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Air / Cortex / Economy first / OBSERVED BUILD

Whirlwind bomber rush

Cortex Air build order · Supreme Isthmus

After the usual economy start, the player commits early (by 5:07) to T1 Whirlwind bombers that push forward and fight in the enemy base well before the role's norm, a clear forward plan rather than a reaction.

Usually transports first (65%)

#air #rush #raid · 75 distinct matches · 33 players · 3% of Cortex Air games · team won 56% of 75 · Recently observed

THE CATCH, AND WHAT COMES WITH IT
  • WhirlwindT1 air bombers from 5:04 · 6% of role by thenFrom the Aircraft Plant. Only 6% of Air games have it by then; others who build it get it around 11:03
  • WhirlwindWhirlwind in 41%3% of all Air games by then

Where those units first fight, in 73 games with kill data: in the middle 49%, in the enemy base 49%.

Those units destroy a typical 1,090 metal of enemy units by 15:00.

Then transitions into valiant (48% of army).

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: Aircraft Plant by 1:28

  1. Build Aircraft Plant immediately instead of the usual later timing.
  2. Commit to Whirlwind bombers well before the role norm of 10:48.
  3. Send Whirlwinds forward to fight in middle and enemy base.
  4. Reclaim the Aircraft Plant once the rush has paid off.
  5. Build Fusion Reactor to transition back into team support.

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 75 GAMES · AGAINST STANDARD AIR
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
PLAY THE OPENING

Follow the example game's first 6:05 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 Aircraft Plant

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor3Mex
    • Wind Turbine4Wind
    Order
    1. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plant after 3 mex, 4 winddone ~1:15, middle half 1:06–1:29

    By 0:57 in all: 3 mex · 4 wind

    The example game in this phase · 3 steps
    1. Mex ×3
    2. Wind ×8
    3. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantdone 1:37 · typical 1:15
  2. 2

    Aircraft Plant to T1 air bombers

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor1Mex
    • Wind Turbine9Wind
    • Wind Turbine2Wind
    • Energy Storage1Energy storage
    Order
    1. WhirlwindT1 air bombers after 3 mex, 13 wind, 2 con turret
    Builders
    • Construction Turret2 Con turret
    • Construction Aircraft1 Con aircraft
    Army
    • Valiant4 Valiant −2 vs standard
    • Finch2 Finch for allies
    • Hercules2 Light transport for allies
    • Finch1 Finch

    Some games also: converter (47%) · heavy transport for allies (45%) · light transport (40%) · shuriken (36%) · mex (36%)

    By 5:04 in all: 3 mex · 1 mex · 13 wind · 2 wind · 1 energy storage · 2 con turret

    The example game in this phase · 24 steps
    1. HerculesLight transport ×2for Geo sea
    2. FinchFinch ×2for Geo sea
    3. HerculesLight transport ×2for Pond
    4. ValiantValiant ×3
    5. Mex
    6. ValiantValiant ×2
    7. HerculesLight transportfor Tech
    8. ValiantValiant ×3
    9. Wind ×2
    10. ValiantValiant
    11. Wind ×5
    12. ValiantValiant
    13. Wind ×3
    14. Con turret
    15. ValiantValiant
    16. Con turret
    17. ValiantValiant ×2
    18. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 6:45 · typical 6:54
    19. ValiantValiant ×3
    20. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex ×2
    21. Wind ×2
    22. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    23. Wind ×3
    24. WhirlwindWhirlwinddone 8:40
  3. 3

    T1 air bombers to 10:00

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine14Wind−7 vs standard
    • Wind Turbine5Wind
    • Energy Converter3Converter−3 vs standard
    Order
    1. Aircraft PlantEat Aircraft Plant
    Builders
    • Construction Turret1 Con turret −2 vs standard
    Army
    • Valiant8 Valiant
    • Whirlwind5 Whirlwind +5 vs standard

    Some games also: light transport for allies (37%) · Aircraft Plant (37%) · finch (36%) · con turret (32%)

