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Geo sea / Cortex / Economy first / OBSERVED BUILD

Standard geo sea

The role's default economy-first play: bot lab then shipyard in the cove, quick frigate/submarine/destroyer navy to contest sea and hold the coast, transitioning into whatever the sea fight needs.

Usually shipyard in the cove (98%)

#naval #eco · 897 distinct matches · 97 players · 83% of Cortex Geo sea games · team won 52% of 1005 · Recently observed

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: Shipyard by 3:18

  1. Open 3 mex, wind and solar, then Bot Lab.
  2. Get a BP and costal torpedo launcher up before the Shipyard.
  3. Put up Shipyard once you can defend it.
  4. Push out "submarine" and "frigate" to contest the sea.
  5. Add geothermal to fund the fleet transition into "destroyer", "missile corvette".

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 897 GAMES
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
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 Extractor3Mex
    • Wind Turbine3Wind
    Order
    1. Bot LabBot Lab after 3 mex, 3 winddone ~1:12, middle half 1:06–1:26

    Some games also: wind for allies (49%)

    By 0:55 in all: 3 mex · 3 wind

    The example game in this phase · 3 steps
    1. Mex ×3
    2. Wind ×3
    3. Bot LabBot Labdone 1:05 · typical 1:12
  2. 2

    Bot Lab to Shipyard

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor1Mex
    • Wind Turbine2Wind
    Order
    1. ShipyardShipyard after 4 mex, 5 wind, 1 energy storagedone ~3:17, middle half 3:03–3:33
    Builders
    • Construction Bot3 Con bot
    • Graverobber2 Graverobber
    Army
    • Grunt1 Grunt

    Some games also: con turret (47%) · trasher (39%) · energy storage (34%) · wind for allies (33%)

    By 2:52 in all: 4 mex · 5 wind · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 12 steps
    1. Wind
    2. GraverobberGraverobber
    3. Wind
    4. Construction BotCon bot
    5. Wind ×3
    6. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    7. GraverobberGraverobber
    8. Mex
    9. Energy storage
    10. GruntGrunt ×2
    11. Mex ×2
    12. ShipyardShipyarddone 3:19 · typical 3:17
  3. 3

    Shipyard to 5:00

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor4Mex
    Builders
    • Construction Ship1 Con ship
    Army
    • Riptide2 Frigate
    • Orca1 Submarine
    Other
    • Radar Tower1 Radar Tower

    Some games also: Guard (50%) · wind (48%) · missile corvette (47%) · destroyer (46%) · gunboat (41%)

    By 5:00 in all: 8 mex · 6 wind · 1 energy storage · 1 con turret

    The example game in this phase · 16 steps
    1. GuardGuard
    2. SupporterGunboat
    3. GuardGuard
    4. Construction ShipCon ship
    5. SupporterGunboat
    6. GuardGuard
    7. SupporterGunboat ×2
    8. Mex
    9. SupporterGunboat ×2
    10. GuardGuard
    11. OrcaSubmarinedone 4:14 · typical 4:19
    12. Mex
    13. Energy storage
    14. ThistleThistle
    15. OrcaSubmarine
    16. RiptideFrigatedone 5:11 · typical 4:35
  4. 4

    5:00 to 10:00

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor2Mex
    • Wind Turbine8Wind
    • Energy Converter1Converter
    Builders
    • Construction Turret1 Con turret
    • Death Cavalry2 Death Cavalry
    • Construction Ship1 Con ship
    Army
    • Guard2 Guard
    • Riptide5 Frigate
    • Herring2 Missile corvette
    Other
    • Naval Radar / Sonar Tower2 Naval Radar / Sonar Tower

    Some games also: geo (48%) · Thistle (42%) · submarine (33%)

    By 10:00 in all: 10 mex · 15 wind · 1 geo · 4 converter · 1 energy storage · 2 con turret

    The example game in this phase · 54 steps
    1. Mex
    2. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    3. OrcaSubmarine
    4. ThistleThistle
    5. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    6. Geothermal PowerplantGeodone 6:45 · typical 8:00
    7. RiptideFrigate
    8. OrcaSubmarine
    9. GuardGuard
    10. Con turret
    11. RiptideFrigate
    12. Converter
    13. OrcaSubmarine
    14. HerringMissile corvette ×2
    15. RiptideFrigate
    16. Converter
    17. OrcaSubmarine
    18. Converter ×3
    19. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    20. Converter
    21. RiptideFrigate
    22. Converter
    23. HerringMissile corvette
    24. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 10:33 · typical 9:22
    25. OrcaSubmarine
    26. RiptideFrigate
    27. HerringMissile corvette
    28. OrcaSubmarine
    29. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    30. RiptideFrigate
    31. Naval Construction Turret
    32. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    33. Death CavalryDeath Cavalry
    34. Naval Construction Turret
    35. SupporterGunboat ×3
    36. Naval Construction Turret
    37. SupporterGunboat
    38. Naval Construction Turret
    39. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    40. SupporterGunboat
    41. Advanced ShipyardAdvanced Shipyarddone 13:24
    42. SupporterGunboat ×10
    43. BuccaneerCruisernot finished by 15:00
    44. SupporterGunboat
    45. Advanced Construction SubAdvanced Construction Sub
    46. SupporterGunboat
    47. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    48. SupporterGunboat
    49. PathfinderPathfinder
    50. SupporterGunboat
    51. BuccaneerCruiser
    52. SupporterGunboat ×2
    53. Naval Advanced Metal ExtractorNaval Advanced Metal Extractornot finished by 15:00
    54. BuccaneerCruiser

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is Handicapping_mySelf's (36 OS, 10/09/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

  • Wind Turbine2 Wind to Airfirst at 1:47 · in 73% of games

You get

  • Finch1 Finch from Airfirst at 1:51 · in 82% of games
  • Hercules1 Light transport from Airfirst at 2:00 · in 75% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Techfirst at 7:44 · in 89% 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

05k10k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Own metal lost

02.5k5k7.5k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

1005 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0039700
2:0092800
3:00157100
4:002914051
5:00411013052
6:005467440232
7:006953931547
8:0086241570891
9:001051024401344
10:001264436272050
11:001523749202921
12:001815364203827
13:002150674134511
14:002505786485441
15:002879297896342
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

Standard Cortex geo sea sits at an even 50% win rate, trading a slower start for a big resource lead by 15:00.

  • + Metal produced hits 28451 by 15:00, well above both front roles
  • + Own metal lost stays far below enemy metal destroyed at every checkpoint
  • − Only 50% team win rate, the lowest of these six builds
  • − T2 factory only completes in 40% of games by 12:53
THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

Handicapping_mySelf

35.9 OS · 10/09/2026

Open source match ↗

5 received units · includes a constructor
193 metal received · 95571 energy received

Allied construction assistance is unknown. Timings are observations, not a promise of solo reproducibility.

Typical milestones

Bot Lab1:12Middle 50%: 1:06–1:26 · n=999
Shipyard3:17Middle 50%: 3:03–3:33 · n=1000
Orca4:19Middle 50%: 3:53–4:59 · n=686
Riptide4:35Middle 50%: 4:08–5:20 · n=977
Oppressor5:51Middle 50%: 5:08–6:32 · n=912
Geothermal Powerplant8:00Middle 50%: 7:01–8:58 · n=605
Advanced Metal Extractor9:22Middle 50%: 8:45–10:10 · n=861

Played most by

sirniho119games of this buildOptimusprimenutt78games of this buildSHOGVN74games of this buildPRO_Rerory46games of this buildhihimik41games of this build