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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 · 3 steps
    1. Mex
    2. Wind
    3. Bot LabBot Labdone 0:33 · 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 · 23 steps
    1. Mex
    2. GruntGrunt ×2
    3. Wind
    4. GraverobberGraverobber
    5. Wind
    6. GruntGrunt ×3
    7. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    8. Mex ×2
    9. Construction BotCon bot
    10. ThugThug ×3
    11. Mex
    12. ThugThug
    13. GuardGuard
    14. Converter
    15. Mex
    16. GuardGuard
    17. ThugThug
    18. Mex
    19. ThugThug ×6
    20. GuardGuard
    21. ThugThug ×2
    22. WardenWarden
    23. ThugThug ×3
  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 · 97 steps
    1. ThugThug ×10
    2. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 8:27 · typical 9:06
    3. ThugThug
    4. CastroCastro
    5. ThugThug ×2
    6. Con turret
    7. GruntGrunt ×2
    8. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    9. GruntGrunt ×3
    10. Wind
    11. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    12. Wind
    13. GruntGrunt
    14. Wind
    15. Construction BotCon bot
    16. Wind
    17. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    18. Wind
    19. GuardGuard
    20. Wind
    21. GuardGuard
    22. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    23. Wind ×2
    24. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    25. Construction BotCon bot
    26. GruntGrunt ×2
    27. Solar
    28. GruntGrunt ×2
    29. Solar
    30. GruntGrunt ×2
    31. Con turret
    32. GruntGrunt
    33. Energy storage
    34. GruntGrunt ×2
    35. Advanced solar
    36. GruntGrunt
    37. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    38. GruntGrunt ×2
    39. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    40. GruntGrunt
    41. Mex
    42. GruntGrunt ×6
    43. Con turret
    44. GruntGrunt ×3
    45. Advanced solar
    46. GruntGrunt ×6
    47. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    48. GruntGrunt
    49. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    50. GruntGrunt ×2
    51. Advanced solar
    52. GruntGrunt ×2
    53. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    54. GruntGrunt
    55. Con turret
    56. GruntGrunt
    57. Con turret
    58. GruntGrunt ×9
    59. GraverobberGraverobber
    60. GruntGrunt ×3
    61. Wind
    62. GruntGrunt ×2
    63. Wind
    64. GruntGrunt ×3
    65. Wind
    66. GruntGrunt
    67. Advanced Bot LabAdvanced Bot Labdone 13:59
    68. GruntGrunt
    69. Wind
    70. GruntGrunt
    71. Wind
    72. GruntGrunt
    73. Wind ×2
    74. GruntGrunt
    75. Wind
    76. GruntGrunt
    77. SkuttleCrawling bombnot finished by 15:00
    78. Converter
    79. GruntGrunt ×2
    80. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    81. GruntGrunt
    82. Converter
    83. GruntGrunt ×2
    84. Advanced solar
    85. ThistleThistle
    86. GruntGrunt
    87. Wind
    88. GruntGrunt
    89. ThistleThistle
    90. GruntGrunt ×2
    91. GuardGuard
    92. Wind
    93. GruntGrunt
    94. Advanced solar
    95. GuardGuard
    96. GruntGrunt ×2
    97. GuardGuard

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is GuiTou's (35 OS, 13/09/2026); 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

GuiTou

35.4 OS · 13/09/2026

Open source match ↗

5 received units · includes a constructor
239 metal received · 50027 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