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Geo sea / Cortex / Economy first / OBSERVED BUILD

Standard geo sea

Cortex Geo sea build order · Supreme Isthmus

Builds a bot lab then shipyard (usually in the cove), eats the bot lab for metal, and pumps out submarines, frigates and destroyers to contest the sea while supporting allies with energy.

Usually shipyard in the cove (98%)

#naval #eco · 1973 distinct matches · 199 players · 80% of Cortex Geo sea games · team won 53% of 2286 · Recently observed

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: Bot Lab by 1:12, Shipyard by 3:17

  1. Open 3 mex into wind, then drop Bot Lab in cove.
  2. Finish Bot Lab, keep teching mex and wind.
  3. Get Shipyard up and start pumping subs and frigates.
  4. Eat the Bot Lab for metal once you have T1 units defending.
  5. Push out submarine, frigate, destroyer to contest sea.
  6. Bring geothermal online and transition toward T2 constructor.

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 1973 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
    • Wind Turbine1Windfor allies
    Order
    1. Bot LabBot Lab after 3 mex, 3 winddone ~1:12, middle half 1:07–1:25

    By 0:55 in all: 3 mex · 3 wind

    The example game in this phase · 5 steps
    1. Mex ×3
    2. Wind ×2for unknown
    3. Wind
    4. Solar
    5. Bot LabBot Labdone 1:08 · typical 1:12
  2. 2

    Bot Lab to Shipyard

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor1Mex
    • Wind Turbine2Wind
    Order
    1. ShipyardShipyard after 4 mex, 4 wind, 1 energy storagedone ~3:19, middle half 3:02–3:37
    Builders
    • Graverobber3 Graverobber
    • Construction Bot3 Con bot
    Army
    • Grunt1 Grunt

    Some games also: con turret (47%) · trasher (39%) · energy storage (36%)

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

    The example game in this phase · 13 steps
    1. Wind
    2. Construction BotCon bot
    3. Wind ×2
    4. GraverobberGraverobber
    5. Wind ×2
    6. GraverobberGraverobber
    7. Mex
    8. Construction BotCon bot
    9. TrasherTrasher
    10. Con turret
    11. GruntGrunt
    12. GraverobberGraverobber
    13. ShipyardShipyarddone 3:12 · typical 3:19
  3. 3

    Shipyard to 5:00

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor4Mex
    Order
    1. Bot LabEat Bot Lab
    Builders
    • Construction Ship1 Con ship
    Army
    • Riptide2 Frigate
    • Orca1 Submarine
    Other
    • Radar Tower1 Radar Tower

    Some games also: missile corvette (48%) · Guard (48%) · wind (48%) · destroyer (43%) · gunboat (39%)

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

    The example game in this phase · 14 steps
    1. Mex
    2. Bot LabEat Bot Labreclaimed for its metal
    3. Mex
    4. Construction ShipCon ship
    5. OrcaSubmarinedone 4:00 · typical 4:17
    6. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    7. Mex ×2
    8. HerringMissile corvette
    9. OppressorDestroyerdone 4:43 · typical 5:55
    10. Mex ×2
    11. Tidal
    12. Wind
    13. RiptideFrigatedone 5:06 · typical 4:40
    14. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
  4. 4

    5:00 to 10:00

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor2Mex
    • Wind Turbine8Wind
    • Energy Converter2Converter
    Order
    1. Geothermal PowerplantGeo after 9 mex, 9 wind, 2 converterin 54% of games
    Builders
    • Construction Turret1 Con turret
    • Death Cavalry2 Death Cavalry
    • Construction Ship1 Con ship
    Army
    • Guard1 Guard
    • Riptide5 Frigate
    Other
    • Naval Radar / Sonar Tower2 Naval Radar / Sonar Tower

    Some games also: Thistle (40%) · submarine (30%)

