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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 · 3 steps
    1. Mex ×2
    2. Wind ×2
    3. Bot LabBot Labdone 0:45 · 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. Mex
    3. GruntGrunt ×2
    4. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    5. ThugThug
    6. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    7. ThugThug
    8. Mex
    9. ThugThug ×2
    10. Construction BotCon bot
    11. Mex
    12. GraverobberGraverobber
    13. Mex
    14. AggravatorAggravator
    15. GuardGuard
    16. AggravatorAggravator ×8
    17. Con turret
    18. AggravatorAggravator
    19. GraverobberGraverobber
    20. Construction BotCon bot
    21. AggravatorAggravator
    22. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantnot finished by 15:00
    23. WardenWarden
    24. AggravatorAggravator ×5
  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 · 151 steps
    1. AggravatorAggravator
    2. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    3. AggravatorAggravator
    4. Metal storage
    5. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    6. Wind
    7. GraverobberGraverobber
    8. Wind
    9. Construction BotCon bot
    10. Wind
    11. Mex
    12. Wind
    13. AggravatorAggravator ×2
    14. Wind
    15. AggravatorAggravator
    16. AgitatorAgitatordone 8:12
    17. Wind
    18. AggravatorAggravator
    19. Wind
    20. AggravatorAggravator
    21. GruntGrunt
    22. Wind
    23. GuardGuard
    24. GruntGrunt
    25. GuardGuard
    26. GruntGrunt
    27. GuardGuard
    28. GruntGrunt ×2
    29. Mex
    30. GruntGrunt
    31. GuardGuard
    32. Mex
    33. GruntGrunt
    34. GuardGuard
    35. GruntGrunt
    36. GuardGuard
    37. GruntGrunt
    38. AggravatorAggravator
    39. GruntGrunt
    40. GuardGuard
    41. GruntGrunt
    42. ThistleThistle ×2
    43. GruntGrunt ×2
    44. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    45. GruntGrunt ×2
    46. Con turret
    47. Mex
    48. GruntGrunt ×2
    49. Construction BotCon bot
    50. Exploiter
    51. Con turret
    52. Construction BotCon botfor Geo
    53. Exploiter
    54. Solar
    55. Construction BotCon botfor Geo
    56. Solar
    57. GuardGuard
    58. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    59. GruntGrunt
    60. GuardGuard
    61. Wind
    62. Con turret
    63. GraverobberGraverobber
    64. Wind
    65. GuardGuard
    66. Wind
    67. Mex
    68. GraverobberGraverobber
    69. Wind ×2
    70. GruntGrunt
    71. Wind
    72. GruntGrunt ×2
    73. Wind
    74. GruntGrunt
    75. Wind
    76. GruntGrunt ×2
    77. Wind
    78. GruntGrunt
    79. Wind
    80. GruntGrunt
    81. Wind
    82. GruntGrunt
    83. Wind
    84. GruntGrunt ×2
    85. Wind
    86. GruntGrunt
    87. Wind
    88. GruntGrunt
    89. Wind
    90. GruntGrunt
    91. Con turret
    92. Wind
    93. GruntGrunt ×2
    94. Wind
    95. Construction BotCon bot
    96. Wind ×2
    97. Construction BotCon bot
    98. Bot LabBot Labdone 12:58
    99. Wind ×4
    100. GraverobberGraverobber
    101. ThugThug
    102. Wind
    103. Mex
    104. GraverobberGraverobber
    105. ThugThug
    106. Wind ×2
    107. GraverobberGraverobber
    108. Wind
    109. ThugThug
    110. Wind
    111. ThugThug ×2
    112. Wind
    113. ThugThug ×2
    114. Wind
    115. ThugThug ×2
    116. Wind ×2
    117. GruntGrunt
    118. ThugThug
    119. GruntGrunt
    120. Wind ×2
    121. GruntGrunt ×2
    122. ThugThug
    123. Metal storage
    124. Wind
    125. Construction BotCon bot
    126. GruntGrunt ×2
    127. Wind
    128. GruntGrunt ×2
    129. Wind ×2
    130. GruntGrunt ×2
    131. Metal storage
    132. Wind
    133. GruntGrunt
    134. Wind
    135. ThugThug
    136. GuardGuard
    137. GruntGrunt
    138. Wind ×2
    139. Advanced solar
    140. Wind
    141. GuardGuard
    142. ThugThug
    143. GruntGrunt
    144. Wind ×3
    145. ThugThug
    146. GruntGrunt
    147. ThistleThistle
    148. Wind
    149. ThugThug
    150. Wind
    151. Con turret

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is RockFish's (35 OS, 09/10/2026); 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

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

RockFish

34.8 OS · 09/10/2026

Open source match ↗

4 received units
156 metal received · 9029 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