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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 · 451 distinct matches · 138 players · 65% of Cortex Front games · team won 51% of 468 · 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 451 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 0:34 · 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 · 24 steps
    1. GraverobberGraverobber
    2. Wind ×2
    3. GruntGrunt ×10
    4. Wind
    5. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    6. Mex
    7. ThugThug ×3
    8. Mex
    9. ThugThug
    10. Con turret
    11. ThugThug
    12. Mex
    13. ThugThug
    14. Mex
    15. ThugThug ×4
    16. GuardGuard
    17. ThugThug
    18. GuardGuard ×2
    19. GraverobberGraverobber
    20. ThugThug ×2
    21. GuardGuard
    22. ThugThug
    23. GuardGuard
    24. 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%) · 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 · 65 steps
    1. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    2. ThugThug
    3. Mex
    4. ThugThug
    5. GuardGuard ×3
    6. ThugThug
    7. Wind
    8. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    9. GuardGuard
    10. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    11. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    12. Wind
    13. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    14. ThugThug
    15. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    16. GuardGuard
    17. AgitatorAgitatornot finished by 15:00
    18. Wind ×2
    19. GraverobberGraverobber
    20. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    21. Wind
    22. GraverobberGraverobber
    23. Wind
    24. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    25. ThugThug
    26. Wind
    27. ThugThug
    28. Wind
    29. ThugThug
    30. Energy storage ×2
    31. GraverobberGraverobber
    32. ThugThug ×2
    33. Wind
    34. GraverobberGraverobber
    35. Wind
    36. AggravatorAggravator
    37. Wind
    38. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    39. GuardGuard ×4
    40. AggravatorAggravator
    41. GuardGuard
    42. Wind
    43. GraverobberGraverobber
    44. GuardGuard
    45. GruntGrunt ×4
    46. Energy storage
    47. GruntGrunt ×2
    48. Mex
    49. GruntGrunt ×4
    50. Energy storage
    51. GruntGrunt ×5
    52. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    53. GruntGrunt ×3
    54. Dragon's MawDragon's Maw
    55. GraverobberGraverobber
    56. Mex
    57. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 13:06
    58. Mex ×2
    59. Construction BotCon bot
    60. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    61. Construction BotCon bot
    62. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    63. Construction BotCon bot
    64. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    65. Twin GuardTwin Guard ×4

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is xXGRM_RenXx's (31 OS, 07/10/2026); 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

468 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0033100
2:0085600
3:00162710486
4:002711389341
5:003853921839
6:00510915891556
7:00639523722474
8:00772631253385
9:00915138374291
10:001079845385079
11:001264252055987
12:001450856906925
13:001681462067630
14:001896966638539
15:002063272579305
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

xXGRM_RenXx

31.0 OS · 07/10/2026

Open source match ↗

5 received units · includes a constructor
37 metal received · 14964 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