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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 · 443 distinct matches · 137 players · 65% of Cortex Front games · team won 50% of 460 · 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 443 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 ×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
    • 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 · 22 steps
    1. GruntGrunt ×5
    2. AggravatorAggravator
    3. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    4. AggravatorAggravator
    5. Mex
    6. AggravatorAggravator ×4
    7. Mex
    8. AggravatorAggravator
    9. GuardGuard
    10. AggravatorAggravator
    11. Mex
    12. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    13. Mex
    14. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    15. Wind ×2
    16. AggravatorAggravator
    17. Wind ×2
    18. AggravatorAggravator
    19. GuardGuard
    20. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    21. GuardGuard
    22. AggravatorAggravator ×3
  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%) · converter (36%) · energy storage (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 · 93 steps
    1. AggravatorAggravator
    2. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    3. AggravatorAggravator ×3
    4. Mex
    5. AggravatorAggravator ×3
    6. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 7:30 · typical 9:24
    7. AggravatorAggravator ×3
    8. GruntGrunt ×6
    9. Wind
    10. GruntGrunt
    11. Wind ×2
    12. GruntGrunt
    13. Wind
    14. GruntGrunt
    15. Wind
    16. GruntGrunt
    17. Wind ×2
    18. GruntGrunt
    19. Wind
    20. GruntGrunt
    21. Wind ×2
    22. GruntGrunt
    23. Wind
    24. GruntGrunt
    25. Wind
    26. GruntGrunt
    27. Wind
    28. GruntGrunt
    29. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    30. GruntGrunt
    31. Energy storage
    32. GruntGrunt ×5
    33. Con turret
    34. Construction BotCon bot
    35. GruntGrunt
    36. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    37. GruntGrunt ×3
    38. Con turret
    39. GruntGrunt ×4
    40. Mex
    41. GruntGrunt ×7
    42. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    43. GruntGrunt ×2
    44. Wind
    45. GruntGrunt
    46. Wind
    47. GruntGrunt
    48. Con turret
    49. GruntGrunt
    50. Con turret
    51. GruntGrunt
    52. Con turret
    53. GruntGrunt
    54. Con turret
    55. GruntGrunt
    56. Wind
    57. GruntGrunt
    58. Wind
    59. GruntGrunt
    60. Wind
    61. GruntGrunt
    62. Wind ×2
    63. GruntGrunt
    64. Wind
    65. GruntGrunt ×5
    66. Energy storage
    67. GruntGrunt ×2
    68. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    69. GruntGrunt ×4
    70. Wind
    71. GruntGrunt
    72. Wind
    73. GruntGrunt
    74. Wind
    75. GruntGrunt
    76. Wind
    77. GruntGrunt
    78. Wind
    79. GruntGrunt
    80. Wind
    81. GruntGrunt ×2
    82. Wind
    83. GruntGrunt ×2
    84. Wind
    85. GruntGrunt ×3
    86. Wind
    87. GruntGrunt ×3
    88. Wind
    89. GruntGrunt
    90. Wind
    91. GruntGrunt
    92. Wind
    93. GruntGrunt

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is DouglasBacon's (30 OS, 19/09/2026); 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

460 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0033100
2:0085400
3:00162710086
4:002704386337
5:003850916838
6:00510515861559
7:00638923642474
8:00772630943385
9:00914637694271
10:001077344855070
11:001264252035984
12:001455357176925
13:001682962137650
14:001901866638579
15:002063272469349
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

DouglasBacon

30.4 OS · 19/09/2026

Open source match ↗

5 received units · includes a constructor
52 metal received · 19621 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=447
Advanced Metal Extractor9:24Middle 50%: 8:19–10:45 · n=338

Played most by

iLike2Eco31games of this buildTheGeneraI27games of this buildSauceDispenser27games of this buildwatermeloans19games of this buildHummell15games of this build