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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 · 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 (45%) · Radar Tower (34%)

    By 5:00 in all: 6 mex · 5 wind

    The example game in this phase · 38 steps
    1. Mex
    2. GruntGrunt
    3. Mex
    4. GruntGrunt
    5. Wind ×2
    6. GruntGrunt
    7. Construction BotCon bot
    8. Mex
    9. Wind
    10. ThugThug
    11. Con turret
    12. Wind
    13. ThugThug
    14. Wind
    15. ThugThug
    16. Wind
    17. ThugThug
    18. Mex
    19. Converter
    20. ThugThug
    21. Mex
    22. Wind
    23. GraverobberGraverobber
    24. AggravatorAggravator
    25. Wind
    26. AggravatorAggravator
    27. Mex
    28. Wind
    29. AggravatorAggravator
    30. Wind
    31. AggravatorAggravator
    32. Mex
    33. Converter
    34. AggravatorAggravator ×4
    35. GuardGuard
    36. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    37. GraverobberGraverobber ×3
    38. AggravatorAggravator ×4
  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 · 54 steps
    1. AggravatorAggravator ×4
    2. GuardGuard
    3. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    4. GuardGuard
    5. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    6. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    7. AggravatorAggravator
    8. GruntGrunt
    9. AggravatorAggravator
    10. GraverobberGraverobber ×2
    11. Mex
    12. GraverobberGraverobber
    13. AggravatorAggravator ×3
    14. GuardGuard
    15. AggravatorAggravator ×4
    16. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 8:03 · typical 9:23
    17. RocketeerRocketeer
    18. AggravatorAggravator ×3
    19. GraverobberGraverobber ×2
    20. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    21. GraverobberGraverobber
    22. ThistleThistle
    23. Mex
    24. AggravatorAggravator
    25. GruntGrunt
    26. AggravatorAggravator
    27. GuardGuard
    28. GruntGrunt ×2
    29. GuardGuard
    30. GruntGrunt
    31. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    32. GruntGrunt ×2
    33. GuardGuard
    34. GruntGrunt
    35. Con turret
    36. GruntGrunt ×2
    37. Construction BotCon bot
    38. BlitzBlitz
    39. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    40. Bot LabBot Labdone 11:13
    41. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    42. Construction BotCon bot
    43. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    44. BlitzBlitz
    45. Construction BotCon bot
    46. Construction BotCon bot
    47. Con turret
    48. BlitzBlitz
    49. Construction BotCon bot
    50. BlitzBlitz
    51. PawnPawn
    52. BlitzBlitz
    53. PawnPawn
    54. BlitzBlitz

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is GazzGrim's (33 OS, 10/10/2026); 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 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

GazzGrim

32.7 OS · 10/10/2026

Open source match ↗

15 received units · includes a constructor
237 metal received · 18017 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