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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 · 1 step
    1. Bot LabBot Labdone 0:20 · 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 · 39 steps
    1. GraverobberGraverobber
    2. Construction BotCon bot
    3. GuardGuard ×2
    4. Construction BotCon bot
    5. Mex ×2
    6. Construction BotCon bot
    7. Mex
    8. AggravatorAggravator
    9. Mex
    10. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    11. Mex
    12. AggravatorAggravator
    13. GuardGuard
    14. AggravatorAggravator
    15. Mex
    16. AggravatorAggravator
    17. GuardGuard
    18. AggravatorAggravator
    19. Wind
    20. AggravatorAggravator
    21. GuardGuard
    22. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    23. Wind
    24. AggravatorAggravator
    25. GuardGuard
    26. AggravatorAggravator
    27. Wind
    28. AggravatorAggravator
    29. GuardGuard ×2
    30. AggravatorAggravator
    31. GuardGuard
    32. AggravatorAggravator
    33. Wind
    34. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    35. Wind
    36. AggravatorAggravator
    37. GraverobberGraverobber ×2
    38. Wind
    39. AggravatorAggravator ×5
  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 · 164 steps
    1. AggravatorAggravator ×4
    2. Construction BotCon bot
    3. Con turret
    4. Construction BotCon bot
    5. Wind ×2
    6. Construction BotCon bot
    7. GuardGuard
    8. Wind
    9. GuardGuard
    10. Construction BotCon bot
    11. Wind
    12. Construction BotCon bot
    13. Wind ×2
    14. Con turret
    15. GruntGrunt
    16. Wind
    17. AggravatorAggravator
    18. GruntGrunt ×2
    19. Wind
    20. GruntGrunt
    21. Wind
    22. GruntGrunt ×2
    23. Mex
    24. Wind
    25. GruntGrunt ×2
    26. Wind
    27. GruntGrunt
    28. AggravatorAggravator
    29. GruntGrunt
    30. Wind
    31. GruntGrunt ×2
    32. Wind
    33. GruntGrunt ×2
    34. Wind
    35. GruntGrunt
    36. Wind ×2
    37. GruntGrunt
    38. Wind ×2
    39. GruntGrunt
    40. Wind
    41. GruntGrunt
    42. Wind
    43. Con turret
    44. Wind
    45. GruntGrunt
    46. Wind
    47. GruntGrunt
    48. Wind
    49. GruntGrunt
    50. Wind ×2
    51. GruntGrunt
    52. Wind
    53. GruntGrunt
    54. Mex
    55. GruntGrunt
    56. Wind ×2
    57. GruntGrunt
    58. Converter
    59. GruntGrunt
    60. Wind ×3
    61. GruntGrunt
    62. Wind ×2
    63. Converter
    64. GruntGrunt
    65. Wind ×3
    66. Advanced solar
    67. Wind
    68. GruntGrunt
    69. Converter
    70. Wind ×2
    71. GruntGrunt
    72. Wind ×2
    73. GruntGrunt
    74. Wind
    75. Advanced solar
    76. Wind
    77. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 9:50 · typical 9:12
    78. Converter
    79. Wind ×9
    80. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    81. Wind
    82. Construction BotCon bot
    83. Converter
    84. Wind ×5
    85. Con turret
    86. Wind ×2
    87. Con turret
    88. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    89. Con turret
    90. Converter
    91. Wind ×7
    92. Construction BotCon bot
    93. Wind ×2
    94. Converter
    95. Wind ×2
    96. Energy storage
    97. Construction BotCon bot
    98. Wind
    99. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    100. Wind ×6
    101. Con turret
    102. Wind ×2
    103. Converter
    104. Wind ×4
    105. Energy storage
    106. Advanced Bot LabAdvanced Bot Labdone 13:05
    107. Wind
    108. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    109. Wind ×3
    110. Converter
    111. Wind
    112. Converter ×2
    113. Wind ×2
    114. Converter
    115. Wind
    116. Converter
    117. Wind ×2
    118. Converter
    119. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    120. Wind ×2
    121. DeceiverJammer bot
    122. Wind
    123. Converter ×2
    124. DuckDuck
    125. Con turret
    126. Wind ×3
    127. Converter
    128. DuckDuck
    129. Wind
    130. Converter
    131. Wind
    132. DuckDuck
    133. Wind
    134. Converter
    135. Pit BullPit Bull
    136. Converter
    137. Wind
    138. DuckDuck
    139. ManticoreManticoredone 14:31
    140. Converter
    141. Wind ×2
    142. Converter
    143. Advanced solar
    144. Wind ×2
    145. Converter
    146. Wind
    147. Advanced solar
    148. Wind
    149. DuckDuck
    150. Wind
    151. Converter
    152. Wind
    153. Hovercraft PlatformHovercraft Platformdone 14:48
    154. DuckDuck
    155. Wind ×2
    156. Fortification WallFortification Wall
    157. Converter
    158. Wind
    159. Fortification WallFortification Wall
    160. Construction HovercraftCon hovercraft
    161. DuckDuck
    162. Fortification WallFortification Wall
    163. Wind
    164. Fortification WallFortification Wall

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is Erilium's (46 OS, 29/09/2026); 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

Erilium

46.2 OS · 29/09/2026

Open source match ↗

7 received units · includes a constructor
96 metal received · 35445 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
Standard front · Cortex Front build order · BAR Build Atlas