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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 · 2 steps
    1. Mex ×3
    2. Bot LabBot Labdone 0:47 · 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 · 38 steps
    1. GruntGrunt ×2
    2. GraverobberGraverobber
    3. GruntGrunt
    4. Construction BotCon bot
    5. GruntGrunt
    6. ThugThug
    7. Con turret
    8. ThugThug
    9. Mex
    10. ThugThug ×5
    11. Construction BotCon bot
    12. Mex
    13. AggravatorAggravator
    14. GuardGuard
    15. Wind
    16. AggravatorAggravator
    17. Wind
    18. AggravatorAggravator
    19. GuardGuard
    20. Wind
    21. Mex
    22. AggravatorAggravator
    23. Wind
    24. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    25. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teethfor Suicide front
    26. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    27. AggravatorAggravator
    28. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    29. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teethfor Suicide front
    30. Wind ×2
    31. WardenWarden
    32. Wind ×2
    33. Construction BotCon bot
    34. Wind
    35. Construction BotCon bot
    36. Wind
    37. AggravatorAggravator
    38. 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 (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 · 51 steps
    1. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    2. Con turret
    3. AggravatorAggravator
    4. Wind
    5. AggravatorAggravator
    6. Wind
    7. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    8. WardenWarden
    9. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    10. Wind
    11. AggravatorAggravator
    12. Con turret
    13. Wind
    14. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    15. AggravatorAggravator
    16. Twin GuardTwin Guard ×2
    17. AggravatorAggravator
    18. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 7:57 · typical 9:06
    19. AggravatorAggravator
    20. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    21. AggravatorAggravator
    22. GruntGrunt
    23. GuardGuard
    24. GruntGrunt ×4
    25. Mex
    26. Mexfor Suicide front
    27. Mex
    28. Bot LabBot Labfor Suicide frontdone 10:37
    29. GraverobberGraverobber
    30. GraverobberGraverobberfor Suicide front
    31. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexfor Suicide front
    32. Metal storagefor Suicide front
    33. Mex
    34. Construction BotCon botfor Suicide front
    35. Con turretfor Suicide front
    36. Construction BotCon botfor Suicide front
    37. Mex
    38. Windfor Suicide front
    39. GruntGrunt
    40. Windfor Suicide front
    41. GruntGrunt
    42. Windfor Suicide front
    43. Mex
    44. GruntGrunt
    45. Windfor Suicide front
    46. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexfor Suicide front
    47. Windfor Suicide front
    48. GuardGuard
    49. Windfor Suicide front
    50. GuardGuardfor Suicide front
    51. Windfor Suicide front

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is iLike2Eco's (37 OS, 11/09/2026); 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

iLike2Eco

37.0 OS · 11/09/2026

Open source match ↗

31 received units · includes a constructor
411 metal received · 24387 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