2:22 · 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

1790 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0039200
2:0092300
3:00145600
4:002053051
5:0027635173
6:003712102124
7:005087146167
8:006902190219
9:009285231273
10:0011760292386
11:0014377374540
12:0017071517781
13:00198517811112
14:002267412691690
15:002569318242435
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

bob7

31.2 OS · 13/09/2026

Open source match ↗

10 received units · includes a constructor
778 metal received · 10904 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=1790
Advanced Metal Extractor6:54Middle 50%: 6:27–7:26 · n=1731
Fusion Reactor10:53Middle 50%: 9:45–12:17 · n=1146

Played most by

TheGeneraI113games of this buildDad_The_Speedrunner72games of this buildHunfore62games of this buildMilkdragon52games of this buildAdeus50games of this build
Standard air · Cortex Air build order · BAR Build Atlas