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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 · 1 step
    1. Bot LabBot Labdone 0:20 · 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 · 38 steps
    1. Construction BotCon bot
    2. GraverobberGraverobber
    3. GruntGrunt ×3
    4. Mex
    5. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    6. Mex ×2
    7. Construction BotCon bot
    8. GuardGuard
    9. Mex
    10. GuardGuard
    11. ThugThug
    12. GuardGuard
    13. Mex
    14. ThugThug
    15. Mex
    16. ThugThug ×3
    17. Wind
    18. GraverobberGraverobber
    19. ThugThug ×2
    20. Wind
    21. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    22. ThugThug ×2
    23. Wind
    24. ThugThug
    25. GuardGuard
    26. GraverobberGraverobber
    27. Wind
    28. ThugThug
    29. GuardGuard
    30. ThugThug
    31. Wind
    32. ThugThug ×2
    33. LazarusLazarus
    34. ThugThug
    35. Wind
    36. Mex
    37. GraverobberGraverobber
    38. 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 (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 · 45 steps
    1. ThugThug ×4
    2. GraverobberGraverobber
    3. GuardGuard
    4. GraverobberGraverobber
    5. ThugThug
    6. GraverobberGraverobber
    7. GuardGuard
    8. ThugThug
    9. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 7:30 · typical 9:23
    10. ThugThug ×3
    11. Mex
    12. ThugThug ×5
    13. Construction BotCon bot
    14. ThugThug ×2
    15. Construction BotCon bot
    16. ThugThug
    17. GuardGuard
    18. Wind
    19. GuardGuard
    20. Wind
    21. ThugThug
    22. GuardGuard
    23. Wind
    24. GuardGuard
    25. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    26. Wind ×2
    27. Bot LabBot Labdone 7:55
    28. ThistleThistle
    29. GruntGrunt
    30. JellyfishJellyfish
    31. GruntGrunt
    32. Wind
    33. Mex
    34. Construction BotCon bot
    35. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    36. Wind
    37. GruntGrunt
    38. Wind
    39. GruntGrunt
    40. Wind
    41. Con turret
    42. GruntGrunt
    43. Wind
    44. GruntGrunt
    45. Wind

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is Erilium's (46 OS, 13/10/2026); 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

Erilium

46.4 OS · 13/10/2026

Open source match ↗

5 received units · includes a constructor
550 metal received · 21839 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