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Front / Cortex / Economy first / OBSERVED BUILD

Standard front

Standard Front play: Bot Lab immediately, expanding economy with an Advanced Metal Extractor around 9:00, then defending the wider gap with bots like Thug, Grunt and Aggravator as the middle firms up.

#eco #defence · 170 distinct matches · 59 players · 65% of Cortex Front games · team won 42% of 172 · 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 170 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 mex, 1 winddone ~0:40, middle half 0:34–0:46

    Some games also: wind (48%)

    By 0:24 in all: 2 mex

    The example game in this phase · 1 step
    1. Mex ×3
  2. 2

    Bot Lab to 5:00

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor4Mex
    • Wind Turbine4Wind
    Builders
    • Construction Bot3 Con bot
    • Graverobber2 Graverobber
    Army
    • Guard2 Guard
    • Thug6 Thug
    • Grunt4 Grunt
    • Aggravator3 Aggravator

    Some games also: con turret (43%) · Radar Tower (35%)

    By 5:00 in all: 6 mex · 5 wind

    The example game in this phase · 36 steps
    1. Wind
    2. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantdone 0:53
    3. RascalRascal ×4for Pond
    4. RascalRascal
    5. Construction VehicleCon vehicle ×2
    6. Wind
    7. PounderPounder
    8. WolverineWolverine
    9. Mex
    10. Wind
    11. WolverineWolverine
    12. Wind
    13. Mex
    14. WolverineWolverine ×2
    15. Mex
    16. WolverineWolverine ×3
    17. Mex
    18. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×4
    19. WolverineWolverine
    20. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    21. GuardGuard
    22. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    23. GuardGuard
    24. WolverineWolverine
    25. GuardGuard ×3
    26. WolverineWolverine
    27. IncisorIncisor
    28. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    29. IncisorIncisor
    30. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    31. IncisorIncisor
    32. RascalRascal
    33. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    34. Wind
    35. RascalRascal ×2
    36. Wind
  3. 3

    5:00 to 10:00

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor1Mex
    • Wind Turbine17Wind
    Builders
    • Construction Turret2 Con turret
    • Graverobber1 Graverobber
    • Construction Bot1 Con bot
    Army
    • Guard1 Guard
    • Grunt7 Grunt
    • Thug1 Thug

    Some games also: aggravator (44%) · energy storage (42%) · Twin Guard (38%) · converter (35%) · Radar Tower (34%)

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

    The example game in this phase · 57 steps
    1. RascalRascal ×2
    2. GuardGuard
    3. Wind
    4. RascalRascal
    5. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    6. GuardGuard ×2
    7. RascalRascal
    8. Wind
    9. Con turret
    10. RascalRascal
    11. Mex
    12. RascalRascal
    13. GuardGuard
    14. RascalRascal
    15. Wind
    16. RascalRascal ×2
    17. IncisorIncisor
    18. Wind
    19. IncisorIncisor ×2
    20. Wind
    21. IncisorIncisor ×2
    22. Wind
    23. IncisorIncisor ×5
    24. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 8:54 · typical 9:06
    25. IncisorIncisor ×6
    26. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex ×2
    27. IncisorIncisor ×2
    28. Con turret
    29. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    30. Converter ×2
    31. Pit BullPit Bull
    32. Converter
    33. Energy storage
    34. Wind ×2
    35. IncisorIncisor
    36. Wind
    37. IncisorIncisor
    38. Wind ×5
    39. IncisorIncisor
    40. Wind ×4
    41. IncisorIncisor
    42. Wind ×2
    43. IncisorIncisor
    44. Wind
    45. IncisorIncisor
    46. Wind ×2
    47. IncisorIncisor
    48. Con turret
    49. IncisorIncisor
    50. Wind
    51. IncisorIncisor
    52. Wind
    53. Con turret
    54. IncisorIncisor ×8
    55. Wind
    56. IncisorIncisor
    57. Wind

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is Hummell's (46 OS, 14/09/2026); 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 66% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Geo or Techfirst at 7:26 · in 67% 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

172 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0033100
2:0086700
3:0016368582
4:002700346346
5:003812927944
6:00506916851729
7:00638024952625
8:00767133083691
9:00908139044391
10:001085444245097
11:001279250825936
12:001497752977059
13:001737159477675
14:001987663318706
15:002280570109802
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

Hummell

45.6 OS · 14/09/2026

Open source match ↗

7 received units · includes a constructor
78 metal received · 6558 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=153
Advanced Metal Extractor9:06Middle 50%: 8:09–10:30 · n=132

Played most by

Hummell19games of this buildwatermeloans19games of this buildiLike2Eco12games of this buildCentientWaffle9games of this buildGeeGee7games of this build