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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 · 2 steps
    1. Mex ×2
    2. Bot LabBot Labdone 0:36 · 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 · 33 steps
    1. Mex
    2. GruntGrunt
    3. Wind
    4. GruntGrunt
    5. Wind
    6. GruntGrunt
    7. Wind
    8. GraverobberGraverobber
    9. GruntGrunt ×2
    10. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    11. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    12. GruntGrunt ×2
    13. Mex
    14. AggravatorAggravator
    15. Mex
    16. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    17. Construction BotCon bot
    18. Mex
    19. AggravatorAggravator
    20. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    21. AggravatorAggravator
    22. GuardGuard
    23. AggravatorAggravator
    24. GuardGuard
    25. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    26. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    27. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    28. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    29. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    30. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    31. AggravatorAggravator ×7
    32. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    33. AggravatorAggravator
  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 · 112 steps
    1. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    2. Mex
    3. AggravatorAggravator
    4. Con turret
    5. AggravatorAggravator
    6. Con turret
    7. AggravatorAggravator
    8. Wind
    9. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    10. Wind
    11. AggravatorAggravator
    12. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    13. Wind
    14. AggravatorAggravator
    15. Wind
    16. Con turret
    17. AggravatorAggravator
    18. Wind
    19. AggravatorAggravator
    20. Wind ×2
    21. AggravatorAggravator
    22. Wind
    23. AggravatorAggravator
    24. Wind
    25. AggravatorAggravator
    26. Wind
    27. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantdone 7:39
    28. AggravatorAggravator
    29. GruntGrunt
    30. Wind
    31. IncisorIncisor
    32. GruntGrunt
    33. IncisorIncisor
    34. Wind
    35. IncisorIncisor
    36. GruntGrunt
    37. IncisorIncisor
    38. Mex
    39. Wind
    40. IncisorIncisor
    41. Wind
    42. GruntGrunt
    43. IncisorIncisor ×2
    44. Wind
    45. IncisorIncisor
    46. GruntGrunt
    47. IncisorIncisor
    48. Wind
    49. IncisorIncisor
    50. GruntGrunt
    51. Wind ×2
    52. IncisorIncisor
    53. Wind
    54. GruntGrunt
    55. IncisorIncisor
    56. Wind ×2
    57. IncisorIncisor
    58. GruntGrunt
    59. Wind
    60. IncisorIncisor
    61. Wind
    62. GruntGrunt
    63. Wind
    64. GuardGuard
    65. Wind
    66. IncisorIncisor
    67. GruntGrunt
    68. Wind ×3
    69. GruntGrunt
    70. Mex
    71. Wind ×3
    72. GruntGrunt
    73. Mex
    74. Wind ×2
    75. GruntGrunt
    76. Wind
    77. Mex
    78. Wind
    79. GruntGrunt
    80. Wind ×2
    81. Con turret
    82. GruntGrunt
    83. IncisorIncisor
    84. Wind
    85. IncisorIncisor ×2
    86. Wind
    87. IncisorIncisor
    88. Con turret ×2
    89. Wind
    90. IncisorIncisor ×2
    91. Wind
    92. IncisorIncisor ×3
    93. Wind
    94. IncisorIncisor ×4
    95. Wind
    96. IncisorIncisor ×3
    97. Wind
    98. IncisorIncisor ×3
    99. Wind
    100. IncisorIncisor ×3
    101. Wind
    102. IncisorIncisor ×3
    103. Wind
    104. IncisorIncisor ×3
    105. Wind
    106. IncisorIncisor ×3
    107. Wind
    108. IncisorIncisor ×3
    109. Wind
    110. IncisorIncisor ×4
    111. Wind
    112. IncisorIncisor

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is MarcoRalseks's (35 OS, 23/09/2026); 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

MarcoRalseks

34.9 OS · 23/09/2026

Open source match ↗

5 received units
17 metal received · 18551 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