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Standard front

Cortex Front build order · Supreme Isthmus

The role's default economy-first play: Bot Lab right away, Advanced Metal Extractor around 9:12, transitioning into the usual Thug/Grunt/Aggravator mix to hold the wider gap and feed the middle.

#eco #defence · 209 distinct matches · 68 players · 63% of Cortex Front games · team won 44% of 212 · 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 209 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 · 139 steps
    1. Mex ×2
    2. Wind
    3. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantdone 0:42
    4. RascalRascal ×4
    5. Construction VehicleCon vehicle ×2
    6. Mex
    7. PounderPounder
    8. Wind
    9. WolverineWolverine
    10. Wind
    11. Mex
    12. Wind
    13. PounderPounder
    14. Wind
    15. GuardGuard
    16. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    17. Mex
    18. Wind ×2
    19. WolverineWolverine
    20. Mex
    21. Wind
    22. WolverineWolverine
    23. GuardGuard
    24. Wind
    25. WolverineWolverine
    26. Wind
    27. WolverineWolverine
    28. WardenWarden
    29. PounderPounder
    30. Wind
    31. PounderPounder
    32. Wind
    33. WardenWarden
    34. WolverineWolverine
    35. Wind
    36. Mex
    37. WolverineWolverine
    38. Wind
    39. WolverineWolverine
    40. GuardGuard
    41. Wind
    42. WolverineWolverine
    43. Wind
    44. PounderPounder
    45. Wind
    46. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    47. Wind
    48. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    49. RascalRascal
    50. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    51. Con turret
    52. WardenWarden
    53. Wind
    54. Con turret
    55. Wind
    56. Metal storage
    57. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    58. Mex
    59. Con turret
    60. Wind
    61. RascalRascal
    62. CastroCastro
    63. RascalRascal
    64. Energy storage
    65. RascalRascal
    66. Wind
    67. RascalRascal ×2
    68. Con turret
    69. IncisorIncisor ×2
    70. Wind
    71. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    72. IncisorIncisor
    73. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×5
    74. IncisorIncisor
    75. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×6
    76. IncisorIncisor
    77. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    78. Wind
    79. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    80. PounderPounder
    81. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    82. PounderPounder
    83. Wind
    84. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 9:45 · typical 9:13
    85. Wind
    86. WolverineWolverine ×2
    87. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    88. Wind
    89. WolverineWolverine
    90. Wind
    91. WolverineWolverine
    92. Wind
    93. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    94. WolverineWolverine
    95. Wind ×3
    96. PounderPounder
    97. Wind
    98. PounderPounder ×2
    99. Wind
    100. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    101. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    102. Mex
    103. Wind
    104. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    105. Wind
    106. PounderPounder
    107. Wind
    108. IncisorIncisor
    109. Wind
    110. IncisorIncisor ×2
    111. WolverineWolverine
    112. Wind
    113. GarpikeGarpike
    114. Mex
    115. GarpikeGarpike
    116. Wind
    117. Hovercraft PlatformHovercraft Platformdone 11:52
    118. Wind
    119. GarpikeGarpike
    120. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    121. Wind ×2
    122. GarpikeGarpike
    123. Construction HovercraftCon hovercraft
    124. Mex
    125. GarpikeGarpike
    126. Wind
    127. Construction HovercraftCon hovercraft
    128. Wind
    129. Construction HovercraftCon hovercraft
    130. GuardGuard
    131. Wind
    132. Construction HovercraftCon hovercraft
    133. GuardGuard
    134. Construction HovercraftCon hovercraft
    135. Wind ×2
    136. WardenWarden
    137. Wind ×2
    138. Hovercraft PlatformEat Hovercraft Platformreclaimed for its metal
    139. Bot LabBot Labdone 13:10 · 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
    • Thug7 Thug
    • Aggravator5 Aggravator
    • Grunt4 Grunt

    Some games also: con turret (42%) · Radar Tower (35%)

    By 5:00 in all: 6 mex · 5 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
    • Thug2 Thug

    Some games also: aggravator (47%) · energy storage (40%) · Radar Tower (39%) · converter (36%) · Twin Guard (36%) · eat Bot Lab (37%)

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

    The example game in this phase · 20 steps
    1. Wind
    2. Con turret
    3. Wind
    4. Con turret
    5. Wind
    6. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    7. Wind ×2
    8. Construction BotCon bot
    9. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    10. Wind ×2
    11. Advanced Bot LabAdvanced Bot Labdone 14:23
    12. Wind ×2
    13. Con turret
    14. Wind
    15. RattlesnakeRattlesnakenot finished by 15:00
    16. Con turret
    17. Wind ×2
    18. DuckDuck
    19. SkuttleCrawling bombnot finished by 15:00
    20. Wind ×4

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is arcsiz's (36 OS, 07/10/2026); 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 66% 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

212 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0033100
2:0085800
3:0016238686
4:002685356326
5:003812920862
6:00505516461608
7:00632923862536
8:00769131743348
9:00914638224242
10:001088743925077
11:001282749235936
12:001501152976967
13:001732959477650
14:001970263318543
15:002237471809445
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

arcsiz

35.5 OS · 07/10/2026

Open source match ↗

5 received units · includes a constructor
2076 metal received · 24250 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=196
Advanced Metal Extractor9:13Middle 50%: 8:15–10:29 · n=166

Played most by

Hummell23games of this buildwatermeloans19games of this buildiLike2Eco13games of this buildErilium11games of this buildGeeGee11games of this build
Standard front · Cortex Front build order · BAR Build Atlas