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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 · 447 distinct matches · 138 players · 65% of Cortex Front games · team won 50% of 464 · 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 447 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 ×3
    2. Wind ×2
    3. Bot LabBot Labdone 0:57 · 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 · 39 steps
    1. GruntGrunt
    2. Construction BotCon bot
    3. Wind
    4. Construction BotCon bot
    5. GraverobberGraverobber
    6. ThugThug
    7. Mex
    8. ThugThug ×3
    9. GraverobberGraverobber
    10. ThugThug
    11. Mex
    12. ThugThug
    13. ThistleThistle
    14. GraverobberGraverobber
    15. ThugThug ×2
    16. Wind
    17. Mex
    18. ThugThug ×3
    19. GraverobberGraverobber
    20. GuardGuard
    21. Mex
    22. ThugThug
    23. GuardGuard
    24. Construction BotCon bot
    25. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    26. Construction BotCon bot
    27. Bot LabBot Labdone 4:20
    28. ThugThug
    29. GraverobberGraverobber
    30. Wind
    31. Construction BotCon bot
    32. Wind
    33. Bot LabEat Bot Labreclaimed for its metal
    34. Wind
    35. Construction BotCon bot
    36. Wind
    37. Con turret
    38. Wind ×3
    39. ThugThug
  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 (42%) · 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 · 95 steps
    1. Con turret
    2. ThugThug
    3. Wind ×3
    4. ThugThug ×3
    5. GraverobberGraverobber
    6. ThugThug ×2
    7. Wind ×3
    8. ThugThug
    9. Solar
    10. ThugThug
    11. Solar
    12. ThugThug
    13. Solar
    14. GraverobberGraverobber
    15. Wind ×3
    16. ThugThug ×3
    17. Wind ×2
    18. ThugThug
    19. Wind
    20. ThugThug
    21. GraverobberGraverobber
    22. Mex
    23. ThugThug ×2
    24. Wind
    25. ThugThug
    26. Wind ×2
    27. ThugThug ×2
    28. GraverobberGraverobber
    29. ThugThug
    30. Wind
    31. ThugThug
    32. Wind
    33. Construction BotCon bot
    34. Wind
    35. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 8:15 · typical 9:23
    36. Mex
    37. Con turret
    38. Wind ×3
    39. ThistleThistle ×2
    40. Wind
    41. Construction BotCon bot
    42. Wind
    43. Solar ×2
    44. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    45. Wind ×2
    46. Twin GuardTwin Guard ×2
    47. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    48. Wind ×2
    49. ThugThug
    50. WardenWarden
    51. ThugThug
    52. Wind ×2
    53. Con turret
    54. ThugThug
    55. Wind
    56. ThugThug
    57. Wind
    58. ThugThug ×3
    59. Mex
    60. ThugThug ×2
    61. Con turret
    62. ThugThug
    63. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    64. Construction BotCon bot
    65. Mex ×2
    66. GraverobberGraverobber
    67. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    68. Mex
    69. GraverobberGraverobber ×3
    70. Metal storage
    71. Mex
    72. BeamerBeamer
    73. Mex
    74. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    75. ThistleThistle
    76. Advanced Bot LabAdvanced Bot Labdone 12:46
    77. ThistleThistle
    78. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    79. ThistleThistle
    80. Wind
    81. ThistleThistle
    82. Bot LabEat Bot Labreclaimed for its metal
    83. Solar ×2
    84. Wind
    85. ThistleThistle
    86. Solar ×3
    87. Wind
    88. GuardGuard
    89. Wind
    90. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    91. Wind ×3
    92. ArbiterArbiternot finished by 15:00
    93. Wind ×2
    94. Advanced solar
    95. Wind ×2

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is [Grump]FranzDK's (31 OS, 02/10/2026); 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 64% 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

464 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0033100
2:0085400
3:00162710286
4:002707387345
5:003850917839
6:00510515861559
7:00638923652478
8:00772631103385
9:00914638064291
10:001077345215079
11:001264252035987
12:001455356906925
13:001682962067650
14:001901866638566
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

[Grump]FranzDK

30.8 OS · 02/10/2026

Open source match ↗

9 received units · includes a constructor
344 metal received · 7987 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=451
Advanced Metal Extractor9:23Middle 50%: 8:19–10:45 · n=341

Played most by

iLike2Eco31games of this buildTheGeneraI27games of this buildSauceDispenser27games of this buildwatermeloans19games of this buildEl_Turco15games of this build