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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 0:36 · 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. Mex
    2. GruntGrunt ×2
    3. Wind ×2
    4. GraverobberGraverobber
    5. Wind
    6. GruntGrunt ×2
    7. Construction BotCon bot ×3
    8. Mex
    9. AggravatorAggravator ×3
    10. Mex
    11. AggravatorAggravator
    12. Mex
    13. AggravatorAggravator ×3
    14. GuardGuard
    15. AggravatorAggravator ×6
    16. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    17. AggravatorAggravator ×3
    18. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    19. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    20. AggravatorAggravator ×3
    21. Mex
    22. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    23. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    24. AggravatorAggravator ×2
  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 · 173 steps
    1. AggravatorAggravator
    2. Solar
    3. AggravatorAggravator
    4. Solar
    5. AggravatorAggravator
    6. Solar
    7. AggravatorAggravator
    8. Solar
    9. AggravatorAggravator
    10. Con turret
    11. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    12. Con turret
    13. AggravatorAggravator
    14. ThugThug ×2
    15. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantdone 6:29
    16. ThugThug ×3
    17. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    18. ThugThug ×2
    19. GuardGuard
    20. ThugThug
    21. IncisorIncisor
    22. Construction BotCon bot
    23. Mex
    24. IncisorIncisor ×3
    25. Construction BotCon bot
    26. IncisorIncisor ×3
    27. Wind
    28. Construction BotCon bot
    29. IncisorIncisor
    30. Wind
    31. IncisorIncisor
    32. Construction BotCon bot
    33. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    34. IncisorIncisor
    35. Wind
    36. IncisorIncisor
    37. Wind
    38. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 9:27 · typical 9:24
    39. IncisorIncisor ×2
    40. Wind
    41. IncisorIncisor
    42. Wind
    43. IncisorIncisor
    44. Wind
    45. IncisorIncisor
    46. Wind
    47. IncisorIncisor
    48. Wind
    49. IncisorIncisor
    50. Wind
    51. IncisorIncisor ×2
    52. Wind ×2
    53. IncisorIncisor
    54. WardenWarden
    55. IncisorIncisor
    56. Wind ×2
    57. IncisorIncisor
    58. Wind ×2
    59. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    60. Wind
    61. IncisorIncisor
    62. Wind
    63. IncisorIncisor
    64. Wind ×2
    65. IncisorIncisor ×2
    66. Wind ×2
    67. IncisorIncisor ×2
    68. Wind
    69. IncisorIncisor
    70. Wind
    71. IncisorIncisor
    72. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    73. Wind
    74. IncisorIncisor
    75. Wind
    76. IncisorIncisor
    77. Construction BotCon bot
    78. IncisorIncisor
    79. Wind ×2
    80. IncisorIncisor
    81. Wind
    82. IncisorIncisor
    83. Wind
    84. IncisorIncisor
    85. Construction BotCon bot
    86. Wind
    87. IncisorIncisor ×2
    88. Wind
    89. IncisorIncisor
    90. Wind
    91. Construction BotCon bot
    92. IncisorIncisor
    93. Wind
    94. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    95. IncisorIncisor
    96. Wind
    97. Construction BotCon bot
    98. IncisorIncisor
    99. Wind
    100. IncisorIncisor
    101. Wind
    102. IncisorIncisor
    103. Wind
    104. IncisorIncisor
    105. Wind
    106. IncisorIncisor
    107. Wind
    108. RascalRascal
    109. Wind
    110. RascalRascal ×2
    111. Wind
    112. RascalRascal ×2
    113. Wind
    114. RascalRascal ×2
    115. Wind
    116. RascalRascal
    117. Wind
    118. RascalRascal ×2
    119. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    120. RascalRascal
    121. Wind ×2
    122. RascalRascal ×4
    123. Wind ×2
    124. RascalRascal
    125. Converter
    126. RascalRascal
    127. Advanced Bot LabAdvanced Bot Labdone 13:50
    128. RascalRascal
    129. Wind ×2
    130. RascalRascal
    131. Wind
    132. Converter
    133. Wind
    134. RascalRascal
    135. Wind
    136. RascalRascal
    137. Wind
    138. Converter
    139. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    140. RascalRascal
    141. Wind ×2
    142. RascalRascal
    143. Converter
    144. Wind
    145. RascalRascal ×2
    146. Wind ×2
    147. RascalRascal
    148. Converter
    149. RascalRascal ×3
    150. Wind
    151. RascalRascal ×2
    152. Converter
    153. RascalRascal ×2
    154. Wind
    155. RascalRascal
    156. Wind
    157. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    158. RascalRascal
    159. Converter
    160. Wind
    161. RascalRascal
    162. Wind
    163. RascalRascal
    164. Wind
    165. RascalRascal
    166. Wind
    167. RascalRascal
    168. Converter
    169. RascalRascal ×2
    170. Wind
    171. RascalRascal
    172. Wind
    173. RascalRascal

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is MarcoRalseks's (34 OS, 19/09/2026); 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

MarcoRalseks

34.4 OS · 19/09/2026

Open source match ↗

6 received units · includes a constructor
679 metal received · 10749 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
Standard front · Cortex Front build order · BAR Build Atlas