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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 · 503 distinct matches · 153 players · 65% of Cortex Front games · team won 51% of 520 · 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 503 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 (39%)

    By 0:23 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
    • Thug9 Thug
    • Aggravator5 Aggravator
    • Grunt4 Grunt

    Some games also: con turret (46%) · Radar Tower (35%)

    By 5:00 in all: 6 mex · 5 wind

    The example game in this phase · 38 steps
    1. Mex
    2. Construction BotCon bot
    3. Mex ×2
    4. GruntGrunt
    5. Wind
    6. Construction BotCon bot
    7. GuardGuard
    8. Wind
    9. Mex
    10. GruntGrunt ×2
    11. Wind
    12. GruntGrunt ×2
    13. Mex
    14. Construction BotCon bot
    15. Wind
    16. GruntGrunt ×2
    17. Mex
    18. Wind
    19. GruntGrunt
    20. ThugThug ×2
    21. Wind
    22. ThugThug ×2
    23. Mex
    24. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    25. ThugThug
    26. Wind
    27. ThugThug ×3
    28. Wind
    29. ThugThug ×2
    30. Wind
    31. ThugThug ×3
    32. Wind
    33. ThugThug ×2
    34. Construction BotCon bot
    35. Wind
    36. ThugThug
    37. Construction BotCon bot
    38. Wind
  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
    • Thug5 Thug
    • Aggravator1 Aggravator

    Some games also: Radar Tower (44%) · 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 · 102 steps
    1. ThugThug
    2. Construction BotCon bot
    3. Mex
    4. ThugThug
    5. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    6. ThugThug
    7. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    8. Wind
    9. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×4
    10. ThugThug
    11. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    12. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    13. Wind
    14. ThugThug ×2
    15. Wind
    16. ThugThug
    17. Wind
    18. ThugThug
    19. Advanced Bot LabAdvanced Bot Labdone 11:35
    20. ThugThug
    21. Wind
    22. ThugThug ×2
    23. Wind
    24. ThugThug ×2
    25. Wind
    26. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    27. ThugThug ×2
    28. Wind
    29. ThugThug ×2
    30. Wind
    31. Mex
    32. ThugThug
    33. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    34. ThugThug
    35. Wind
    36. ThugThug ×2
    37. Wind
    38. ThugThug ×4
    39. Wind
    40. ThugThug ×3
    41. Wind
    42. ThugThug
    43. Wind
    44. ThugThug ×3
    45. Wind
    46. ThugThug
    47. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    48. ThugThug
    49. Wind
    50. ThugThug
    51. Wind
    52. ThugThug ×2
    53. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    54. Wind
    55. ThugThug ×2
    56. Wind
    57. ThugThug ×2
    58. Wind
    59. ThugThug ×2
    60. Wind
    61. ThugThug
    62. Wind
    63. ThugThug ×3
    64. Wind
    65. ThugThug ×2
    66. Wind
    67. ThugThug ×2
    68. Wind ×2
    69. ThugThug
    70. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    71. Wind
    72. ThugThug
    73. Wind
    74. Advanced Construction BotT2 con bot
    75. ThugThug
    76. Wind ×2
    77. ThugThug
    78. SheldonSheldondone 12:06
    79. Wind
    80. Construction BotCon bot
    81. SheldonSheldon
    82. Wind
    83. SheldonSheldon
    84. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 13:42
    85. Wind
    86. SheldonSheldon ×2
    87. Wind
    88. SheldonSheldon
    89. Construction BotCon bot
    90. Wind
    91. SheldonSheldon ×2
    92. Wind
    93. SheldonSheldon
    94. Wind
    95. SheldonSheldon
    96. Wind
    97. Construction BotCon bot
    98. AugurRadar bot
    99. DeceiverJammer bot
    100. Wind
    101. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    102. SheldonSheldon

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is Carapace's (33 OS, 15/10/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

Nothing regular.

You get

  • Tidal Generator4 Tidal from Pondfirst at 0:16 · in 64% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Geo or Techfirst at 7:52 · 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

05k10k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Own metal lost

05k10k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

520 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0033100
2:0085700
3:00163710886
4:002721389337
5:003870942840
6:00512616061537
7:00643124362428
8:00779332003343
9:00926239104314
10:001093447155089
11:001274553326006
12:001467758696890
13:001695963867624
14:001917070268587
15:002086576749398
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

Carapace

32.9 OS · 15/10/2026

Open source match ↗

4 received units
1654 metal received · 6254 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=507
Advanced Metal Extractor9:27Middle 50%: 8:20–10:46 · n=378

Played most by

iLike2Eco33games of this buildSauceDispenser28games of this buildTheGeneraI27games of this buildwatermeloans19games of this buildUncle_Cane15games of this build
Standard front · Cortex Front build order · BAR Build Atlas