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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 · 170 distinct matches · 59 players · 65% of Cortex Front games · team won 42% of 172 · 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 170 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 (48%)

    By 0:24 in all: 2 mex

    The example game in this phase · 2 steps
    1. Mex
    2. Bot LabBot Labdone 0:26 · 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
    • Grunt4 Grunt
    • Aggravator3 Aggravator

    Some games also: con turret (43%) · Radar Tower (35%)

    By 5:00 in all: 6 mex · 5 wind

    The example game in this phase · 28 steps
    1. Mex
    2. Wind
    3. GruntGrunt ×2for Suicide front
    4. GruntGrunt
    5. Mex
    6. GraverobberGraverobber
    7. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    8. Mex
    9. Construction BotCon bot
    10. ThugThug ×4
    11. Mex
    12. GuardGuard
    13. ThugThug
    14. Mex
    15. ThugThug ×3
    16. Mex
    17. GuardGuard
    18. Wind
    19. ThugThug ×7
    20. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    21. ThugThug
    22. Con turret
    23. GruntGrunt
    24. ThugThug
    25. GruntGrunt
    26. ThugThug
    27. Wind
    28. ThugThug ×2
  3. 3

    5:00 to 10:00

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor1Mex
    • Wind Turbine17Wind
    Builders
    • Construction Turret2 Con turret
    • Graverobber1 Graverobber
    • Construction Bot1 Con bot
    Army
    • Guard1 Guard
    • Grunt7 Grunt
    • Thug1 Thug

    Some games also: aggravator (44%) · energy storage (42%) · Twin Guard (38%) · converter (35%) · Radar Tower (34%)

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

    The example game in this phase · 154 steps
    1. Con turret
    2. Wind
    3. ThugThug
    4. Wind
    5. ThugThug
    6. Wind ×2
    7. ThugThug
    8. Mex
    9. Wind
    10. GuardGuard
    11. Wind
    12. GuardGuard
    13. Wind
    14. ThugThug
    15. Wind ×2
    16. ThugThug ×2
    17. Energy storage
    18. ThugThug
    19. Wind
    20. Construction BotCon bot
    21. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    22. Wind
    23. ThugThug
    24. Wind
    25. ThugThug
    26. Wind
    27. WardenWarden
    28. ThugThug
    29. Wind
    30. GruntGrunt
    31. Wind ×2
    32. ThugThug
    33. GruntGrunt
    34. ThugThug
    35. Wind
    36. ThugThug
    37. Con turret
    38. ThugThug
    39. Wind
    40. ThugThug
    41. Wind
    42. ThugThug ×2
    43. Wind
    44. ThugThug
    45. GraverobberGraverobber
    46. Wind
    47. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    48. ThugThug
    49. GruntGrunt
    50. Wind
    51. GruntGrunt ×2
    52. Wind
    53. GruntGrunt
    54. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    55. GruntGrunt ×4
    56. Converter
    57. GruntGrunt ×2
    58. Converter
    59. GruntGrunt ×2
    60. Converter
    61. GruntGrunt ×4
    62. Converter
    63. ShipyardShipyarddone 10:06
    64. GruntGrunt ×6
    65. OrcaSubmarinedone 10:30
    66. Con turret
    67. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×3
    68. GraverobberGraverobber
    69. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×8
    70. Wind
    71. OrcaSubmarine
    72. GruntGrunt
    73. Wind
    74. GruntGrunt
    75. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    76. Wind
    77. OrcaSubmarine
    78. GruntGrunt
    79. Wind
    80. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 12:06
    81. Wind
    82. GruntGrunt
    83. Wind
    84. GruntGrunt
    85. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    86. Wind
    87. GruntGrunt
    88. Wind
    89. OrcaSubmarinefor Beach sea
    90. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    91. Wind
    92. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×4
    93. Construction BotCon bot
    94. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    95. Wind
    96. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×3
    97. OrcaSubmarine
    98. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    99. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    100. Construction BotCon bot
    101. Wind
    102. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×3
    103. Wind
    104. GruntGrunt
    105. Wind
    106. GruntGrunt
    107. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    108. GruntGrunt
    109. Wind
    110. GruntGrunt ×2
    111. Wind
    112. GruntGrunt
    113. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    114. Wind
    115. GruntGrunt ×3
    116. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    117. Wind
    118. GruntGrunt ×2
    119. Wind
    120. GruntGrunt ×2
    121. Wind
    122. GruntGrunt
    123. Wind
    124. GruntGrunt
    125. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    126. GruntGrunt ×2
    127. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    128. GruntGrunt ×4
    129. Con turret
    130. GruntGrunt ×4
    131. Wind
    132. GruntGrunt ×2
    133. Wind
    134. GruntGrunt ×2
    135. Wind
    136. GruntGrunt ×2
    137. SAMSAM
    138. Wind
    139. GruntGrunt ×2
    140. Wind
    141. GruntGrunt
    142. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    143. GruntGrunt
    144. Wind
    145. GruntGrunt ×2
    146. Wind
    147. GruntGrunt ×2
    148. Wind
    149. GruntGrunt ×2
    150. Wind
    151. SAMSAM
    152. GruntGrunt
    153. Wind
    154. GruntGrunt ×2

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is GuiTou's (36 OS, 26/09/2026); 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 66% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Geo or Techfirst at 7:26 · in 67% 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

172 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0033100
2:0086700
3:0016368582
4:002700346346
5:003812927944
6:00506916851729
7:00638024952625
8:00767133083691
9:00908139044391
10:001085444245097
11:001279250825936
12:001497752977059
13:001737159477675
14:001987663318706
15:002280570109802
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

GuiTou

35.6 OS · 26/09/2026

Open source match ↗

7 received units · includes a constructor
1482 metal received · 17034 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=153
Advanced Metal Extractor9:06Middle 50%: 8:09–10:30 · n=132

Played most by

Hummell19games of this buildwatermeloans19games of this buildiLike2Eco12games of this buildCentientWaffle9games of this buildGeeGee7games of this build