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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 · 490 distinct matches · 151 players · 65% of Cortex Front games · team won 51% of 507 · 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 490 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 (39%)

    By 0:23 in all: 2 mex

    The example game in this phase · 2 steps
    1. Mex ×3
    2. Bot LabBot Labdone 0:45 · 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 (35%)

    By 5:00 in all: 6 mex · 5 wind

    The example game in this phase · 14 steps
    1. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    2. GraverobberGraverobber
    3. GruntGrunt ×6
    4. Construction BotCon bot ×3
    5. Mex
    6. AggravatorAggravator
    7. ThugThug ×7
    8. GuardGuard
    9. ThugThug ×6
    10. Mex
    11. ThugThug ×4
    12. Mex
    13. GuardGuard
    14. GraverobberGraverobber
  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
    • Thug5 Thug
    • Aggravator1 Aggravator

    Some games also: Radar Tower (43%) · converter (36%) · energy storage (36%) · Twin Guard (34%) · eat Bot Lab (37%)

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

    The example game in this phase · 45 steps
    1. GraverobberGraverobber ×2
    2. Con turret
    3. ThugThug ×2
    4. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    5. ThugThug
    6. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    7. ThugThug ×3
    8. Wind
    9. ThugThug ×2
    10. Wind
    11. Con turret
    12. ThugThug
    13. Wind
    14. ThugThug
    15. Wind
    16. ThugThug ×2
    17. Wind
    18. ThugThug ×2
    19. Wind
    20. ThugThug
    21. Wind
    22. GruntGrunt ×3
    23. Wind
    24. ThugThug
    25. Wind
    26. ThugThug
    27. Wind
    28. ThugThug
    29. Wind
    30. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 12:30 · typical 9:27
    31. Wind
    32. GraverobberGraverobber
    33. Wind ×2
    34. Mex
    35. Wind
    36. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    37. Wind
    38. ThugThug
    39. Mex ×2
    40. LazarusLazarus
    41. MaceMace
    42. Mex
    43. BlitzBlitz
    44. Con turret
    45. BlitzBlitz

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is csirkecomb's (30 OS, 31/08/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

Nothing regular.

You get

  • Tidal Generator4 Tidal from Pondfirst at 0:16 · in 64% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Geo or Techfirst at 7:49 · 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

05k10k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Own metal lost

05k10k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

507 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0033100
2:0085700
3:00163410886
4:002721390336
5:003872939840
6:00512716061540
7:00643724352457
8:00779331893344
9:00926539284309
10:001093246865079
11:001275453235984
12:001466158586878
13:001695163767612
14:001916570038561
15:002086476319382
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

csirkecomb

30.2 OS · 31/08/2026

Open source match ↗

6 received units · includes a constructor
3 metal received · 13069 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=492
Advanced Metal Extractor9:27Middle 50%: 8:20–10:45 · n=369

Played most by

iLike2Eco33games of this buildTheGeneraI27games of this buildSauceDispenser27games of this buildwatermeloans19games of this buildEl_Turco15games of this build