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Front / Cortex / Economy first / OBSERVED BUILD

Standard front

Cortex Front build order · Supreme Isthmus

Standard economy-first Front play: Bot Lab immediately, Advanced Metal Extractor around 9:23, then a mixed Thug/Grunt/Aggravator army sent up to defend the wider gap and move to middle as a line.

#eco #team support · 450 distinct matches · 138 players · 65% of Cortex Front games · team won 51% of 467 · Recently observed

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: Bot Lab by 0:40

  1. Open 2 mex into early Bot Lab.
  2. Finish Bot Lab and start Thug, Grunt, Aggravator mix.
  3. Send first units to coast to stop leaks, not straight to mid.
  4. Transition into Advanced Metal Extractor as eco scales.
  5. Move units up as a line toward middle to hold the wider gap.

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 450 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 mexdone ~0:40, middle half 0:34–0:46

    Some games also: wind (41%)

    By 0:23 in all: 2 mex

    The example game in this phase · 2 steps
    1. Mex ×3
    2. Bot LabBot Labdone 0:48 · 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
    • Thug9 Thug
    • Aggravator5 Aggravator
    • Grunt4 Grunt

    Some games also: con turret (45%) · Radar Tower (34%)

    By 5:00 in all: 6 mex · 5 wind

    The example game in this phase · 45 steps
    1. Wind
    2. GruntGrunt ×4
    3. Wind ×2
    4. GruntGrunt
    5. Wind
    6. GraverobberGraverobber
    7. Construction BotCon bot
    8. ThugThug ×2
    9. AggravatorAggravator ×4
    10. Con turret
    11. AggravatorAggravator
    12. Construction BotCon bot
    13. GraverobberGraverobber
    14. Construction BotCon bot
    15. Wind
    16. AggravatorAggravator
    17. Mex
    18. Wind
    19. ThugThug
    20. Wind
    21. ThugThug
    22. Wind
    23. Mex
    24. AggravatorAggravator
    25. Wind
    26. AggravatorAggravator
    27. Wind
    28. AggravatorAggravator
    29. Wind
    30. AggravatorAggravator
    31. Mex
    32. Wind
    33. AggravatorAggravator
    34. Wind
    35. ThugThug
    36. GuardGuard
    37. Wind
    38. ThugThug
    39. GuardGuard
    40. Wind ×2
    41. ThugThug
    42. GuardGuard ×2
    43. Wind
    44. ThugThug
    45. GuardGuard
  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
    • Grunt8 Grunt
    • Thug4 Thug
    • Aggravator1 Aggravator

    Some games also: Radar Tower (43%) · energy storage (36%) · converter (36%) · Twin Guard (33%) · eat Bot Lab (37%)

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

    The example game in this phase · 89 steps
    1. Wind
    2. Con turret
    3. ThugThug
    4. Wind
    5. Con turret
    6. Wind
    7. Con turret
    8. GruntGrunt
    9. Wind ×2
    10. GruntGrunt
    11. Wind
    12. GruntGrunt
    13. Wind
    14. GruntGrunt
    15. Wind ×2
    16. GruntGrunt
    17. Wind
    18. ThugThug
    19. Wind
    20. ThugThug
    21. Wind
    22. ThugThug
    23. Energy storage
    24. ThugThug
    25. GuardGuard
    26. Wind
    27. Con turret
    28. Converter
    29. ThugThug
    30. WardenWarden
    31. Wind ×2
    32. AgitatorAgitatornot finished by 15:00
    33. Wind
    34. JellyfishJellyfish
    35. Con turret
    36. ThugThug ×5
    37. GruntGrunt ×5
    38. Con turret
    39. ThugThug ×4
    40. WardenWarden
    41. ThugThug ×5
    42. Con turret
    43. ThugThug
    44. GruntGrunt
    45. WardenWarden
    46. GruntGrunt
    47. JellyfishJellyfish
    48. GruntGrunt ×8
    49. GraverobberGraverobber
    50. Construction BotCon bot
    51. GraverobberGraverobber
    52. Converter
    53. ThugThug
    54. Con turret
    55. Converter
    56. ThugThug ×2
    57. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    58. ThugThug ×2
    59. AggravatorAggravator ×3
    60. ThugThug
    61. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    62. ThugThug ×4
    63. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    64. GruntGrunt ×2
    65. GraverobberGraverobber ×2
    66. GruntGrunt ×2
    67. Con turret
    68. GruntGrunt ×7
    69. Converter
    70. GruntGrunt
    71. Mex
    72. GruntGrunt ×14
    73. Wind
    74. GruntGrunt
    75. Wind
    76. GruntGrunt
    77. Wind ×2
    78. GruntGrunt
    79. Wind
    80. GruntGrunt ×2
    81. Wind ×2
    82. GruntGrunt
    83. Wind
    84. GruntGrunt
    85. Wind
    86. GruntGrunt
    87. Wind
    88. GruntGrunt
    89. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexnot finished by 15:00

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is omga's (30 OS, 05/08/2026); 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 65% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Geo or Techfirst at 7:46 · in 62% 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

467 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0033100
2:0085600
3:00162810286
4:002710390344
5:003850920840
6:00510815871557
7:00638923652476
8:00773231243394
9:00915338324309
10:001080045375079
11:001265852035989
12:001454156816934
13:001681562017643
14:001900866498561
15:002063772469322
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

Standard front play wins less than half its games, with losses slightly outpacing kills through the first 15 minutes.

  • + Kills reach 7200 by 15:00 despite the safer starting position.
  • + T2 constructor reached in 85% of games, solid tech follow-through.
  • − Team wins under half of games (45%), the weakest shown here.
  • − Own metal lost (9484) exceeds enemy metal destroyed (7200) by 15:00.
THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

omga

30.1 OS · 05/08/2026

Open source match ↗

28 received units · includes a constructor
0 metal received · 38095 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=454
Advanced Metal Extractor9:23Middle 50%: 8:19–10:45 · n=343

Played most by

iLike2Eco31games of this buildTheGeneraI27games of this buildSauceDispenser27games of this buildwatermeloans19games of this buildEl_Turco15games of this build