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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 · 450 distinct matches · 138 players · 65% of Cortex Front games · team won 51% of 467 · 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 450 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 0:34 · 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 · 19 steps
    1. Wind
    2. GraverobberGraverobber
    3. Wind
    4. Mex
    5. GruntGrunt ×2
    6. GraverobberGraverobber
    7. GruntGrunt ×3
    8. Construction BotCon bot
    9. ThugThug
    10. Con turret
    11. ThugThug ×2
    12. Mex
    13. ThugThug ×2
    14. Mex
    15. ThugThug ×2
    16. Mex
    17. ThugThug
    18. GuardGuard
    19. ThugThug ×14
  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 · 91 steps
    1. ThugThug
    2. Wind
    3. ThugThug
    4. Wind
    5. ThugThug
    6. Wind
    7. ThugThug
    8. Wind
    9. Construction BotCon bot
    10. ThugThug
    11. Wind
    12. ThugThug
    13. Wind
    14. ThugThug ×6
    15. NettleNettle
    16. ThugThug ×7
    17. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 8:25 · typical 9:23
    18. ThugThug ×8
    19. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    20. ThugThug ×2
    21. Wind ×2
    22. ThugThug
    23. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    24. Wind
    25. ThugThug
    26. SentrySentry
    27. Wind
    28. ThugThug ×3
    29. Construction BotCon bot
    30. Wind
    31. ThugThug
    32. Wind
    33. ThugThug ×2
    34. WardenWarden
    35. Wind
    36. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    37. ThugThug ×2
    38. Wind
    39. ThugThug ×2
    40. Wind
    41. ThugThug
    42. Wind
    43. ThugThug ×2
    44. Wind
    45. ThugThug
    46. Wind
    47. ThugThug
    48. Wind
    49. ThugThug
    50. Wind
    51. ThugThug
    52. Wind
    53. ThugThug
    54. Wind
    55. GraverobberGraverobber ×2
    56. Wind
    57. ThugThug
    58. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    59. GruntGrunt
    60. Wind
    61. GruntGrunt
    62. Wind
    63. GruntGrunt
    64. Energy storage
    65. Con turret
    66. Wind
    67. GruntGrunt
    68. Energy storage
    69. Wind
    70. GruntGrunt ×4
    71. Wind
    72. GruntGrunt
    73. Wind
    74. GruntGrunt
    75. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    76. GruntGrunt
    77. Con turret
    78. Wind
    79. GruntGrunt
    80. Energy storage
    81. GruntGrunt ×2
    82. Wind
    83. Con turret
    84. GruntGrunt
    85. Bot LabBot Labdone 13:58
    86. Wind
    87. GruntGrunt ×22
    88. Con turret
    89. GruntGrunt ×5
    90. Pit BullPit Bull
    91. GruntGrunt ×17

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is [NWP]Kadafi923's (31 OS, 11/10/2026); 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 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

467 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0033100
2:0085600
3:00162810286
4:002710390344
5:003850920840
6:00510815871557
7:00638923652476
8:00773231243394
9:00915338324309
10:001080045375079
11:001265852035989
12:001454156816934
13:001681562017643
14:001900866498561
15:002063772469322
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

[NWP]Kadafi923

31.1 OS · 11/10/2026

Open source match ↗

6 received units · includes a constructor
75 metal received · 53997 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