BAR / BUILD ATLAS
← All builds
Air / Cortex / Economy first / OBSERVED BUILD

Whirlwind bomber rush

Skips the usual transport-first routine to build Whirlwind bombers from an Aircraft Plant as early as 5 minutes, sending them to hit the enemy base and middle well before the front stabilizes, before easing back into the normal…

#rush #raid #air · 19 distinct matches · 12 players · 3% of Cortex Air games · team won 63% of 19 · Recently observed

THE CATCH, AND WHAT COMES WITH IT
  • WhirlwindT1 air bombers from 5:04 · 7% of role by thenFrom the Aircraft Plant. Only 7% of Air games have it by then; others who build it get it around 10:48
  • Aircraft PlantAircraft Plant in 47%10% of all Air games by then
  • WhirlwindWhirlwind in 47%3% of all Air games by then
  • HerculesLight transport in 42%18% of all Air games by then

Where those units first fight, in 19 games with kill data: in the middle 58%, in the enemy base 42%.

Those units destroy a typical 480 metal of enemy units by 15:00.

Then transitions into valiant (35% of army), fighter (10% of army).

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: Whirlwind bombers from 5:13

  1. Open aircraft plant immediately instead of the usual delay.
  2. Stack wind turbines heavily to fund the air push.
  3. Commit to T1 bombers led by Whirlwind far earlier than norm.
  4. Send bombers into the enemy base or contest the middle.
  5. Transition into fusion reactor and standard air composition.

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 19 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 ~1:27, middle half 1:14–1:32

    Some games also: energy storage (47%)

    By 1:09 in all: 3 mex · 4 wind

    The example game in this phase · 5 steps
    1. Mex ×3
    2. Wind ×5
    3. Energy storage
    4. Wind
    5. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantdone 1:45 · typical 1:27
  2. 2

    Aircraft Plant to T1 air bombers

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor1Mex
    • Wind Turbine7Wind
    • Wind Turbine4Wind
    Order
    1. WhirlwindT1 air bombers after 3 mex, 11 wind, 4 wind
    Builders
    • Construction Turret2 Con turret
    • Construction Aircraft1 Con aircraft
    Army
    • Valiant4 Valiant
    • Finch2 Finch for allies
    • Hercules2 Light transport for allies
    • Finch1 Finch
    • Hephaestus1 Heavy transport for allies

    Some games also: converter (42%) · shuriken (37%) · energy storage (32%)

    By 4:55 in all: 3 mex · 1 mex · 11 wind · 4 wind · 1 energy storage · 2 con turret

    The example game in this phase · 15 steps
    1. FinchFinch
    2. FinchFinch ×2for Geo sea
    3. HerculesLight transportfor Geo sea
    4. HephaestusHeavy transportfor Beach sea
    5. Wind
    6. Solar
    7. ValiantValiant
    8. Wind
    9. ValiantValiant
    10. Wind ×4
    11. FinchFinch
    12. Wind ×2
    13. ValiantValiant
    14. HerculesLight transportfor Tech
    15. WhirlwindWhirlwinddone 4:36
  3. 3

    T1 air bombers to 10:00

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine20Wind
    • Wind Turbine1Wind−4 vs standard
    • Energy Converter1Converter−6 vs standard
    Builders
    • Construction Turret1 Con turret −3 vs standard
    Army
    • Valiant5 Valiant −4 vs standard
    • Whirlwind5 Whirlwind +5 vs standard

    Some games also: con turret (47%) · light transport for allies (42%)

