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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 0:35 · 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 · 47 steps
    1. GraverobberGraverobber
    2. Mex
    3. GruntGrunt
    4. GuardGuard
    5. GruntGrunt ×3
    6. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    7. Mex
    8. AggravatorAggravator
    9. Wind
    10. AggravatorAggravator
    11. Mex
    12. AggravatorAggravator
    13. Wind
    14. AggravatorAggravator
    15. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    16. AggravatorAggravator
    17. Wind
    18. GuardGuard
    19. Construction BotCon bot
    20. Energy storage
    21. Mex
    22. ThugThug
    23. Con turret
    24. Wind
    25. ThugThug
    26. GuardGuard
    27. ThugThug
    28. Wind
    29. GuardGuard
    30. ThugThug
    31. Wind
    32. ThugThug
    33. Wind
    34. GraverobberGraverobber
    35. Wind
    36. Construction BotCon bot
    37. GuardGuard
    38. Wind
    39. ThugThug
    40. Wind
    41. ThugThug
    42. Wind
    43. ThugThug
    44. Wind
    45. ThugThug
    46. Wind
    47. 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 · 91 steps
    1. Wind
    2. GuardGuard
    3. ThugThug
    4. Wind
    5. ThugThug
    6. Wind
    7. ThugThug
    8. Wind
    9. ThugThug
    10. Con turret
    11. ThugThug
    12. Wind
    13. ThugThug
    14. Wind
    15. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    16. ThugThug
    17. Wind
    18. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    19. ThugThug ×3
    20. GraverobberGraverobber
    21. Wind
    22. GraverobberGraverobber
    23. GruntGrunt
    24. Mex
    25. ThugThug
    26. Con turret
    27. ThugThug
    28. Wind
    29. ThugThug
    30. Metal storage
    31. ThugThug ×4
    32. Wind
    33. ThugThug ×3
    34. Wind
    35. GraverobberGraverobber ×2
    36. Con turret
    37. GruntGrunt
    38. ThugThug
    39. Wind
    40. ThugThug
    41. Converter
    42. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    43. ThugThug
    44. Converter
    45. ThugThug
    46. Converter
    47. ThugThug ×2
    48. Converter
    49. ThugThug
    50. Wind
    51. WardenWarden
    52. ThugThug
    53. Converter
    54. ThugThug
    55. GruntGrunt ×2
    56. Converter
    57. Construction BotCon bot
    58. Wind
    59. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×3
    60. GruntGrunt
    61. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    62. Dragon's MawDragon's Maw
    63. Converter
    64. GruntGrunt
    65. JunoJuno
    66. Converter
    67. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    68. GraverobberGraverobber
    69. Wind
    70. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    71. GruntGrunt ×2
    72. Wind
    73. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 13:58 · typical 9:24
    74. GraverobberGraverobber
    75. Con turret
    76. Converter
    77. CastroCastro
    78. Wind
    79. GraverobberGraverobber
    80. Converter
    81. JellyfishJellyfish ×2
    82. Wind
    83. GraverobberGraverobber
    84. Converter
    85. GruntGrunt
    86. Wind
    87. GruntGrunt
    88. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    89. GruntGrunt
    90. Wind
    91. GruntGrunt ×2

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is Vaik's (31 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

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

Vaik

30.6 OS · 16/09/2026

Open source match ↗

9 received units · includes a constructor
31 metal received · 64444 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