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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 · 170 distinct matches · 59 players · 65% of Cortex Front games · team won 42% of 172 · 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 170 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 (48%)

    By 0:24 in all: 2 mex

    The example game in this phase · 3 steps
    1. Mex ×2
    2. Wind
    3. Bot LabBot Labdone 0:41 · 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 (43%) · Radar Tower (35%)

    By 5:00 in all: 6 mex · 5 wind

    The example game in this phase · 28 steps
    1. GraverobberGraverobber
    2. Wind ×2
    3. Mex
    4. GruntGrunt
    5. Construction BotCon bot
    6. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    7. GruntGrunt
    8. AggravatorAggravator
    9. Mex
    10. AggravatorAggravator
    11. GuardGuard
    12. AggravatorAggravator
    13. GuardGuard
    14. Construction BotCon bot
    15. GuardGuard
    16. Mex ×2
    17. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    18. AggravatorAggravator ×4
    19. Con turret
    20. AggravatorAggravator
    21. GraverobberGraverobber
    22. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    23. GuardGuard
    24. AggravatorAggravator ×3
    25. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×4
    26. GraverobberGraverobber
    27. Con turret
    28. ThugThug
  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 (44%) · energy storage (42%) · Twin Guard (38%) · converter (35%) · Radar Tower (34%)

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

    The example game in this phase · 107 steps
    1. WardenWarden
    2. ThugThug
    3. Wind
    4. ThugThug
    5. Wind
    6. ThugThug
    7. Wind
    8. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    9. ThugThug
    10. ThistleThistle
    11. AgitatorAgitatordone 6:52
    12. GraverobberGraverobber
    13. Wind ×2
    14. ThugThug
    15. CastroCastro
    16. Wind
    17. ThugThug
    18. Mex
    19. Wind
    20. ThugThug
    21. Con turret
    22. ThugThug
    23. Con turret
    24. ThugThug
    25. GraverobberGraverobber
    26. Construction BotCon bot
    27. Con turret
    28. Mex
    29. Energy storage
    30. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantdone 9:46
    31. Wind
    32. ThistleThistle ×2
    33. Wind
    34. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 10:44 · typical 9:06
    35. RascalRascal
    36. Wind
    37. GuardGuard
    38. Converter
    39. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    40. Converter
    41. RascalRascal
    42. Wind
    43. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    44. Wind
    45. RascalRascal
    46. Converter
    47. RascalRascal ×4
    48. Wind
    49. RascalRascal
    50. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    51. RascalRascal
    52. Wind
    53. RascalRascal ×2
    54. Wind
    55. RascalRascal ×2
    56. Wind
    57. RascalRascal ×2
    58. Wind
    59. RascalRascal
    60. Wind
    61. RascalRascal ×2
    62. Wind
    63. RascalRascal ×4
    64. Con turret
    65. RascalRascal
    66. Construction BotCon bot
    67. RascalRascal ×2
    68. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    69. RascalRascal
    70. Construction BotCon bot
    71. RascalRascal
    72. Con turret
    73. RascalRascal ×3
    74. Wind ×3
    75. RascalRascal
    76. WardenWarden
    77. Wind ×2
    78. RascalRascal
    79. Wind ×2
    80. RascalRascal
    81. Wind
    82. Construction BotCon bot
    83. Wind
    84. RascalRascal
    85. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    86. Wind
    87. RascalRascal
    88. Wind
    89. RascalRascal
    90. Wind ×2
    91. Converter
    92. Wind
    93. RascalRascal
    94. Wind ×2
    95. Converter
    96. RascalRascal
    97. Wind
    98. Converter
    99. RascalRascal
    100. Wind
    101. VeilVeil
    102. Converter
    103. Wind
    104. RascalRascal
    105. Wind
    106. Converter
    107. Wind

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is arebee's (36 OS, 26/09/2026); 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 66% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Geo or Techfirst at 7:26 · in 67% 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

172 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0033100
2:0086700
3:0016368582
4:002700346346
5:003812927944
6:00506916851729
7:00638024952625
8:00767133083691
9:00908139044391
10:001085444245097
11:001279250825936
12:001497752977059
13:001737159477675
14:001987663318706
15:002280570109802
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

arebee

36.3 OS · 26/09/2026

Open source match ↗

5 received units · includes a constructor
357 metal received · 35899 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=153
Advanced Metal Extractor9:06Middle 50%: 8:09–10:30 · n=132

Played most by

Hummell19games of this buildwatermeloans19games of this buildiLike2Eco12games of this buildCentientWaffle9games of this buildGeeGee7games of this build