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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 ×4
    3. Bot LabBot Labdone 1:10 · 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 · 13 steps
    1. Windfor Air
    2. GraverobberGraverobber
    3. Windfor Air
    4. GraverobberGraverobber
    5. Construction BotCon bot
    6. TrasherTrasher
    7. Con turret
    8. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    9. Mex
    10. GruntGrunt
    11. JellyfishJellyfish
    12. Mex
    13. ShipyardShipyarddone 3:35 · 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 · 20 steps
    1. Mex
    2. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    3. ThistleThistle
    4. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    5. Construction ShipCon ship
    6. SupporterGunboat ×3
    7. Mex
    8. RiptideFrigatedone 4:19 · typical 4:35
    9. Wind
    10. RiptideFrigate
    11. Wind
    12. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    13. Mex
    14. ThistleThistle
    15. RiptideFrigate
    16. Wind
    17. GuardGuard
    18. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    19. Wind
    20. ThistleThistle
  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 · 75 steps
    1. Geothermal PowerplantGeodone 6:25 · typical 8:00
    2. Death CavalryDeath Cavalry
    3. Energy storage
    4. OppressorDestroyerdone 6:33 · typical 5:51
    5. Converter ×2
    6. HerringMissile corvette
    7. Converter
    8. RiptideFrigate
    9. Converter
    10. RiptideFrigate
    11. JellyfishJellyfish
    12. Con turret
    13. RiptideFrigate
    14. OppressorDestroyer
    15. Hovercraft PlatformHovercraft Platformdone 8:40
    16. Construction ShipCon ship
    17. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 9:16 · typical 9:22
    18. Death CavalryDeath Cavalry
    19. HerringMissile corvette
    20. RiptideFrigate
    21. GoonGoon
    22. Mex
    23. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×3
    24. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    25. RiptideFrigate
    26. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×8
    27. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    28. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×3
    29. GoonGoon
    30. RiptideFrigate
    31. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    32. GoonGoon
    33. Construction HovercraftCon hovercraft
    34. OppressorDestroyer
    35. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    36. Death CavalryDeath Cavalry
    37. HerringMissile corvette
    38. RiptideFrigate
    39. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×3
    40. RiptideFrigate
    41. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    42. RiptideFrigate
    43. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    44. OppressorDestroyer
    45. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    46. Advanced Geothermal PowerplantAdvanced Geothermal Powerplantnot finished by 15:00
    47. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×3
    48. Death CavalryDeath Cavalry
    49. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    50. Mex
    51. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    52. HerringMissile corvette
    53. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    54. RiptideFrigate
    55. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    56. RiptideFrigate
    57. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    58. RiptideFrigate
    59. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×2
    60. OppressorDestroyer
    61. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth ×3
    62. Con turret
    63. Dragon's TeethDragon's Teeth
    64. Wind
    65. Death CavalryDeath Cavalry
    66. Wind ×2
    67. HerringMissile corvette
    68. Wind
    69. RiptideFrigate
    70. Wind
    71. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    72. Construction ShipCon ship
    73. Wind
    74. RiptideFrigate
    75. Wind ×2

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is hihimik's (37 OS, 23/09/2026); 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

hihimik

37.0 OS · 23/09/2026

Open source match ↗

4 received units · includes a constructor
229 metal received · 39427 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