BAR / BUILD ATLAS
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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 · 3 steps
    1. Mex ×2
    2. Wind
    3. Bot LabBot Labdone 0:40 · 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 · 31 steps
    1. GruntGrunt ×2
    2. Mex
    3. GraverobberGraverobber
    4. GruntGrunt ×2
    5. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    6. Wind
    7. ThugThug ×4
    8. Mex
    9. ThugThug
    10. GraverobberGraverobber
    11. ThugThug
    12. Mex
    13. ThugThug
    14. PawnPawn
    15. ThugThug ×2
    16. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    17. PawnPawn
    18. ThugThug
    19. GraverobberGraverobber
    20. BlitzBlitz
    21. ThugThug
    22. PawnPawn
    23. GuardGuard
    24. ThugThug
    25. GuardGuard ×2
    26. ThugThug
    27. Mex
    28. ThugThug ×2
    29. GraverobberGraverobber
    30. GuardGuard
    31. 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
    • 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 · 105 steps
    1. GuardGuard
    2. ThugThug ×4
    3. GuardGuard
    4. Wind
    5. GraverobberGraverobber
    6. ThugThug
    7. Wind
    8. ThugThug ×6
    9. GuardGuard
    10. GraverobberGraverobber
    11. ThugThug ×7
    12. GraverobberGraverobber
    13. ThugThug
    14. GruntGrunt ×4
    15. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    16. GraverobberGraverobber
    17. Wind ×3
    18. GruntGrunt
    19. Wind
    20. GruntGrunt ×2
    21. Wind
    22. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×3
    23. GruntGrunt
    24. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    25. Wind
    26. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    27. GruntGrunt
    28. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    29. Wind
    30. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    31. GruntGrunt ×2
    32. Con turret
    33. GraverobberGraverobber
    34. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 10:14 · typical 9:12
    35. GuardGuard
    36. GruntGrunt ×3
    37. Mexfor Suicide front
    38. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    39. GruntGrunt
    40. GuardGuard
    41. GruntGrunt ×2
    42. Wind
    43. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    44. GruntGrunt
    45. GuardGuard
    46. Wind
    47. GraverobberGraverobber
    48. Wind
    49. GruntGrunt
    50. GuardGuard
    51. Wind
    52. GruntGrunt
    53. Wind
    54. GruntGrunt
    55. Wind
    56. GruntGrunt
    57. Wind
    58. GruntGrunt
    59. GuardGuard
    60. Con turret
    61. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    62. Wind
    63. GruntGrunt ×2
    64. Wind
    65. GraverobberGraverobber
    66. Wind
    67. GuardGuard
    68. GruntGrunt ×2
    69. Wind
    70. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    71. GruntGrunt ×2
    72. GuardGuard
    73. Wind
    74. GruntGrunt
    75. Wind
    76. GruntGrunt ×2
    77. GraverobberGraverobber
    78. GruntGrunt ×2
    79. Wind
    80. GruntGrunt ×5
    81. GraverobberGraverobber
    82. Con turret
    83. RattlesnakeRattlesnakenot finished by 15:00
    84. GruntGrunt
    85. Wind
    86. GruntGrunt
    87. Wind
    88. GruntGrunt
    89. Wind
    90. GruntGrunt
    91. Wind
    92. GruntGrunt
    93. Wind
    94. GruntGrunt
    95. Wind
    96. GruntGrunt
    97. Wind
    98. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    99. GraverobberGraverobber
    100. Wind
    101. GruntGrunt ×2
    102. Wind
    103. GruntGrunt ×5
    104. GraverobberGraverobber
    105. Wind

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is Atlasfailed's (36 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

Atlasfailed

36.0 OS · 29/09/2026

Open source match ↗

15 received units · includes a constructor
234 metal received · 3536 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