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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 · 451 distinct matches · 138 players · 65% of Cortex Front games · team won 51% of 468 · 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 451 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 · 3 steps
    1. Mex ×2
    2. Wind
    3. Bot LabBot Labdone 0:39 · 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 · 28 steps
    1. Wind
    2. GraverobberGraverobber
    3. GruntGrunt
    4. Mex
    5. GruntGrunt ×2
    6. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    7. ThugThug ×3
    8. Mex
    9. ThugThug
    10. GraverobberGraverobber
    11. GuardGuard
    12. ThugThug
    13. Mex ×2
    14. GuardGuard
    15. Construction BotCon bot
    16. GuardGuard
    17. AggravatorAggravator ×4
    18. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    19. AggravatorAggravator
    20. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    21. AggravatorAggravator ×3
    22. GraverobberGraverobber
    23. ThugThug
    24. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    25. ThugThug
    26. AggravatorAggravator
    27. GuardGuard
    28. AggravatorAggravator ×2
  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 · 55 steps
    1. AggravatorAggravator ×4
    2. GraverobberGraverobber
    3. Construction BotCon bot
    4. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    5. ThugThug
    6. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    7. GruntGrunt
    8. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    9. GruntGrunt
    10. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    11. GruntGrunt ×5
    12. GraverobberGraverobber
    13. GruntGrunt ×6
    14. ThugThug
    15. GuardGuard
    16. GraverobberGraverobber
    17. GruntGrunt
    18. ThugThug
    19. GraverobberGraverobber
    20. GuardGuard
    21. GruntGrunt
    22. GuardGuard
    23. ThugThug
    24. GuardGuard
    25. GruntGrunt
    26. Solar
    27. TrasherTrasher
    28. Solar
    29. TrasherTrasher
    30. ThugThug
    31. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×3
    32. GruntGrunt
    33. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    34. ThugThug
    35. GruntGrunt
    36. ThugThug
    37. Con turret
    38. Construction BotCon bot
    39. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 13:23 · typical 9:23
    40. Construction BotCon bot
    41. Solar
    42. Wind
    43. Mex
    44. Wind
    45. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    46. Bot LabEat Bot Labreclaimed for its metal
    47. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    48. Wind
    49. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    50. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    51. Bot LabBot Labnot finished by 15:00
    52. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    53. Wind
    54. Solar
    55. Wind

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is RockFish's (34 OS, 16/09/2026); 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 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

468 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0033100
2:0085600
3:00162710486
4:002711389341
5:003853921839
6:00510915891556
7:00639523722474
8:00772631253385
9:00915138374291
10:001079845385079
11:001264252055987
12:001450856906925
13:001681462067630
14:001896966638539
15:002063272579305
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

RockFish

34.1 OS · 16/09/2026

Open source match ↗

11 received units · includes a constructor
33 metal received · 7396 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