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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 · 1508 distinct matches · 252 players · 81% of Cortex Air games · team won 46% of 1813 · 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 1508 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 · 5 steps
    1. Mex ×3
    2. Wind ×4
    3. Energy storage
    4. Wind ×2
    5. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantdone 1:40 · 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 · 21 steps
    1. FinchFinch ×2for Geo sea
    2. HerculesLight transport ×2for Geo sea
    3. ValiantValiant ×5
    4. Mex
    5. ValiantValiant ×3
    6. Wind
    7. HerculesLight transportfor Beach sea
    8. Con turret
    9. Wind ×3
    10. ValiantValiant ×2
    11. HerculesLight transportfor Tech
    12. ValiantValiant
    13. Wind
    14. ValiantValiant
    15. Wind
    16. ValiantValiant
    17. Wind
    18. ValiantValiant
    19. Wind ×2
    20. ValiantValiant
    21. 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 (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 · 163 steps
    1. ValiantValiant
    2. Wind
    3. ValiantValiant ×2
    4. Wind
    5. ValiantValiant
    6. Wind
    7. ValiantValiant
    8. HerculesLight transportfor Tech
    9. Wind ×3
    10. HephaestusHeavy transportfor Tech
    11. Wind
    12. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 7:10 · typical 6:54
    13. Wind ×4
    14. Aircraft PlantEat Aircraft Plantreclaimed for its metal
    15. Wind ×2
    16. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    17. Wind ×5
    18. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    19. Wind ×6
    20. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantdone 8:50
    21. Wind ×3
    22. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    23. Construction AircraftCon aircraft
    24. Wind ×2
    25. ValiantValiant
    26. Con turret
    27. Wind
    28. Con turret
    29. ValiantValiant
    30. Wind
    31. TracerTracer
    32. Wind ×2
    33. Advanced solar
    34. ValiantValiant
    35. Wind ×2
    36. ValiantValiant
    37. Wind
    38. ValiantValiant
    39. Wind
    40. ValiantValiant ×2
    41. Wind
    42. Con turret
    43. ValiantValiant
    44. Wind
    45. ValiantValiant
    46. Wind
    47. Con turret
    48. ValiantValiant
    49. Wind
    50. ValiantValiant ×2
    51. Wind
    52. ValiantValiant ×2
    53. Wind
    54. Con turret
    55. ValiantValiant ×2
    56. Wind
    57. ValiantValiant
    58. Construction AircraftCon aircraft
    59. Wind
    60. Con turret
    61. ValiantValiant
    62. Wind
    63. Converter
    64. ValiantValiant
    65. Con turret
    66. Wind
    67. ValiantValiant ×2
    68. Con turret
    69. Wind
    70. Converter
    71. ValiantValiant
    72. Con turret
    73. Wind
    74. ValiantValiant ×2
    75. Wind
    76. Converter
    77. ValiantValiant
    78. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    79. Wind
    80. WhirlwindWhirlwind ×2
    81. Converter
    82. Wind
    83. WhirlwindWhirlwind ×3
    84. Wind
    85. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    86. Converter
    87. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    88. Wind
    89. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    90. Converter
    91. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    92. Con turret
    93. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    94. Wind
    95. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    96. Converter
    97. WhirlwindWhirlwind ×2
    98. Wind
    99. Converter
    100. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    101. ValiantValiant ×2
    102. Wind
    103. ValiantValiant
    104. Converter
    105. ValiantValiant
    106. Wind
    107. ValiantValiant ×3
    108. Converter
    109. ValiantValiant
    110. Wind
    111. ValiantValiant ×3
    112. Wind
    113. ValiantValiant
    114. Converter
    115. ValiantValiant ×3
    116. Wind
    117. ValiantValiant ×2
    118. Converter
    119. ValiantValiant
    120. Wind
    121. ValiantValiant ×3
    122. Wind
    123. ValiantValiant
    124. Converter
    125. ValiantValiant ×2
    126. Wind
    127. ValiantValiant ×2
    128. Converter
    129. ValiantValiant
    130. Converter
    131. ValiantValiant
    132. Wind
    133. ValiantValiant ×3
    134. Converter
    135. Wind
    136. Converter
    137. ValiantValiant ×4
    138. Wind
    139. ValiantValiant
    140. Converter ×2
    141. ValiantValiant ×2
    142. Wind
    143. ValiantValiant ×3
    144. Converter
    145. ValiantValiant
    146. Converter
    147. ValiantValiant
    148. Wind
    149. ValiantValiant ×3
    150. Wind
    151. ValiantValiant
    152. Converter ×2
    153. ValiantValiant
    154. CitadelAnti-nukenot finished by 15:00
    155. ValiantValiant
    156. Wind
    157. Converter
    158. Wind
    159. Converter
    160. Wind
    161. Converter ×2
    162. Wind
    163. Converter ×2

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is Seiffre's (31 OS, 10/08/2026); 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 71% 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 2:22 · 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

1813 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
6:003711102124
7:005089146167
8:006903190219
9:009285230270
10:0011761292379
11:0014370369533
12:0017069512781
13:00198597811101
14:002270412631689
15:002573618082409
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

Seiffre

31.2 OS · 10/08/2026

Open source match ↗

5 received units · includes a constructor
241 metal received · 31145 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=1813
Advanced Metal Extractor6:54Middle 50%: 6:27–7:26 · n=1753
Fusion Reactor10:52Middle 50%: 9:46–12:17 · n=1160

Played most by

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