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Front / Cortex / Economy first / OBSERVED BUILD

Standard front

Standard Front play: Bot Lab immediately, expanding economy with an Advanced Metal Extractor around 9:00, then defending the wider gap with bots like Thug, Grunt and Aggravator as the middle firms up.

#eco #defence · 171 distinct matches · 62 players · 63% of Cortex Front games · team won 43% of 173 · Recently observed

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: Bot Lab by 0:40

  1. Take 3 mex, then wind before opening Bot Lab.
  2. Finish Bot Lab, start producing Thug, Grunt and Aggravator.
  3. Send early units to coast first to stop leaks, not straight to mid.
  4. Add Twin Guard and Radar Tower to hold the wider gap.
  5. Bring Advanced Metal Extractor online as army transitions to T2.

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 171 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 Bot Lab

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor2Mex
    Order
    1. Bot LabBot Lab after 2 mex, 1 winddone ~0:40, middle half 0:34–0:46

    Some games also: wind (50%)

    By 0:24 in all: 2 mex

    The example game in this phase · 3 steps
    1. Mex ×2
    2. Wind
    3. Bot LabBot Labdone 0:40 · typical 0:40
  2. 2

    Bot Lab to 5:00

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor4Mex
    • Wind Turbine4Wind
    Builders
    • Construction Bot3 Con bot
    • Graverobber2 Graverobber
    Army
    • Guard2 Guard
    • Thug6 Thug
    • Aggravator5 Aggravator
    • Grunt4 Grunt

    Some games also: con turret (42%) · Radar Tower (36%)

    By 5:00 in all: 6 mex · 5 wind

    The example game in this phase · 45 steps
    1. GruntGrunt
    2. Mex
    3. GruntGrunt
    4. Wind ×2
    5. ThugThug
    6. Wind
    7. AggravatorAggravator
    8. Wind
    9. ThugThug
    10. AggravatorAggravator
    11. GraverobberGraverobber
    12. Construction BotCon bot
    13. GruntGrunt
    14. Construction BotCon bot
    15. Mex
    16. ThugThug
    17. GraverobberGraverobber
    18. PawnPawn
    19. GruntGrunt
    20. Mex
    21. AggravatorAggravator
    22. Construction BotCon bot
    23. GruntGrunt
    24. ThugThug
    25. Mex
    26. GraverobberGraverobber
    27. GruntGrunt
    28. AggravatorAggravator ×4
    29. ThugThug
    30. AggravatorAggravator
    31. Wind
    32. Construction BotCon bot
    33. ThugThug
    34. Wind
    35. GraverobberGraverobber
    36. GuardGuard
    37. GruntGrunt
    38. AggravatorAggravator
    39. GuardGuard
    40. AggravatorAggravator
    41. Wind
    42. GuardGuard
    43. AggravatorAggravator
    44. GuardGuard
    45. AggravatorAggravator
  3. 3

    5:00 to 10:00

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor1Mex
    • Wind Turbine17Wind
    Builders
    • Construction Turret2 Con turret
    • Graverobber2 Graverobber
    • Construction Bot1 Con bot
    Army
    • Guard1 Guard
    • Grunt7 Grunt
    • Thug1 Thug

    Some games also: aggravator (47%) · energy storage (43%) · Twin Guard (36%) · Radar Tower (35%) · converter (34%)