    By 10:00 in all: 3 mex · 1 mex · 28 wind (standard 20) · 24 wind · 8 converter · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 81 steps
    1. Wind
    2. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    3. Wind
    4. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    5. Wind
    6. WhirlwindWhirlwind ×5
    7. Fusion ReactorFusiondone 11:22 · typical 11:14
    8. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    9. Construction AircraftCon aircraft
    10. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    11. Con turret
    12. WhirlwindWhirlwind ×2
    13. Con turret ×2
    14. T2 converter
    15. WhirlwindWhirlwind ×9
    16. ValiantValiant ×2
    17. Wind
    18. ValiantValiant
    19. Wind
    20. ValiantValiant
    21. Wind
    22. ValiantValiant
    23. Wind
    24. ValiantValiant
    25. Wind
    26. ValiantValiant
    27. Wind
    28. ValiantValiant
    29. Wind
    30. ValiantValiant
    31. Con turret
    32. ValiantValiant
    33. Wind
    34. ValiantValiant
    35. Con turret
    36. ValiantValiant
    37. Con turret
    38. ValiantValiant
    39. FinchFinch
    40. Con turret
    41. FinchFinch
    42. ValiantValiant
    43. Con turret
    44. Wind
    45. Con turret
    46. ValiantValiant ×4
    47. Wind
    48. ValiantValiant ×4
    49. Wind
    50. ValiantValiant ×3
    51. Wind
    52. ValiantValiant
    53. Con turret
    54. ValiantValiant
    55. Wind
    56. Con turret
    57. ValiantValiant
    58. Con turret
    59. ValiantValiant
    60. Con turret
    61. ValiantValiant
    62. Con turret ×2
    63. ValiantValiant
    64. Con turret
    65. Wind
    66. Con turret
    67. ValiantValiant
    68. Con turret
    69. ValiantValiant ×2
    70. Con turret
    71. ValiantValiant
    72. Con turret
    73. Wind
    74. Con turret
    75. ValiantValiant
    76. Con turret
    77. ValiantValiant ×2
    78. Wind
    79. ValiantValiant
    80. Wind
    81. ValiantValiant

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is DouglasBacon's (31 OS, 05/09/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

  • Finch2 Finch to Geo sea or Beach seafirst at 1:45 · in 89% of games
  • Hercules3 Light transport to Tech or Geo sea or Geofirst at 2:13 · in 97% of games
  • Hephaestus1 Heavy transport to Beach sea or Techfirst at 2:17 · in 53% of games

You get

  • Wind Turbine2 Wind from Beach sea or Tech or Geo seafirst at 1:34 · in 40% of games
  • Wind Turbine3 Wind from Beach sea or Geo seafirst at 1:41 · in 63% of games
  • Construction Bot1 Con bot from Techfirst at 2:17 · in 88% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Techfirst at 6:00 · in 93% of games

How it plays out

Typical game of this build against the role’s standard build, running totals by minute

  • This build
  • Standard air

Metal produced

010k20k30k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Enemy metal destroyed

02k4k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

Own metal lost

02k4k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

75 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildMetal produced: Standard airEnemy metal destroyed: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: Standard airOwn metal lost: This buildOwn metal lost: Standard air
1:003893920000
2:009199230000
3:00144714560000
4:0020412052005151
5:00275927630517473
6:0037093709125102183124
7:0050965089190146257167
8:0067806903254190398219
9:0089119285336231541271
10:001148311765554292746380
11:0013907143738663671284535
12:00160721707412675121972780
13:001887519864170877523631095
14:0022225227101994126229141682
15:0025456257393100181135802415
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

Won more often than the standard build despite destroying less enemy metal early and losing more by 10:00.

  • + Destroys more enemy metal than standard by 15:00 (2779 vs 2089).
  • + Won more often than the Air role's standard build.
  • − Destroys nothing by 5:00, well behind standard's 73.
  • − Own losses by 10:00 nearly double the standard build's.
THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

DouglasBacon

31.0 OS · 05/09/2026

Open source match ↗

5 received units · includes a constructor
249 metal received · 9696 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Aircraft Plant1:15Middle 50%: 1:06–1:29 · n=75
Advanced Metal Extractor6:54Middle 50%: 6:27–7:46 · n=70
Fusion Reactor11:14Middle 50%: 10:14–12:32 · n=45

Played most by

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