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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 · 3 steps
    1. Mex ×3
    2. Wind
    3. Bot LabBot Labdone 0:53 · 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 · 24 steps
    1. GraverobberGraverobber
    2. Construction BotCon bot
    3. Wind
    4. GruntGrunt ×2
    5. GraverobberGraverobber
    6. Mex
    7. ThugThug ×2
    8. Mex
    9. ThugThug ×2
    10. GraverobberGraverobber
    11. Mex
    12. ThugThug ×2
    13. Construction BotCon bot
    14. ThugThug
    15. Energy storage
    16. ThugThug
    17. Construction BotCon bot
    18. OverwatchOverwatch
    19. ThugThug
    20. GraverobberGraverobber
    21. AggravatorAggravator
    22. Wind
    23. Construction BotCon bot
    24. 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
    • 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 · 203 steps
    1. ThugThug
    2. GraverobberGraverobber
    3. Wind
    4. AggravatorAggravator
    5. Wind
    6. Construction BotCon bot
    7. Wind
    8. Construction BotCon bot
    9. Wind
    10. Construction BotCon bot
    11. Wind
    12. Metal storage
    13. Wind
    14. SentrySentry
    15. Wind
    16. Construction BotCon bot
    17. Con turret
    18. Wind
    19. Construction BotCon bot
    20. Mex
    21. Wind
    22. Construction BotCon bot
    23. Con turret
    24. Construction BotCon bot
    25. Wind
    26. Con turret
    27. GruntGrunt
    28. Con turret
    29. GruntGrunt ×2
    30. Converter
    31. GruntGrunt
    32. Wind
    33. GruntGrunt ×2
    34. Converter
    35. GruntGrunt ×2
    36. Converter
    37. GruntGrunt ×2
    38. Wind
    39. Converter
    40. GruntGrunt
    41. Converter
    42. GruntGrunt ×2
    43. Converter
    44. Wind
    45. GruntGrunt ×2
    46. GuardGuard
    47. GruntGrunt
    48. Wind
    49. GruntGrunt ×2
    50. GuardGuard
    51. GruntGrunt ×3
    52. Wind
    53. GruntGrunt ×2
    54. Wind
    55. GruntGrunt
    56. Sneaky PeteSneaky Pete
    57. GruntGrunt
    58. Wind
    59. Construction BotCon bot
    60. Wind
    61. GraverobberGraverobber
    62. Wind ×2
    63. GruntGrunt ×3
    64. Wind
    65. GruntGrunt ×2
    66. Con turret
    67. Wind
    68. GruntGrunt
    69. Converter
    70. Wind
    71. Construction BotCon bot
    72. GraverobberGraverobber
    73. Wind
    74. GruntGrunt
    75. Converter
    76. Wind
    77. GruntGrunt
    78. Wind
    79. GruntGrunt ×2
    80. Wind
    81. Converter
    82. GuardGuard
    83. BeamerBeamer
    84. Wind
    85. GruntGrunt
    86. Wind ×2
    87. Converter
    88. Wind
    89. GruntGrunt
    90. Wind ×2
    91. Converter
    92. GuardGuard
    93. Wind
    94. Construction BotCon bot
    95. Wind
    96. Converter
    97. Wind
    98. ThistleThistle
    99. Wind
    100. Converter
    101. Wind
    102. GraverobberGraverobber
    103. BeamerBeamer
    104. Wind
    105. Converter
    106. GruntGrunt ×2
    107. Wind
    108. GruntGrunt ×2
    109. ThistleThistle
    110. Wind
    111. GruntGrunt
    112. Converter
    113. GruntGrunt
    114. Construction BotCon bot
    115. GraverobberGraverobber
    116. TrasherTrasher
    117. Converter
    118. Wind
    119. TrasherTrasher ×3
    120. Wind
    121. Converter
    122. TrasherTrasher
    123. ThistleThistle
    124. TrasherTrasher
    125. Wind
    126. TrasherTrasher ×2
    127. Converter
    128. TrasherTrasher
    129. Wind
    130. TrasherTrasher ×2
    131. Wind
    132. Converter
    133. TrasherTrasher
    134. Construction BotCon bot
    135. Wind
    136. GruntGrunt ×2
    137. Wind
    138. Converter
    139. Wind ×2
    140. GruntGrunt
    141. Wind ×2
    142. GruntGrunt
    143. Converter
    144. GruntGrunt ×2
    145. Wind
    146. GruntGrunt ×2
    147. Wind ×2
    148. GruntGrunt ×2
    149. Wind
    150. GruntGrunt
    151. Wind
    152. GruntGrunt
    153. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 12:38 · typical 9:23
    154. GruntGrunt
    155. Wind
    156. GruntGrunt
    157. Wind
    158. GruntGrunt
    159. Wind
    160. GruntGrunt
    161. Wind ×2
    162. GruntGrunt
    163. Wind
    164. GraverobberGraverobber
    165. Wind ×2
    166. GruntGrunt
    167. Wind ×2
    168. GruntGrunt
    169. Wind
    170. GruntGrunt
    171. Wind
    172. Bot LabBot Labdone 12:53
    173. GruntGrunt
    174. GraverobberGraverobber
    175. Wind ×2
    176. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    177. Wind
    178. GruntGrunt
    179. Wind
    180. Mex
    181. GruntGrunt
    182. Wind ×2
    183. GruntGrunt
    184. Wind
    185. GruntGrunt
    186. GraverobberGraverobber
    187. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    188. GruntGrunt ×2
    189. Con turret
    190. GruntGrunt ×2
    191. GraverobberGraverobber
    192. GruntGrunt ×4
    193. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    194. GraverobberGraverobber
    195. GruntGrunt ×4
    196. GraverobberGraverobber
    197. SentrySentry
    198. GruntGrunt
    199. Bot LabEat Bot Labreclaimed for its metal
    200. SentrySentry
    201. Cloakable Fusion ReactorCloakable Fusion Reactornot finished by 15:00
    202. Con turret ×2
    203. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is Ph3nomix's (34 OS, 04/09/2026); 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 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

Ph3nomix

33.7 OS · 04/09/2026

Open source match ↗

18 received units · includes a constructor
361 metal received · 83673 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