    By 10:00 in all: 7 mex · 24 wind · 1 energy storage · 3 con turret

    The example game in this phase · 170 steps
    1. Wind
    2. AggravatorAggravator
    3. Wind
    4. Construction BotCon bot
    5. ThugThug
    6. Wind
    7. GraverobberGraverobber
    8. GruntGrunt
    9. AggravatorAggravator
    10. Wind
    11. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    12. Wind
    13. AggravatorAggravator ×3
    14. Wind
    15. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    16. Wind
    17. AggravatorAggravator
    18. Construction BotCon bot
    19. Wind
    20. Mex
    21. ThugThug
    22. Wind
    23. GraverobberGraverobber
    24. GruntGrunt
    25. AggravatorAggravator
    26. Wind
    27. Con turret
    28. AggravatorAggravator
    29. Wind
    30. AggravatorAggravator
    31. Wind
    32. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    33. Wind
    34. AggravatorAggravator
    35. Wind
    36. AggravatorAggravator
    37. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    38. AggravatorAggravator
    39. Wind
    40. AggravatorAggravator
    41. Construction BotCon bot
    42. ThugThug
    43. Wind
    44. GraverobberGraverobber
    45. Con turret
    46. Wind
    47. GruntGrunt ×2
    48. Wind
    49. GruntGrunt ×2
    50. Wind
    51. GruntGrunt ×5
    52. Wind
    53. GruntGrunt ×5
    54. Wind
    55. GruntGrunt ×6
    56. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 10:01 · typical 9:12
    57. GruntGrunt
    58. GraverobberGraverobber
    59. Construction BotCon bot
    60. Wind
    61. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    62. ThugThug
    63. Wind
    64. GraverobberGraverobber
    65. Wind
    66. GruntGrunt ×2
    67. Wind
    68. GruntGrunt ×2
    69. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    70. GruntGrunt
    71. Wind
    72. GruntGrunt ×2
    73. Wind
    74. GruntGrunt ×4
    75. Wind
    76. GruntGrunt
    77. Energy storage
    78. GruntGrunt ×2
    79. Wind
    80. Converter
    81. GruntGrunt
    82. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    83. GruntGrunt
    84. ThistleThistle
    85. Converter
    86. Wind
    87. GruntGrunt ×2
    88. ThistleThistle
    89. GruntGrunt
    90. Wind
    91. GruntGrunt ×2
    92. GraverobberGraverobber
    93. ThistleThistle
    94. Wind
    95. Converter
    96. ThugThug
    97. Converter
    98. GraverobberGraverobber
    99. Wind
    100. Converter
    101. GraverobberGraverobber
    102. Converter
    103. Wind
    104. GraverobberGraverobber
    105. Converter
    106. GruntGrunt
    107. Wind
    108. GruntGrunt
    109. Converter
    110. GruntGrunt ×2
    111. Converter
    112. GruntGrunt
    113. Wind
    114. GruntGrunt
    115. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    116. GruntGrunt
    117. Con turret
    118. Converter
    119. GruntGrunt
    120. GuardGuard
    121. GruntGrunt
    122. Con turret
    123. GruntGrunt
    124. Con turret
    125. GruntGrunt
    126. Converter
    127. GuardGuard
    128. GruntGrunt
    129. Wind
    130. Con turret
    131. GruntGrunt
    132. Converter
    133. GruntGrunt
    134. Converter
    135. GruntGrunt
    136. Wind
    137. Converter
    138. GruntGrunt
    139. Converter
    140. GruntGrunt
    141. Converter
    142. GruntGrunt
    143. Converter
    144. GruntGrunt
    145. Wind
    146. GruntGrunt ×2
    147. GraverobberGraverobber
    148. ThugThug
    149. GraverobberGraverobber
    150. Wind
    151. GruntGrunt ×3
    152. RattlesnakeRattlesnakedone 14:40
    153. GruntGrunt ×3
    154. Wind
    155. GruntGrunt ×6
    156. Wind ×3
    157. GruntGrunt
    158. Advanced Bot LabAdvanced Bot Labdone 14:54
    159. GruntGrunt
    160. Wind ×2
    161. GruntGrunt
    162. Wind ×2
    163. GruntGrunt
    164. Wind
    165. GruntGrunt
    166. Wind
    167. Pit BullPit Bull
    168. GruntGrunt
    169. Wind
    170. GruntGrunt

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is GeeGee's (37 OS, 28/09/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

Nothing regular.

You get

  • Tidal Generator4 Tidal from Pondfirst at 0:17 · in 68% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Geo or Techfirst at 7:34 · in 66% 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

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

metal

Own metal lost

05k10k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

173 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0033100
2:0085800
3:0016248686
4:002686350336
5:003810938895
6:00504016971662
7:00633025242607
8:00769533073575
9:00914138954317
10:001085943745102
11:001287050665960
12:001507052866978
13:001774558947597
14:002023963458690
15:002294371609707
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

This build has the worst win rate of the roles shown and trails Suicide front on kills while losing nearly as much metal.

  • + Produces more metal than Suicide front by 15:00 (22286 vs 18297).
  • + T2 constructor lands slightly faster (7:41) than Suicide front's 8:07.
  • − Loses 9797 own metal by 15:00, close to what it destroys (6775).
  • − Wins only 40% of games, well below every other role shown.
THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

GeeGee

36.8 OS · 28/09/2026

Open source match ↗

5 received units · includes a constructor
13 metal received · 18856 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Bot Lab0:40Middle 50%: 0:34–0:46 · n=158
Advanced Metal Extractor9:12Middle 50%: 8:10–10:30 · n=136

Played most by

watermeloans19games of this buildHummell16games of this buildiLike2Eco12games of this buildCentientWaffle8games of this buildGeeGee8games of this build