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Front / Cortex / Economy first / OBSERVED BUILD

Standard front

Cortex Front build order · Supreme Isthmus

The role's default economy-first play: Bot Lab right away, Advanced Metal Extractor around 9:12, transitioning into the usual Thug/Grunt/Aggravator mix to hold the wider gap and feed the middle.

#eco #defence · 177 distinct matches · 62 players · 64% of Cortex Front games · team won 44% of 179 · 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 177 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
    • Wind Turbine1Wind
    Order
    1. Bot LabBot Lab after 2 mex, 1 winddone ~0:40, middle half 0:34–0:46

    By 0:24 in all: 2 mex · 1 wind

    The example game in this phase · 3 steps
    1. Mex ×2
    2. Wind
    3. Bot LabBot Labdone 0:40 · 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
    • Aggravator5 Aggravator
    • Grunt4 Grunt

    Some games also: con turret (42%) · Radar Tower (35%)

    By 5:00 in all: 6 mex · 5 wind

    The example game in this phase · 24 steps
    1. GruntGrunt ×2
    2. Mex
    3. Wind
    4. GruntGrunt
    5. Wind
    6. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    7. Construction BotCon botfor Suicide front
    8. Mex
    9. ThugThug ×4
    10. Mex
    11. ThugThug ×2
    12. GuardGuard
    13. ThugThug ×2
    14. GuardGuard
    15. ThugThug
    16. GuardGuard
    17. ThugThug
    18. Mex
    19. Construction BotCon botfor Suicide front
    20. Construction BotCon bot
    21. ThugThug ×7
    22. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    23. ThugThug ×3
    24. Construction BotCon bot
  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
    • Grunt7 Grunt
    • Thug2 Thug

    Some games also: aggravator (46%) · energy storage (42%) · Twin Guard (36%) · converter (35%) · Radar Tower (35%)

    By 10:00 in all: 7 mex · 24 wind · 1 energy storage · 3 con turret

    The example game in this phase · 167 steps
    1. Construction BotCon bot
    2. ThugThug ×8
    3. GuardGuard
    4. ThugThug
    5. Energy storage
    6. ThugThug
    7. GuardGuard
    8. Wind
    9. Con turret
    10. Wind
    11. ThugThug
    12. Wind
    13. BeamerBeamer
    14. Con turret
    15. Wind
    16. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 9:12 · typical 9:10
    17. Wind ×2
    18. BeamerBeamer
    19. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    20. Converter
    21. Wind ×2
    22. ThugThug
    23. Wind
    24. Converter
    25. ThugThug
    26. Wind
    27. ThugThug
    28. Mex
    29. Wind
    30. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    31. Wind
    32. Converter
    33. Mex
    34. Wind
    35. ThugThug
    36. Wind
    37. Converter
    38. Wind
    39. ThugThug
    40. Wind
    41. ThugThug
    42. Wind
    43. ThugThug
    44. Wind
    45. ThugThug
    46. Converter
    47. GruntGrunt
    48. Wind
    49. GruntGrunt
    50. Mex
    51. Wind
    52. GruntGrunt ×2
    53. Converter
    54. Wind
    55. GruntGrunt ×2
    56. Converter
    57. Wind
    58. GruntGrunt ×2
    59. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    60. Wind
    61. Converter
    62. GruntGrunt ×3
    63. Converter
    64. GruntGrunt ×2
    65. Wind
    66. Converter
    67. GruntGrunt ×3
    68. Wind
    69. Converter
    70. GruntGrunt
    71. Mex
    72. GruntGrunt
    73. Converter
    74. GruntGrunt ×2
    75. Converter
    76. Mexfor Suicide front
    77. GruntGrunt
    78. Wind ×2
    79. GruntGrunt
    80. Metal storage
    81. GruntGrunt ×2
    82. Wind ×2
    83. GruntGrunt
    84. Mex
    85. GruntGrunt
    86. Wind ×2
    87. GruntGrunt
    88. Wind
    89. GruntGrunt
    90. GuardGuard
    91. GruntGrunt
    92. Wind
    93. GruntGrunt
    94. Wind
    95. GuardGuard
    96. GruntGrunt
    97. Wind
    98. GruntGrunt
    99. Wind
    100. GruntGrunt
    101. Wind
    102. Con turret
    103. GruntGrunt
    104. Construction BotCon bot
    105. Mex
    106. Con turret
    107. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    108. Wind
    109. Con turret
    110. Wind
    111. Construction BotCon bot
    112. Con turret
    113. Construction BotCon bot
    114. Wind
    115. Mex
    116. Construction BotCon bot
    117. Wind ×2
    118. GruntGrunt ×2
    119. Wind
    120. GruntGrunt
    121. Wind ×2
    122. GruntGrunt ×2
    123. Wind
    124. GruntGrunt
    125. Wind
    126. GruntGrunt ×2
    127. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    128. GruntGrunt
    129. Wind
    130. GruntGrunt ×2
    131. Wind
    132. GruntGrunt ×5
    133. Construction BotCon bot
    134. Wind
    135. Construction BotCon bot
    136. Wind
    137. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    138. GruntGrunt
    139. Wind
    140. GruntGrunt
    141. Wind
    142. GruntGrunt
    143. Wind
    144. GruntGrunt
    145. Wind
    146. GruntGrunt
    147. Wind
    148. GruntGrunt ×2
    149. Wind
    150. GruntGrunt ×2
    151. Wind
    152. GruntGrunt ×2
    153. Wind
    154. GruntGrunt ×3
    155. Wind
    156. GruntGrunt ×2
    157. Wind
    158. GruntGrunt ×2
    159. Wind
    160. GruntGrunt ×2
    161. Wind
    162. GruntGrunt ×2
    163. Wind
    164. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    165. GruntGrunt
    166. Wind
    167. GruntGrunt

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is Slump's (39 OS, 07/09/2026); 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 68% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Geo or Techfirst at 7:26 · in 66% 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

179 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0033100
2:0085800
3:0016248686
4:002692359336
5:003828938883
6:00505116831622
7:00633024302606
8:00769932503477
9:00914838644317
10:001091543525092
11:001287049345948
12:001507052866934
13:001774557647566
14:002019663178516
15:002293570989484
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

Slump

39.4 OS · 07/09/2026

Open source match ↗

26 received units · includes a constructor
772 metal received · 87514 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=164
Advanced Metal Extractor9:10Middle 50%: 8:09–10:29 · n=140

Played most by

Hummell19games of this buildwatermeloans19games of this buildiLike2Eco12games of this buildCentientWaffle9games of this buildGeeGee9games of this build