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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 · 443 distinct matches · 137 players · 65% of Cortex Front games · team won 50% of 460 · 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 443 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 0:33 · 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 · 29 steps
    1. Wind
    2. GraverobberGraverobber
    3. Wind
    4. Mex
    5. GruntGrunt ×2
    6. GraverobberGraverobber
    7. GruntGrunt ×3
    8. Construction BotCon bot
    9. ThugThug ×2
    10. Con turret
    11. ThugThug ×2
    12. Mex
    13. ThugThug ×4
    14. Mex
    15. ThugThug ×3
    16. Wind
    17. ThugThug
    18. Mex
    19. Wind
    20. ThugThug
    21. GuardGuard
    22. ThugThug ×11
    23. Wind
    24. ThugThug
    25. Wind
    26. ThugThug
    27. Wind
    28. GruntGrunt
    29. 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%) · 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 · 41 steps
    1. Wind
    2. GruntGrunt
    3. ThugThug
    4. Wind
    5. Mex
    6. ThugThug ×2
    7. Wind
    8. ThugThug
    9. GraverobberGraverobber
    10. PounderPounder
    11. Wind
    12. GuardGuard
    13. GraverobberGraverobber
    14. Wind
    15. GuardGuard
    16. ThugThug ×2
    17. Wind
    18. ThugThug
    19. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    20. Wind
    21. ThugThug
    22. Wind
    23. ThugThug
    24. PounderPounder
    25. Wind
    26. ThugThug
    27. Mex
    28. Con turret
    29. WolverineWolverine
    30. ThugThug
    31. Wind
    32. ThugThug ×2
    33. Wind
    34. ThugThug ×2
    35. Wind
    36. ThugThug ×2
    37. Wind
    38. ThugThug ×2
    39. Wind
    40. ThugThug
    41. GruntGrunt

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

460 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0033100
2:0085400
3:00162710086
4:002704386337
5:003850916838
6:00510515861559
7:00638923642474
8:00772630943385
9:00914637694271
10:001077344855070
11:001264252035984
12:001455357176925
13:001682962137650
14:001901866638579
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

[NWP]Kadafi923

31.2 OS · 10/10/2026

Open source match ↗

4 received units
972 metal received · 3047 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=447
Advanced Metal Extractor9:24Middle 50%: 8:19–10:45 · n=338

Played most by

iLike2Eco31games of this buildTheGeneraI27games of this buildSauceDispenser27games of this buildwatermeloans19games of this buildHummell15games of this build
Standard front · Cortex Front build order · BAR Build Atlas