BAR / BUILD ATLAS
← All builds
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. Bot LabBot Labdone 0:27 · 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 · 24 steps
    1. GraverobberGraverobber
    2. GruntGrunt ×2
    3. Construction BotCon bot
    4. GruntGrunt ×2
    5. Mex
    6. ThugThug ×2
    7. Mex
    8. ThugThug ×4
    9. GuardGuard
    10. Construction BotCon bot
    11. Mex
    12. ThugThug
    13. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    14. ThugThug ×2
    15. Mex
    16. ThugThug ×2
    17. Construction BotCon bot
    18. Mex
    19. GraverobberGraverobber
    20. Construction BotCon bot
    21. GraverobberGraverobber
    22. AggravatorAggravator
    23. Mex
    24. AggravatorAggravator ×3
  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 · 137 steps
    1. AggravatorAggravator ×3
    2. Con turret
    3. ThugThug
    4. AggravatorAggravator ×3
    5. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    6. GraverobberGraverobber
    7. Twin GuardTwin Guard ×2
    8. Construction BotCon bot
    9. Con turret
    10. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    11. GraverobberGraverobber ×3
    12. Con turret
    13. Construction BotCon bot
    14. Con turret
    15. GruntGrunt ×2
    16. Wind
    17. GruntGrunt ×2
    18. Wind
    19. GruntGrunt
    20. Wind
    21. GruntGrunt ×3
    22. Wind
    23. GruntGrunt
    24. Wind
    25. GruntGrunt
    26. GraverobberGraverobber
    27. Wind ×2
    28. Construction BotCon bot
    29. Wind
    30. GruntGrunt
    31. Wind
    32. GruntGrunt ×3
    33. Wind
    34. GruntGrunt
    35. Wind ×2
    36. GruntGrunt ×3
    37. Mex
    38. Wind
    39. GruntGrunt
    40. ThugThug
    41. Wind
    42. GruntGrunt
    43. ThugThug
    44. Wind
    45. GraverobberGraverobber
    46. Cortex CommanderCortex Commander
    47. ThugThug
    48. Construction BotCon bot
    49. Wind ×2
    50. GruntGrunt ×3
    51. Wind ×2
    52. GruntGrunt
    53. Converter
    54. GruntGrunt
    55. Converter
    56. GruntGrunt
    57. Wind ×2
    58. Converter
    59. GruntGrunt
    60. Converter
    61. Wind
    62. GruntGrunt
    63. Wind
    64. Converter
    65. GruntGrunt
    66. Wind ×2
    67. Converter
    68. GruntGrunt
    69. Converter
    70. GraverobberGraverobber
    71. Wind
    72. Converter
    73. Wind
    74. Construction BotCon bot
    75. Wind
    76. Converter
    77. Wind
    78. GruntGrunt
    79. Converter
    80. GruntGrunt
    81. Wind ×2
    82. GruntGrunt
    83. Converter
    84. GruntGrunt
    85. Wind
    86. GruntGrunt
    87. Converter
    88. Wind
    89. GruntGrunt ×2
    90. Wind
    91. Converter
    92. GruntGrunt
    93. Wind
    94. GruntGrunt
    95. Converter
    96. GruntGrunt
    97. Wind
    98. GraverobberGraverobber
    99. Wind
    100. Converter
    101. Construction BotCon bot
    102. Wind ×2
    103. Converter
    104. GruntGrunt
    105. Metal storage
    106. Wind ×2
    107. GruntGrunt ×2
    108. Wind
    109. GruntGrunt
    110. Wind
    111. GruntGrunt ×2
    112. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 13:57 · typical 9:23
    113. GruntGrunt
    114. Wind ×2
    115. GuardGuard
    116. Con turret
    117. GruntGrunt
    118. Wind ×2
    119. GruntGrunt
    120. Con turret
    121. GuardGuard
    122. Wind ×2
    123. GruntGrunt
    124. GraverobberGraverobber
    125. GuardGuard
    126. Wind ×2
    127. Construction BotCon bot
    128. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    129. GruntGrunt
    130. Wind
    131. GruntGrunt ×4
    132. Wind
    133. GruntGrunt
    134. Wind
    135. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    136. GruntGrunt ×3
    137. Wind

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is RiskyDonut's (33 OS, 12/10/2026); 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

RiskyDonut

33.4 OS · 12/10/2026

Open source match ↗

60 received units · includes a constructor
227 metal received · 9761 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