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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 · 171 distinct matches · 62 players · 63% of Cortex Front games · team won 43% of 173 · 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 171 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 (50%)

    By 0:24 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
    • Thug6 Thug
    • Aggravator5 Aggravator
    • Grunt4 Grunt

    Some games also: con turret (42%) · Radar Tower (36%)

    By 5:00 in all: 6 mex · 5 wind

    The example game in this phase · 30 steps
    1. GraverobberGraverobber
    2. GruntGrunt
    3. Mex
    4. GruntGrunt ×2
    5. Construction BotCon bot ×3
    6. Mex ×2
    7. Construction BotCon bot
    8. Mex
    9. AggravatorAggravator
    10. Mex
    11. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    12. Mex
    13. Wind
    14. AggravatorAggravator
    15. GuardGuard
    16. AggravatorAggravator
    17. GuardGuard
    18. Wind
    19. AggravatorAggravator
    20. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    21. Wind ×2
    22. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    23. GuardGuard
    24. AggravatorAggravator
    25. Wind
    26. AggravatorAggravator ×7
    27. GuardGuard
    28. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    29. GraverobberGraverobber ×2
    30. 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
    • Grunt7 Grunt
    • Thug1 Thug

    Some games also: aggravator (47%) · energy storage (43%) · Twin Guard (36%) · Radar Tower (35%) · converter (34%)

    By 10:00 in all: 7 mex · 24 wind · 1 energy storage · 3 con turret

    The example game in this phase · 142 steps
    1. AggravatorAggravator ×4
    2. GuardGuard
    3. AggravatorAggravator ×3
    4. Wind
    5. AggravatorAggravator
    6. Wind ×2
    7. Con turret
    8. GruntGrunt ×2
    9. Wind
    10. GruntGrunt
    11. Wind
    12. GruntGrunt
    13. Wind
    14. GruntGrunt
    15. Wind
    16. GruntGrunt ×2
    17. Energy storage
    18. Con turret
    19. GraverobberGraverobber ×2
    20. GruntGrunt
    21. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 8:15 · typical 9:12
    22. GruntGrunt ×3
    23. Con turret
    24. GruntGrunt
    25. Wind ×2
    26. Construction BotCon bot
    27. Wind ×2
    28. Construction BotCon bot
    29. Wind
    30. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    31. GuardGuard
    32. Construction BotCon bot
    33. Wind
    34. Con turret
    35. Wind ×2
    36. Construction BotCon bot
    37. Wind
    38. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    39. GruntGrunt
    40. Wind ×2
    41. GruntGrunt
    42. Wind ×2
    43. GruntGrunt
    44. Wind ×2
    45. GruntGrunt
    46. GuardGuard
    47. GruntGrunt
    48. Wind ×2
    49. ThistleThistle
    50. GruntGrunt
    51. Wind
    52. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    53. GuardGuard
    54. Wind
    55. Advanced solar
    56. Wind ×3
    57. GruntGrunt
    58. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    59. Wind ×3
    60. Advanced solar
    61. Wind ×2
    62. GruntGrunt
    63. Wind ×2
    64. GruntGrunt
    65. Wind
    66. Fortification WallFortification Wall ×6
    67. Wind
    68. Fortification WallFortification Wall
    69. GruntGrunt
    70. Advanced solar
    71. Fortification WallFortification Wall
    72. Wind ×2
    73. Fortification WallFortification Wall
    74. Wind
    75. GruntGrunt
    76. Wind
    77. Advanced solar
    78. GruntGrunt
    79. Wind
    80. GruntGrunt
    81. Wind ×2
    82. GruntGrunt
    83. Pit BullPit Bull
    84. Wind
    85. GruntGrunt
    86. Wind
    87. GruntGrunt
    88. Con turret
    89. Wind ×2
    90. Con turret
    91. GruntGrunt
    92. Wind
    93. GruntGrunt
    94. Wind
    95. Con turret
    96. Wind
    97. Advanced Bot LabAdvanced Bot Labdone 13:03
    98. Wind
    99. GruntGrunt
    100. CastroCastro
    101. Wind
    102. GruntGrunt
    103. Wind ×2
    104. GruntGrunt
    105. Wind
    106. CastroCastro
    107. GruntGrunt
    108. Wind ×2
    109. SumoSumodone 13:28
    110. GruntGrunt
    111. Wind
    112. CastroCastro
    113. Wind
    114. GruntGrunt
    115. Wind
    116. SumoSumo
    117. GruntGrunt
    118. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    119. Wind ×2
    120. CastroCastro
    121. SumoSumo
    122. Wind
    123. GruntGrunt
    124. Wind
    125. GruntGrunt
    126. Wind
    127. SumoSumo
    128. GruntGrunt
    129. Wind ×3
    130. SumoSumo
    131. GruntGrunt
    132. Wind ×3
    133. SumoSumo
    134. Wind ×2
    135. SumoSumo
    136. Wind ×2
    137. SumoSumo
    138. Wind ×2
    139. SumoSumo
    140. Wind
    141. Pit BullPit Bull
    142. Wind

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is Erilium's (46 OS, 29/09/2026); 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 68% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Geo or Techfirst at 7:34 · in 66% 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

173 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0033100
2:0085800
3:0016248686
4:002686350336
5:003810938895
6:00504016971662
7:00633025242607
8:00769533073575
9:00914138954317
10:001085943745102
11:001287050665960
12:001507052866978
13:001774558947597
14:002023963458690
15:002294371609707
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

Erilium

46.2 OS · 29/09/2026

Open source match ↗

8 received units · includes a constructor
802 metal received · 40900 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=158
Advanced Metal Extractor9:12Middle 50%: 8:10–10:30 · n=136

Played most by

watermeloans19games of this buildHummell16games of this buildiLike2Eco12games of this buildCentientWaffle8games of this buildGeeGee8games of this build