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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 · 480 distinct matches · 148 players · 65% of Cortex Front games · team won 51% of 497 · 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 480 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 (34%)

    By 5:00 in all: 6 mex · 5 wind

    The example game in this phase · 36 steps
    1. Mex
    2. GruntGrunt ×5
    3. Mex
    4. GraverobberGraverobber
    5. Mex
    6. Construction BotCon bot
    7. GruntGrunt
    8. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    9. AggravatorAggravator
    10. Mex
    11. AggravatorAggravator
    12. Wind
    13. AggravatorAggravator
    14. Wind
    15. ThugThug
    16. Mex
    17. ThugThug
    18. Wind
    19. ThugThug ×2
    20. Mex
    21. Wind
    22. ThugThug
    23. GraverobberGraverobber
    24. Wind
    25. Construction BotCon bot
    26. Wind
    27. ThugThug ×3
    28. Wind
    29. ThugThug ×2
    30. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    31. Wind
    32. ThugThug ×3
    33. Wind
    34. ThugThug
    35. Con turret
    36. GraverobberGraverobber
  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 (43%) · energy storage (36%) · converter (36%) · Twin Guard (34%) · eat Bot Lab (38%)

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

    The example game in this phase · 72 steps
    1. Wind
    2. GraverobberGraverobber
    3. Wind
    4. GraverobberGraverobber
    5. Wind
    6. GuardGuard
    7. ThugThug
    8. Wind
    9. ThugThug
    10. GuardGuard
    11. Wind
    12. ThugThug
    13. Wind
    14. ThugThug
    15. GuardGuard
    16. Energy storage
    17. ThugThug ×2
    18. Con turret
    19. ThugThug
    20. GraverobberGraverobber
    21. Construction BotCon bot
    22. ThugThug ×2
    23. Con turret
    24. ThugThug ×3
    25. GruntGrunt ×4
    26. ThugThug
    27. GruntGrunt ×6
    28. WardenWarden
    29. GruntGrunt ×5
    30. AggravatorAggravator
    31. CastroCastro
    32. GruntGrunt ×7
    33. WardenWarden
    34. GruntGrunt ×11
    35. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 10:02
    36. GruntGrunt ×9
    37. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    38. GruntGrunt ×2
    39. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    40. GruntGrunt ×11
    41. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    42. GruntGrunt
    43. Advanced solar
    44. GruntGrunt
    45. GuardGuard ×2
    46. GruntGrunt
    47. GuardGuard
    48. Advanced solar
    49. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    50. GruntGrunt
    51. GuardGuard
    52. GruntGrunt
    53. Advanced solar
    54. GruntGrunt ×2
    55. Advanced solar
    56. GruntGrunt ×3
    57. Advanced solar
    58. GruntGrunt
    59. Advanced Bot LabAdvanced Bot Labdone 14:29
    60. GraverobberGraverobber
    61. Advanced solar
    62. PersecutorPersecutornot finished by 15:00
    63. GraverobberGraverobber
    64. Con turret
    65. GraverobberGraverobber
    66. Con turret ×4
    67. GruntGrunt
    68. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    69. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    70. Advanced Construction BotT2 con bot
    71. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    72. SAMSAM

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is Vaik's (31 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 0:17 · in 64% 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

05k10k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Own metal lost

05k10k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

497 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0033100
2:0085800
3:00163010886
4:002716390336
5:003868945850
6:00512916211555
7:00643724302464
8:00778431743354
9:00924339074273
10:001091546315079
11:001268253055984
12:001458258086889
13:001684363177612
14:001913869578516
15:002074475549375
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

Vaik

31.5 OS · 15/10/2026

Open source match ↗

5 received units · includes a constructor
1700 metal received · 66731 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=482
Advanced Metal Extractor9:25Middle 50%: 8:19–10:44 · n=361

Played most by

iLike2Eco33games of this buildTheGeneraI27games of this buildSauceDispenser27games of this buildwatermeloans19games of this buildEl_Turco15games of this build