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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 (77%)

#eco #air #team support · 1581 distinct matches · 259 players · 81% of Cortex Air games · team won 46% of 1890 · 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 1581 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 1:14–1:36

    Some games also: energy storage (39%)

    By 1:07 in all: 3 mex · 4 wind

    The example game in this phase · 5 steps
    1. Mex ×3
    2. Wind ×5
    3. Energy storage
    4. Wind ×3
    5. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantdone 1:56 · 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%) · converter (45%) · energy storage (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 · 15 steps
    1. ShurikenShuriken ×3
    2. FinchFinch
    3. ValiantValiant
    4. Construction AircraftCon aircraft
    5. Mex
    6. Construction AircraftCon aircraft
    7. HerculesLight transportfor Tech
    8. HerculesLight transport ×2
    9. ValiantValiant ×3
    10. Wind
    11. Con turret
    12. Wind
    13. ValiantValiant
    14. Con turret
    15. Wind ×9
  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 18 wind, 18 wind, 7 converterin 58% of games
    Builders
    • Construction Turret3 Con turret
    Army
    • Valiant9 Valiant

    Some games also: shuriken (47%) · fusion (39%) · con aircraft (34%) · 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 · 25 steps
    1. Wind ×5
    2. Energy storage
    3. Wind
    4. Converter
    5. Wind
    6. Converter
    7. Aircraft PlantEat Aircraft Plantreclaimed for its metal
    8. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex ×4done 6:09 · typical 6:54
    9. Con turret ×2
    10. Con turret ×3
    11. Fusion ReactorFusiondone 8:29 · typical 10:51
    12. Converter ×2
    13. Fusion ReactorFusion
    14. Converter ×7
    15. Con turret ×9
    16. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plant ×2done 10:10
    17. ValiantValiant ×104
    18. WhirlwindWhirlwind ×11
    19. Construction AircraftCon aircraft
    20. WhirlwindWhirlwind ×10
    21. ValiantValiant ×2
    22. WhirlwindWhirlwind ×5
    23. Aircraft PlantEat Aircraft Plantreclaimed for its metal
    24. Aircraft PlantEat Aircraft Plantreclaimed for its metal
    25. Advanced Fusion ReactorAdvanced Fusion Reactornot finished by 15:00

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is [GerBoyz]Stinkfisch's (38 OS, 15/10/2026); 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 2:07 · in 99% of games
  • Hephaestus1 Heavy transport to Beach sea or Pond or Techfirst at 2:22 · in 71% of games

You get

  • Wind Turbine3 Wind from Beach sea or Geo seafirst at 1:37 · in 63% of games
  • Wind Turbine3 Wind from Beach sea or Geo sea or Pondfirst at 1:41 · 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 6:04 · 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

1890 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0039200
2:0092300
3:00145600
4:002053051
5:0027655173
6:003723102124
7:005096146167
8:006916190215
9:009301223270
10:0011780278365
11:0014398365524
12:0017093498755
13:00199347491057
14:002278412331658
15:002582617812391
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

[GerBoyz]Stinkfisch

38.1 OS · 15/10/2026

Open source match ↗

5 received units · includes a constructor
582 metal received · 201833 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Aircraft Plant1:26Middle 50%: 1:14–1:36 · n=1890
Advanced Metal Extractor6:54Middle 50%: 6:26–7:26 · n=1829
Fusion Reactor10:51Middle 50%: 9:44–12:15 · n=1220

Played most by

TheGeneraI114games of this buildDad_The_Speedrunner73games of this buildHunfore63games of this buildDRM52games of this buildHALF_DALLAH_HABIT52games of this build
Standard air · Cortex Air build order · BAR Build Atlas