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Front / Cortex / Economy first / OBSERVED BUILD

Standard front

The role's baseline: fast Bot Lab, economy first, then a Thug/Grunt/Aggravator mix moves up to hold the wider gap and contest middle with the ally.

#defence · 166 distinct matches · 58 players · 66% of Cortex Front games · team won 42% of 168 · 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 166 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 (49%)

    By 0:24 in all: 2 mex

    The example game in this phase · 2 steps
    1. Mex ×3
    2. Bot LabBot Labdone 0:49 · 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
    • Grunt4 Grunt
    • Aggravator3 Aggravator

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

    By 5:00 in all: 6 mex · 5 wind

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

    5:00 to 10:00

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor1Mex
    • Wind Turbine17Wind
    Builders
    • Construction Turret2 Con turret
    • Graverobber1 Graverobber
    • Construction Bot1 Con bot
    Army
    • Guard1 Guard
    • Grunt7 Grunt
    • Thug1 Thug

    Some games also: aggravator (45%) · energy storage (42%) · Twin Guard (36%) · converter (34%) · Radar Tower (34%)

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

    The example game in this phase · 129 steps
    1. ThugThug
    2. Wind
    3. ThugThug
    4. Wind
    5. Con turret
    6. ThugThug ×2
    7. Wind ×2
    8. ThugThug
    9. Wind
    10. GraverobberGraverobber
    11. Wind
    12. ThugThug
    13. Wind ×2
    14. ThugThug
    15. Mex
    16. Wind
    17. ThugThug
    18. GruntGrunt
    19. Wind
    20. GruntGrunt ×2
    21. Wind
    22. GruntGrunt
    23. Wind
    24. GruntGrunt ×2
    25. Wind
    26. GruntGrunt
    27. Mex
    28. Wind
    29. GruntGrunt
    30. Wind
    31. GruntGrunt
    32. GuardGuard
    33. GruntGrunt ×2
    34. Mex
    35. GruntGrunt
    36. GuardGuard
    37. GruntGrunt
    38. Mex
    39. GruntGrunt ×3
    40. Energy storage
    41. GruntGrunt ×2
    42. Wind ×2
    43. GruntGrunt
    44. GuardGuard
    45. GruntGrunt ×3
    46. Con turret
    47. Wind
    48. GruntGrunt
    49. Mex
    50. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    51. GruntGrunt
    52. Con turret
    53. Wind
    54. Con turret
    55. Construction BotCon bot
    56. Advanced solar
    57. Wind ×2
    58. Construction BotCon bot
    59. Advanced solar
    60. Wind
    61. Construction BotCon bot
    62. Advanced solar
    63. Wind
    64. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 9:02
    65. Wind
    66. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    67. Wind
    68. Advanced solar
    69. GruntGrunt ×2
    70. Wind
    71. GruntGrunt
    72. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    73. GruntGrunt
    74. GuardGuard
    75. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    76. GruntGrunt
    77. Advanced solar
    78. GruntGrunt
    79. GuardGuard
    80. GruntGrunt
    81. Wind
    82. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    83. GruntGrunt
    84. GuardGuard
    85. GruntGrunt
    86. Wind
    87. GruntGrunt ×3
    88. GuardGuard
    89. GruntGrunt ×2
    90. Wind
    91. GruntGrunt ×5
    92. Con turret
    93. GruntGrunt
    94. Energy storage
    95. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    96. GruntGrunt
    97. Construction BotCon bot
    98. Wind ×4
    99. Advanced Bot LabAdvanced Bot Labdone 11:24
    100. Wind ×6
    101. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    102. Converter ×2
    103. Wind
    104. Converter
    105. Wind
    106. SkuttleCrawling bombdone 11:42
    107. Converter
    108. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    109. Wind
    110. Converter
    111. MammothMammothdone 12:40
    112. Wind
    113. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    114. Converter
    115. Wind ×2
    116. Dragon's MawDragon's Maw
    117. Converter ×2
    118. Dragon's MawDragon's Maw
    119. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    120. GuardGuard
    121. Converter ×2
    122. SumoSumodone 13:13
    123. SheldonSheldon ×3done 13:17
    124. Dragon's MawDragon's Maw
    125. SheldonSheldon ×2
    126. SumoSumo
    127. SheldonSheldon ×2
    128. BedbugCrawling bomb ×10
    129. SheldonSheldon ×2

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is yeimabounce's (36 OS, 16/09/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

Nothing regular.

You get

  • Tidal Generator4 Tidal from Pondfirst at 0:18 · in 67% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Geo or Techfirst at 7:26 · in 68% 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

168 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0033100
2:0086400
3:0016328586
4:002697352348
5:003807950947
6:00506917041785
7:00640325812693
8:00769333273737
9:00908139204434
10:001080544245184
11:001273550825966
12:001494552977104
13:001732459477675
14:001972863318778
15:002252869019802
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

yeimabounce

35.8 OS · 16/09/2026

Open source match ↗

6 received units · includes a constructor
775 metal received · 53726 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=150
Advanced Metal Extractor9:06Middle 50%: 8:08–10:30 · n=130

Played most by

watermeloans19games of this buildHummell18games of this buildJelousOfMyEco12games of this buildCentientWaffle9games of this buildGeeGee7games of this build