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Standard front

Cortex Front build order · Supreme Isthmus

The role's default economy-first play: Bot Lab right away, Advanced Metal Extractor around 9:12, transitioning into the usual Thug/Grunt/Aggravator mix to hold the wider gap and feed the middle.

#eco #defence · 209 distinct matches · 68 players · 63% of Cortex Front games · team won 44% of 212 · 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 209 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 · 2 steps
    1. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantdone 0:22
    2. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
  2. 2

    Bot Lab to 5:00

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor4Mex
    • Wind Turbine4Wind
    Builders
    • Construction Bot3 Con bot
    • Graverobber2 Graverobber
    Army
    • Guard2 Guard
    • Thug7 Thug
    • Aggravator5 Aggravator
    • Grunt4 Grunt

    Some games also: con turret (42%) · Radar Tower (35%)

    By 5:00 in all: 6 mex · 5 wind

    The example game in this phase · 34 steps
    1. RascalRascal ×3
    2. Mex
    3. Construction VehicleCon vehicle ×2
    4. Mex ×2
    5. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    6. Mex ×2
    7. GuardGuard
    8. WolverineWolverine
    9. GuardGuard
    10. Wind
    11. Mex
    12. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    13. Wind
    14. WolverineWolverine
    15. GuardGuard
    16. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    17. WolverineWolverine
    18. Wind ×3
    19. WolverineWolverine
    20. Con turret
    21. GuardGuard
    22. Wind
    23. WolverineWolverine ×2
    24. Wind
    25. GuardGuard ×2
    26. WolverineWolverine
    27. Wind
    28. WolverineWolverine
    29. Wind
    30. WolverineWolverine
    31. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    32. WolverineWolverine
    33. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    34. 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
    • Grunt7 Grunt
    • Thug2 Thug

    Some games also: aggravator (47%) · energy storage (40%) · Radar Tower (39%) · converter (36%) · Twin Guard (36%) · eat Bot Lab (37%)

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

    The example game in this phase · 171 steps
    1. WolverineWolverine
    2. Con turret
    3. Wind
    4. WolverineWolverine
    5. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    6. Wind
    7. WolverineWolverine
    8. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    9. Con turret
    10. WolverineWolverine
    11. Con turret
    12. WolverineWolverine
    13. RascalRascal ×3
    14. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 7:17 · typical 9:13
    15. RascalRascal ×2
    16. GuardGuard
    17. RascalRascal ×2
    18. Wind
    19. RascalRascal ×3
    20. Wind
    21. IncisorIncisor
    22. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    23. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    24. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    25. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    26. Wind ×2
    27. GuardGuard
    28. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    29. GuardGuard
    30. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    31. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    32. Wind
    33. CastroCastro
    34. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    35. IncisorIncisor
    36. Wind
    37. Con turret
    38. Wind
    39. IncisorIncisor
    40. GuardGuard
    41. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    42. IncisorIncisor
    43. Wind ×2
    44. GuardGuard
    45. IncisorIncisor
    46. Mex
    47. Construction VehicleCon vehicle
    48. Wind ×3
    49. GuardGuard
    50. Wind
    51. IncisorIncisor
    52. Wind ×2
    53. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    54. IncisorIncisor
    55. Wind
    56. Con turret
    57. Wind
    58. IncisorIncisor
    59. Wind
    60. Con turret
    61. Wind
    62. IncisorIncisor
    63. Mex
    64. Wind
    65. Con turret
    66. GuardGuard
    67. Wind
    68. IncisorIncisor
    69. Wind ×2
    70. Con turret
    71. Wind
    72. GuardGuard
    73. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    74. IncisorIncisor
    75. Wind
    76. Energy storage
    77. Wind
    78. IncisorIncisor
    79. Advanced solar
    80. Wind ×2
    81. IncisorIncisor
    82. GuardGuard
    83. Wind ×2
    84. Advanced solar
    85. IncisorIncisor
    86. Wind
    87. IncisorIncisor
    88. Advanced solar
    89. Wind ×2
    90. IncisorIncisor
    91. Wind
    92. Mex
    93. Advanced solar
    94. Wind
    95. IncisorIncisor
    96. Wind ×2
    97. GuardGuard
    98. Wind
    99. IncisorIncisor
    100. Wind
    101. Advanced solar
    102. IncisorIncisor
    103. Wind ×2
    104. GuardGuard
    105. Wind
    106. IncisorIncisor
    107. Advanced solar
    108. Wind ×2
    109. IncisorIncisor
    110. GuardGuard
    111. Wind ×2
    112. IncisorIncisor
    113. Wind
    114. IncisorIncisor
    115. Wind ×2
    116. IncisorIncisor
    117. Wind
    118. GuardGuard
    119. IncisorIncisor
    120. Wind ×2
    121. GuardGuard
    122. Wind
    123. IncisorIncisor
    124. GuardGuard
    125. Wind ×2
    126. IncisorIncisor
    127. Wind
    128. GuardGuard
    129. IncisorIncisor
    130. Wind ×2
    131. IncisorIncisor
    132. Wind
    133. IncisorIncisor
    134. Wind ×2
    135. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    136. IncisorIncisor
    137. Wind ×2
    138. IncisorIncisor
    139. Wind ×6
    140. Con turret
    141. Wind ×2
    142. Con turret
    143. Wind
    144. Advanced Vehicle PlantAdvanced Vehicle Plantdone 13:33
    145. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    146. Wind
    147. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    148. Wind ×2
    149. TigerTiger ×2done 13:43
    150. BruteBrute
    151. Wind
    152. TigerTiger
    153. BruteBrute
    154. Wind
    155. Converter
    156. TigerTiger
    157. Wind
    158. Energy storage
    159. Converter
    160. Wind ×2
    161. TigerTiger
    162. Wind
    163. Vehicle PlantEat Vehicle Plantreclaimed for its metal
    164. Wind
    165. TigerTiger
    166. Wind
    167. Converter
    168. Advanced Construction VehicleT2 con vehicle
    169. Wind
    170. Advanced Construction VehicleT2 con vehicle ×6
    171. Wind

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is Erilium's (47 OS, 05/10/2026); 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 66% 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

212 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0033100
2:0085800
3:0016238686
4:002685356326
5:003812920862
6:00505516461608
7:00632923862536
8:00769131743348
9:00914638224242
10:001088743925077
11:001282749235936
12:001501152976967
13:001732959477650
14:001970263318543
15:002237471809445
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

Erilium

46.9 OS · 05/10/2026

Open source match ↗

27 received units · includes a constructor
2163 metal received · 18084 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=196
Advanced Metal Extractor9:13Middle 50%: 8:15–10:29 · n=166

Played most by

Hummell23games of this buildwatermeloans19games of this buildiLike2Eco13games of this buildErilium11games of this buildGeeGee11games of this build
Standard front · Cortex Front build order · BAR Build Atlas