    By 10:00 in all: 3 mex · 1 mex · 24 wind · 14 wind (standard 20) · 6 converter (standard 8) · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 98 steps
    1. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    2. ShurikenShuriken
    3. WhirlwindWhirlwind ×3
    4. HephaestusHeavy transportfor Pond
    5. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    6. ShurikenShuriken ×3
    7. Construction AircraftCon aircraft
    8. Converter
    9. Con turret
    10. Converter ×2
    11. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 7:55 · typical 7:23
    12. Con turret
    13. Wind ×3
    14. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    15. Wind
    16. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    17. Wind ×4
    18. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    19. Wind
    20. Advanced solar ×3
    21. Con turret
    22. Advanced Aircraft PlantAdvanced Aircraft Plantdone 11:37
    23. Wind ×4
    24. Solar
    25. Wind
    26. Solar
    27. Wind
    28. NighthawkNighthawk
    29. Wind
    30. NighthawkNighthawk
    31. Wind
    32. ThistleThistle ×2
    33. NighthawkNighthawk
    34. Wind ×2
    35. ThistleThistle
    36. Wind
    37. NighthawkNighthawk
    38. Wind ×2
    39. Advanced solar
    40. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantdone 12:56
    41. Construction AircraftCon aircraft
    42. Wind
    43. Construction AircraftCon aircraft
    44. Con turret
    45. Wind
    46. Construction AircraftCon aircraft
    47. Con turret
    48. Wind
    49. Construction AircraftCon aircraft
    50. Wind
    51. NighthawkNighthawk
    52. Wind ×2
    53. Con turret
    54. Construction AircraftCon aircraft
    55. Wind
    56. NighthawkNighthawk
    57. Con turret
    58. Wind
    59. Construction AircraftCon aircraft
    60. Wind
    61. Con turret
    62. Wind
    63. Construction AircraftCon aircraft
    64. Wind
    65. NighthawkNighthawk
    66. Wind
    67. Con turret
    68. Wind
    69. Con turret
    70. Wind
    71. NighthawkNighthawk
    72. Wind ×3
    73. Con turret
    74. NighthawkNighthawk
    75. Wind
    76. Con turret
    77. Wind
    78. Con turret
    79. Wind ×2
    80. NighthawkNighthawk
    81. Wind
    82. Con turret
    83. Wind
    84. Con turret
    85. Wind
    86. Con turret
    87. Wind
    88. NighthawkNighthawk
    89. StorkLight transportfor Tech
    90. Wind
    91. Converter
    92. NighthawkNighthawk
    93. Con turret
    94. Wind ×3
    95. StorkLight transport
    96. Con turret
    97. Wind ×2
    98. Converter

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is krtf's (41 OS, 27/08/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

  • Finch2 Finch to Geo sea or Beach seafirst at 1:58 · in 95% of games
  • Hercules3 Light transport to Tech or Geo sea or Pondfirst at 2:18 · in 100% of games
  • Hephaestus1 Heavy transport to Beach sea or Techfirst at 2:33 · in 74% of games

You get

  • Wind Turbine16 Wind from Beach sea or Tech or Frontfirst at 1:28 · in 32% of games
  • Wind Turbine3 Wind from Beach sea or Geo seafirst at 1:42 · in 79% of games
  • Construction Bot1 Con bot from Tech or Frontfirst at 2:11 · in 100% of games
  • Advanced Metal Extractor1 T2 mex from Tech or Beach seafirst at 6:00 · in 42% of games
  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Techfirst at 6:20 · in 100% 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

02k4k6k
0:005:0010:0015:00

metal

19 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
1:003933930000
2:009219240000
3:00145514570000
4:0020582052005151
5:002793276507374102
6:0036803779125124182147
7:0050065128221176240219
8:0064507036279220413281
9:0083239352298250541341
10:0010965118414653141162464
11:00131741439510734391963635
12:00157621710910976052207955
13:001831619932162890724011256
14:0021897226191933139132201819
15:0025456254893836205940462748
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

Won more often than the standard build and destroyed noticeably more enemy metal by 15:00.

  • + Enemy metal destroyed more than doubles standard by 15:00.
  • + Team win rate well above the role's standard build.
  • − Own metal lost roughly doubles the standard build by 10:00.
  • − Very rare timing, only 7% of role games this fast.
THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

krtf

41.1 OS · 27/08/2026

Open source match ↗

52 received units · includes a constructor
840 metal received · 43792 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Aircraft Plant1:27Middle 50%: 1:14–1:32 · n=19
Advanced Metal Extractor7:23Middle 50%: 6:12–7:57 · n=19
Fusion Reactor11:01Middle 50%: 10:08–12:19 · n=11

Played most by

haaven4games of this buildkrtf4games of this buildMischievousDragonGF2games of this buildGeeGee1game of this buildImmort1game of this build