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Beach sea / Cortex / Economy first / OBSERVED BUILD

Standard beach sea

Cortex Beach sea build order · Supreme Isthmus

The role's usual play: com goes to sea to build a shipyard around 2 minutes, pumping frigates and destroyers to contest enemy sea entry or hold vision, with an advanced metal extractor around 10 minutes as the transition into the team's…

Usually shipyard first (94%)

#naval #eco · 840 distinct matches · 110 players · 84% of Cortex Beach sea games · team won 55% of 911 · Recently observed

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: Shipyard by 1:57

  1. Open 3 mex and wind while com heads straight to sea.
  2. Drop Shipyard fast, before 2:00, to seize early sea presence.
  3. Push "frigate" out to contest enemy sea entry or hold vision.
  4. Add "destroyer" as the fleet grows.
  5. Transition into Advanced Metal Extractor to catch up on eco.

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 840 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 Shipyard

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor3Mex
    • Wind Turbine3Windfor allies
    • Wind Turbine2Wind
    • Energy Storage1Energy storage
    Order
    1. ShipyardShipyard after 3 mex, 2 wind, 1 energy storagedone ~1:57, middle half 1:44–2:07

    By 1:40 in all: 3 mex · 2 wind · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 4 steps
    1. Mex ×3
    2. Wind ×4for Air
    3. GuardGuard
    4. ShipyardShipyarddone 1:45 · typical 1:57
  2. 2

    Shipyard to 5:00

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor5Mex
    • Tidal Generator2Tidal
    Builders
    • Construction Ship2 Con ship
    Army
    • Riptide2 Frigate
    • Herring1 Missile corvette
    • Oppressor1 Destroyer
    Other
    • Naval Radar / Sonar Tower1 Naval Radar / Sonar Tower

    Some games also: Urchin (44%) · wind (40%) · submarine (39%) · gunboat (36%) · con turret (35%)

    By 5:00 in all: 8 mex · 3 wind · 2 tidal · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 18 steps
    1. Tidal
    2. Construction ShipCon ship
    3. Tidal ×3
    4. Construction ShipCon ship
    5. HerringMissile corvette
    6. Tidal
    7. Mex ×2
    8. RiptideFrigate ×2done 3:10 · typical 3:51
    9. Mex
    10. OrcaSubmarinedone 4:32
    11. Mex
    12. Mex
    13. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    14. Wind
    15. UrchinUrchin
    16. RiptideFrigate
    17. Wind
    18. Mex
  3. 3

    5:00 to 10:00

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor1Mex
    • Wind Turbine9Wind
    Builders
    • Death Cavalry1 Death Cavalry
    • Construction Ship1 Con ship
    Army
    • Urchin1 Urchin
    • Riptide5 Frigate
    • Oppressor2 Destroyer
    • Herring2 Missile corvette
    Other
    • Naval Radar / Sonar Tower1 Naval Radar / Sonar Tower

    Some games also: Naval Construction Turret (48%) · Guard (47%) · Radar Tower (40%) · tidal (39%) · con turret (34%)

    By 10:00 in all: 9 mex · 12 wind · 4 wind · 4 tidal · 1 energy storage · 1 Naval Construction Turret

    The example game in this phase · 21 steps
    1. RiptideFrigate
    2. Wind
    3. Mex
    4. GuardGuard
    5. Wind
    6. OppressorDestroyerdone 6:25 · typical 5:11
    7. GuardGuard ×2
    8. Wind
    9. GuardGuard ×2
    10. Wind
    11. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    12. UrchinUrchin
    13. Wind ×2
    14. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower ×2
    15. RiptideFrigate
    16. Wind
    17. RiptideFrigate
    18. Wind
    19. RiptideFrigate
    20. Wind
    21. OppressorDestroyer

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is s0uthy's (38 OS, 02/10/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

  • Wind Turbine3 Wind to Airfirst at 1:52 · in 78% of games

You get

  • Finch1 Finch from Airfirst at 1:58 · in 82% of games
  • Lazarus1 Lazarus from Geofirst at 2:13 · in 62% of games
  • Hephaestus1 Heavy transport from Airfirst at 2:16 · in 68% of games
  • Construction Bot1 Con bot from Geofirst at 2:28 · in 69% of games
  • Hercules1 Light transport from Airfirst at 2:35 · in 32% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Techfirst at 8:09 · in 88% 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

05k10k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Own metal lost

02.5k5k7.5k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

911 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0040300
2:0093700
3:00156900
4:0025342151
5:003708197100
6:005034535255
7:0064761081591
8:00806218211031
9:00967428201581
10:001157039342334
11:001378150203070
12:001631761193806
13:001909971094570
14:002189381835721
15:002490892026551
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

Standard Beach sea wins more than Geo sea's 50% and gets its Shipyard up faster, using early sea access before falling behind on land resources.

  • + Shipyard finishes by 1:57, faster than Geo sea's 3:18
  • + 54% team win rate beats the Cortex geo sea baseline
  • − Metal produced trails Geo sea's Cortex build, 24356 vs 28451 by 15:00
  • − T2 factory only lands in 35% of games by 12:42
THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

s0uthy

38.2 OS · 02/10/2026

Open source match ↗

4 received units · includes a constructor
35 metal received · 2121 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Shipyard1:57Middle 50%: 1:44–2:07 · n=909
Riptide3:51Middle 50%: 3:15–4:34 · n=894
Oppressor5:11Middle 50%: 4:17–6:08 · n=877
Advanced Metal Extractor9:58Middle 50%: 9:17–10:53 · n=770

Played most by

EpicTyrannus89games of this buildDamsko67games of this buildWaboum64games of this buildPRO_HYDRA60games of this buildKbot_my_Ahole51games of this build
Standard beach sea · Cortex Beach sea build order · BAR Build Atlas