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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 · 443 distinct matches · 137 players · 65% of Cortex Front games · team won 50% of 460 · 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 443 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 · 3 steps
    1. Mex ×3
    2. Wind ×4
    3. Bot LabBot Labdone 1:16 · 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 · 18 steps
    1. GruntGrunt ×3
    2. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    3. GruntGrunt ×7
    4. Wind
    5. GruntGrunt
    6. Wind ×2
    7. GruntGrunt
    8. Wind
    9. GruntGrunt
    10. Wind
    11. GruntGrunt
    12. AggravatorAggravator
    13. Construction BotCon bot
    14. Mex
    15. GruntGrunt
    16. Mex
    17. AggravatorAggravator
    18. Construction BotCon bot ×3
  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%) · converter (36%) · energy storage (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 · 113 steps
    1. GruntGrunt
    2. AggravatorAggravator
    3. GruntGrunt
    4. AggravatorAggravator
    5. GruntGrunt
    6. AggravatorAggravator
    7. GruntGrunt
    8. AggravatorAggravator
    9. GruntGrunt
    10. AggravatorAggravator
    11. GruntGrunt
    12. AggravatorAggravator
    13. GruntGrunt
    14. Wind
    15. AggravatorAggravator
    16. Wind
    17. GruntGrunt ×2
    18. Wind
    19. GruntGrunt ×2
    20. Wind
    21. GruntGrunt ×2
    22. Wind
    23. GruntGrunt ×2
    24. Wind
    25. Mex
    26. GruntGrunt ×2
    27. Wind
    28. Energy storage
    29. GruntGrunt
    30. Wind
    31. GruntGrunt ×2
    32. Wind
    33. GruntGrunt
    34. Wind
    35. Mex
    36. GruntGrunt ×3
    37. Mex
    38. GruntGrunt
    39. Wind
    40. GruntGrunt
    41. Wind
    42. GruntGrunt
    43. Construction BotCon bot
    44. Wind ×2
    45. Construction BotCon bot ×3
    46. GruntGrunt ×14
    47. Wind
    48. Mex
    49. GruntGrunt
    50. Wind
    51. GruntGrunt ×3
    52. Wind ×2
    53. Mex
    54. GruntGrunt
    55. Wind ×2
    56. GruntGrunt
    57. Wind
    58. GruntGrunt
    59. Wind
    60. GruntGrunt
    61. Wind
    62. GruntGrunt
    63. Wind
    64. GruntGrunt
    65. Wind
    66. GruntGrunt
    67. Wind
    68. GruntGrunt
    69. Wind
    70. GruntGrunt
    71. Wind
    72. GruntGrunt ×2
    73. Wind ×2
    74. GruntGrunt ×2
    75. Wind
    76. GruntGrunt
    77. Wind
    78. GruntGrunt ×2
    79. Wind ×2
    80. GruntGrunt ×2
    81. GuardGuard
    82. Wind
    83. GruntGrunt
    84. Wind
    85. GruntGrunt
    86. GuardGuard
    87. GruntGrunt
    88. Wind ×2
    89. GruntGrunt ×2
    90. GuardGuard
    91. Wind
    92. GruntGrunt
    93. Wind
    94. GruntGrunt ×2
    95. Wind
    96. GuardGuard
    97. Wind
    98. GruntGrunt ×3
    99. Wind ×2
    100. GuardGuard
    101. GruntGrunt ×2
    102. Wind
    103. GruntGrunt ×2
    104. GuardGuard
    105. Energy storage
    106. Wind
    107. GruntGrunt ×2
    108. GuardGuard
    109. Wind
    110. GruntGrunt ×2
    111. Wind
    112. GruntGrunt
    113. GuardGuard

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is DouglasBacon's (32 OS, 15/09/2026); 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 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

460 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0033100
2:0085400
3:00162710086
4:002704386337
5:003850916838
6:00510515861559
7:00638923642474
8:00772630943385
9:00914637694271
10:001077344855070
11:001264252035984
12:001455357176925
13:001682962137650
14:001901866638579
15:002063272469349
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

DouglasBacon

31.6 OS · 15/09/2026

Open source match ↗

0 received units
1 metal received · 229 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=447
Advanced Metal Extractor9:24Middle 50%: 8:19–10:45 · n=338

Played most by

iLike2Eco31games of this buildTheGeneraI27games of this buildSauceDispenser27games of this buildwatermeloans19games of this buildHummell15games of this build