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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 · 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
    2. Bot LabBot Labdone 0:35 · 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 · 30 steps
    1. Wind
    2. GruntGrunt ×2
    3. Wind
    4. GruntGrunt
    5. GraverobberGraverobber
    6. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    7. Mex
    8. ThugThug ×3
    9. Mex
    10. ThugThug ×2
    11. Mex
    12. ThugThug
    13. GruntGrunt
    14. ThugThug
    15. Mex
    16. Construction BotCon bot
    17. ThugThug
    18. Construction BotCon bot
    19. ThugThug ×3
    20. Construction BotCon bot
    21. ThugThug
    22. Construction BotCon bot
    23. Twin GuardTwin Guardfor Geo
    24. Wind
    25. Construction BotCon bot
    26. Wind ×2
    27. GraverobberGraverobber
    28. Wind
    29. GraverobberGraverobber
    30. Wind
  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 · 144 steps
    1. Wind
    2. GraverobberGraverobber
    3. Wind
    4. ThugThug
    5. Twin GuardTwin Guard ×2
    6. Wind
    7. ThugThug
    8. Con turret
    9. Wind ×2
    10. ThugThug
    11. Wind ×2
    12. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    13. ThugThug ×3
    14. GraverobberGraverobber
    15. GruntGrunt
    16. GraverobberGraverobber
    17. Energy storage
    18. GraverobberGraverobber
    19. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    20. ThugThug
    21. Construction BotCon bot
    22. GruntGrunt ×6
    23. Wind
    24. GruntGrunt
    25. Wind
    26. Con turret
    27. GruntGrunt
    28. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 8:05 · typical 9:23
    29. Bot LabEat Bot Labreclaimed for its metal
    30. Wind
    31. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    32. Wind ×2
    33. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    34. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    35. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    36. Wind ×4
    37. Bot LabBot Labdone 9:29
    38. Wind ×2
    39. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    40. Wind ×2
    41. GruntGrunt
    42. Con turret
    43. GruntGrunt
    44. Con turret
    45. GruntGrunt
    46. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    47. GruntGrunt
    48. Wind
    49. GruntGrunt
    50. Wind
    51. GruntGrunt
    52. Wind
    53. GruntGrunt
    54. Wind
    55. GruntGrunt
    56. Wind
    57. GruntGrunt
    58. Wind
    59. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    60. GruntGrunt
    61. Wind
    62. GruntGrunt
    63. Wind
    64. GruntGrunt
    65. Con turret
    66. GruntGrunt ×2
    67. Con turret
    68. GruntGrunt
    69. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    70. GruntGrunt
    71. Wind
    72. GruntGrunt
    73. Wind
    74. GruntGrunt ×2
    75. Wind
    76. GruntGrunt
    77. Wind
    78. GruntGrunt
    79. Wind
    80. GruntGrunt
    81. Wind
    82. GruntGrunt
    83. Wind
    84. GruntGrunt
    85. Wind
    86. GruntGrunt
    87. Con turret
    88. Wind
    89. Con turret
    90. GruntGrunt
    91. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    92. Construction BotCon bot
    93. GraverobberGraverobber ×2
    94. Con turret ×2
    95. GraverobberGraverobber
    96. GruntGrunt ×6
    97. Wind
    98. GruntGrunt ×3
    99. Bot LabBot Labdone 12:00
    100. Wind
    101. GruntGrunt ×2
    102. Wind
    103. GruntGrunt ×3
    104. Wind
    105. GruntGrunt
    106. Advanced solar
    107. GruntGrunt
    108. Wind
    109. GruntGrunt
    110. Wind
    111. GruntGrunt
    112. Advanced solar
    113. GruntGrunt
    114. Wind
    115. GruntGrunt ×2
    116. Wind
    117. GruntGrunt ×2
    118. Advanced solar
    119. Wind
    120. GruntGrunt ×2
    121. Wind
    122. GruntGrunt ×2
    123. Bot LabEat Bot Labreclaimed for its metal
    124. Advanced Bot LabAdvanced Bot Labdone 12:59
    125. Bot LabEat Bot Labreclaimed for its metal
    126. Converter ×6
    127. SkuttleCrawling bombdone 13:29
    128. Converter ×2
    129. SkuttleCrawling bomb
    130. Converter ×4
    131. FiendFiend ×4
    132. Advanced solar
    133. FiendFiend ×3
    134. Advanced solar
    135. FiendFiend ×2
    136. Advanced solar
    137. FiendFiend
    138. Bot LabBot Labdone 14:44
    139. FiendFiend ×2
    140. GraverobberGraverobber
    141. FiendFiend
    142. GraverobberGraverobber
    143. FiendFiend
    144. GraverobberGraverobber

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is haaven's (43 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

haaven

42.9 OS · 12/10/2026

Open source match ↗

5 received units · includes a constructor
25 metal received · 27539 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