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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 · 3 steps
    1. Mex
    2. Wind
    3. Bot LabBot Labdone 0:33 · 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 · 31 steps
    1. Mex
    2. GraverobberGraverobber
    3. Wind
    4. GruntGrunt
    5. Mex
    6. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    7. GruntGrunt ×6
    8. ThugThug
    9. Mex
    10. ThugThug ×2
    11. Mex ×2
    12. GraverobberGraverobber
    13. GuardGuard
    14. Construction BotCon bot
    15. GuardGuard
    16. AggravatorAggravator ×4
    17. ThistleThistle
    18. AggravatorAggravator
    19. GuardGuard
    20. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    21. WardenWarden
    22. AggravatorAggravator
    23. Solar
    24. GraverobberGraverobber
    25. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    26. Wind
    27. Construction BotCon bot
    28. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    29. Wind ×2
    30. AggravatorAggravator
    31. 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 · 73 steps
    1. AggravatorAggravator
    2. Wind
    3. Construction BotCon bot
    4. Wind
    5. Construction BotCon bot
    6. Wind
    7. Mex
    8. Wind
    9. GuardGuard
    10. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    11. GuardGuard
    12. AggravatorAggravator
    13. AgitatorAgitatornot finished by 15:00
    14. AggravatorAggravator ×4
    15. Con turret
    16. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    17. GraverobberGraverobber
    18. AggravatorAggravator ×5
    19. JellyfishJellyfish
    20. AggravatorAggravator ×6
    21. GraverobberGraverobber ×2
    22. Construction BotCon bot
    23. AggravatorAggravator ×3
    24. CastroCastro
    25. AggravatorAggravator
    26. JellyfishJellyfish
    27. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 8:59 · typical 9:23
    28. AggravatorAggravator
    29. Wind
    30. AggravatorAggravator
    31. Wind ×2
    32. AggravatorAggravator
    33. Wind ×3
    34. AggravatorAggravator
    35. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    36. ThistleThistle ×2
    37. TrasherTrasher ×2
    38. ThistleThistle
    39. TrasherTrasher ×3
    40. Bot LabBot Labdone 10:21
    41. TrasherTrasher
    42. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    43. TrasherTrasher
    44. Con turret
    45. Pit BullPit Bull
    46. Bot LabEat Bot Labreclaimed for its metal
    47. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    48. Solar
    49. Wind ×5
    50. Con turret
    51. Solar
    52. Wind ×5
    53. Construction BotCon bot
    54. Wind ×2
    55. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    56. Wind
    57. Pit BullPit Bull
    58. Wind ×5
    59. Solar
    60. Wind
    61. Construction BotCon bot
    62. Wind
    63. Solar
    64. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    65. Solar
    66. Wind ×3
    67. Construction BotCon bot
    68. RattlesnakeRattlesnakenot finished by 15:00
    69. Wind ×2
    70. Solar
    71. Pit BullPit Bull
    72. Construction BotCon bot
    73. Wind ×4

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is RockFish's (34 OS, 17/09/2026); 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

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

RockFish

33.8 OS · 17/09/2026

Open source match ↗

6 received units · includes a constructor
132 metal received · 1797 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