    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 · 150 steps
    1. Wind
    2. RiptideFrigate ×2
    3. Mex
    4. Wind
    5. Death CavalryDeath Cavalry
    6. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    7. Wind
    8. RiptideFrigate
    9. Wind
    10. RiptideFrigate
    11. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 8:25 · typical 9:24
    12. RiptideFrigate
    13. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    14. Wind
    15. OppressorDestroyer
    16. HerringMissile corvette
    17. Wind
    18. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    19. Wind ×2
    20. Construction ShipCon ship
    21. Wind
    22. RiptideFrigate
    23. HerringMissile corvette
    24. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    25. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    26. Wind
    27. HerringMissile corvette
    28. RiptideFrigate
    29. Wind
    30. RiptideFrigate
    31. OppressorDestroyer
    32. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    33. Metal storage
    34. Mex
    35. Death CavalryDeath Cavalry
    36. Wind
    37. Construction ShipCon ship ×2
    38. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    39. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    40. Con turret
    41. Construction ShipCon ship
    42. Tidal ×2
    43. Wind
    44. Construction ShipCon ship
    45. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    46. Tidal
    47. Wind
    48. Construction ShipCon ship
    49. Tidal
    50. Wind
    51. Construction ShipCon ship
    52. Wind
    53. Tidal
    54. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    55. Wind
    56. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    57. Wind
    58. Tidal
    59. Wind
    60. Tidal
    61. Construction ShipCon ship
    62. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    63. Wind
    64. Naval Construction Turret
    65. Tidal
    66. Wind
    67. Naval Construction Turret
    68. Tidal ×2
    69. Wind
    70. Naval Construction Turret
    71. Amphibious ComplexAmphibious Complexdone 12:08
    72. Tidal ×2
    73. Naval Construction Turret
    74. Wind
    75. Tidal
    76. Naval Construction Turret
    77. Tidal
    78. Wind
    79. Naval Construction Turret
    80. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    81. Tidal ×2
    82. Naval Construction Turret ×2
    83. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    84. Wind
    85. Tidal
    86. Naval Construction Turret
    87. Tidal
    88. Naval Construction Turret
    89. Wind
    90. Tidal ×2
    91. SalamanderSalamander
    92. Wind
    93. Tidal ×2
    94. Wind
    95. SalamanderSalamander
    96. Amphibious ComplexEat Amphibious Complexreclaimed for its metal
    97. Seaplane PlatformSeaplane Platformdone 12:36
    98. Tidal ×2
    99. ShipyardEat Shipyardreclaimed for its metal
    100. CutlassSeaplane gunship
    101. Tidal ×2
    102. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    103. CutlassSeaplane gunship ×2
    104. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    105. Tidal ×2
    106. CutlassSeaplane gunship ×2
    107. Tidal ×2
    108. CutlassSeaplane gunship ×2
    109. Tidal
    110. Mex
    111. Tidal
    112. CutlassSeaplane gunship
    113. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    114. CutlassSeaplane gunship
    115. Tidal
    116. CutlassSeaplane gunship
    117. Tidal
    118. WatcherRadar plane
    119. Tidal
    120. WatcherRadar plane
    121. Tidal ×2
    122. Mex
    123. Tidal
    124. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    125. Dam BusterSeaplane bomber
    126. Tidal
    127. Dam BusterSeaplane bomber
    128. Tidal
    129. Dam BusterSeaplane bomber
    130. Tidal
    131. Dam BusterSeaplane bomber
    132. Tidal
    133. Dam BusterSeaplane bomber
    134. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    135. Tidal
    136. Dam BusterSeaplane bomber
    137. Tidal
    138. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    139. Dam BusterSeaplane bomber
    140. Tidal
    141. Dam BusterSeaplane bomber
    142. Tidal
    143. Advanced Geothermal PowerplantAdvanced Geothermal Powerplantnot finished by 15:00
    144. Dam BusterSeaplane bomber
    145. Tidal ×2
    146. Dam BusterSeaplane bomber
    147. Naval Radar / Sonar TowerNaval Radar / Sonar Tower
    148. WatcherRadar plane ×2
    149. Tidal ×2
    150. BatSeaplane fighter

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is SkyFireEX's (41 OS, 15/10/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

  • Wind Turbine2 Wind to Airfirst at 1:42 · in 73% of games

You get

  • Finch1 Finch from Airfirst at 1:52 · in 81% of games
  • Hercules1 Light transport from Airfirst at 1:59 · in 75% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Techfirst at 7:44 · in 90% 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

2286 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: This buildOwn metal lost: This build
1:0039800
2:0092900
3:00156100
4:002865051
5:00406814652
6:005417440231
7:006894905526
8:0085781526891
9:001043024351321
10:001255834711987
11:001509046412760
12:001807260173623
13:002132772174344
14:002486384785190
15:002876897226201
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

This is the role's own baseline, winning a bit over half its games with steady eco scaling and sea trades roughly matching losses.

  • + Team wins slightly over half of games played.
  • + Metal production scales from ~4k to ~29.5k by 15:00.
  • − Own metal lost climbs to 6875 by 15:00, matching kills closely.
  • − T2 factory only reached in 40% of games, limiting late power.
THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

SkyFireEX

41.3 OS · 15/10/2026

Open source match ↗

11 received units · includes a constructor
1188 metal received · 74479 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Bot Lab1:12Middle 50%: 1:07–1:25 · n=2259
Shipyard3:19Middle 50%: 3:02–3:37 · n=2277
Orca4:17Middle 50%: 3:52–4:59 · n=1543
Riptide4:40Middle 50%: 4:09–5:21 · n=2226
Oppressor5:55Middle 50%: 5:13–6:42 · n=2105
Geothermal Powerplant8:07Middle 50%: 7:10–9:25 · n=1542
Advanced Metal Extractor9:24Middle 50%: 8:46–10:21 · n=2003

Played most by

SHOGVN227games of this buildElpoloow178games of this buildsirniho124games of this buildOptimusprimenutt92games of this buildhihimik79games of this build
Standard geo sea · Cortex Geo sea build order · BAR Build Atlas