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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 · 451 distinct matches · 138 players · 65% of Cortex Front games · team won 51% of 468 · 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 451 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 0:44 · 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 · 30 steps
    1. Wind
    2. GruntGrunt ×2
    3. Wind ×2
    4. GruntGrunt
    5. Wind
    6. GruntGrunt
    7. Wind
    8. GruntGrunt
    9. GraverobberGraverobber
    10. Construction BotCon bot
    11. Mex
    12. AggravatorAggravator ×3
    13. GuardGuard
    14. AggravatorAggravator
    15. Construction BotCon bot
    16. GuardGuard
    17. AggravatorAggravator
    18. Construction BotCon bot
    19. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    20. Mex
    21. Construction BotCon bot
    22. Mex
    23. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    24. Construction BotCon bot
    25. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    26. ThugThug ×3
    27. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    28. ThugThug ×3
    29. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    30. ThugThug
  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 · 95 steps
    1. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    2. ThugThug ×4
    3. Con turret
    4. ThugThug ×4
    5. Con turret
    6. ThugThug ×2
    7. Wind
    8. ThugThug
    9. Wind
    10. ThugThug
    11. Wind
    12. ThugThug
    13. Wind
    14. ThugThug
    15. Wind
    16. ThugThug
    17. Wind
    18. ThugThug
    19. Wind
    20. Mex
    21. ThugThug
    22. Con turret
    23. Wind
    24. ThugThug
    25. Wind
    26. ThugThug
    27. Wind
    28. ThugThug
    29. Wind
    30. ThugThug
    31. Con turret
    32. ThugThug
    33. Wind
    34. ThugThug
    35. GruntGrunt
    36. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantdone 8:37
    37. Wind
    38. GruntGrunt
    39. Mex
    40. GruntGrunt
    41. Wind
    42. GruntGrunt
    43. GuardGuard
    44. IncisorIncisor
    45. Wind
    46. GruntGrunt
    47. GuardGuard
    48. GruntGrunt
    49. IncisorIncisor
    50. Wind
    51. ThistleThistle
    52. GruntGrunt
    53. ThistleThistle
    54. IncisorIncisor
    55. GruntGrunt
    56. ThistleThistle
    57. Wind
    58. GruntGrunt
    59. IncisorIncisor
    60. GruntGrunt
    61. ThistleThistle
    62. Wind
    63. IncisorIncisor
    64. GruntGrunt ×2
    65. IncisorIncisor
    66. Wind
    67. GruntGrunt
    68. IncisorIncisor
    69. GruntGrunt
    70. Wind
    71. GruntGrunt
    72. IncisorIncisor
    73. GruntGrunt
    74. Wind
    75. IncisorIncisor
    76. GruntGrunt
    77. IncisorIncisor
    78. GruntGrunt
    79. Wind
    80. IncisorIncisor
    81. GruntGrunt
    82. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexnot finished by 15:00 · typical 9:23
    83. Wind
    84. GruntGrunt
    85. IncisorIncisor
    86. GruntGrunt ×2
    87. IncisorIncisor
    88. GruntGrunt
    89. Wind
    90. GruntGrunt
    91. IncisorIncisor
    92. GruntGrunt ×2
    93. IncisorIncisor
    94. Wind
    95. GruntGrunt

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

468 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0033100
2:0085600
3:00162710486
4:002711389341
5:003853921839
6:00510915891556
7:00639523722474
8:00772631253385
9:00915138374291
10:001079845385079
11:001264252055987
12:001450856906925
13:001681462067630
14:001896966638539
15:002063272579305
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

MarcoRalseks

32.1 OS · 09/09/2026

Open source match ↗

5 received units · includes a constructor
5 metal received · 14031 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