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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 · 4 steps
    1. Mex ×3
    2. Wind ×4
    3. Energy storage
    4. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantdone 1:31 · 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 · 29 steps
    1. Wind
    2. FinchFinch
    3. HerculesLight transport ×2for Geo sea
    4. FinchFinch ×2for Geo sea
    5. HephaestusHeavy transportfor Beach sea
    6. ValiantValiant
    7. Wind
    8. Construction AircraftCon aircraft
    9. ValiantValiant
    10. Mex
    11. Con turret
    12. ValiantValiant
    13. Wind
    14. ValiantValiant
    15. Wind
    16. Con turret
    17. ValiantValiant
    18. Con turret
    19. ValiantValiant ×2
    20. Wind ×2
    21. Wind
    22. HerculesLight transport
    23. Wind
    24. Wind
    25. HephaestusHeavy transportfor Tech
    26. Wind
    27. Wind
    28. Con turret
    29. WhirlwindWhirlwinddone 5:22
  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 · 155 steps
    1. Wind
    2. Wind
    3. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    4. Wind
    5. Wind
    6. Wind ×5
    7. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    8. Wind
    9. WhirlwindWhirlwind ×3
    10. Wind
    11. WhirlwindWhirlwind ×2
    12. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 7:15 · typical 7:23
    13. Wind
    14. WhirlwindWhirlwind ×2
    15. FinchFinch
    16. Wind
    17. FinchFinch ×2
    18. Wind ×3
    19. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    20. Wind ×5
    21. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    22. Wind ×2
    23. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantdone 9:35
    24. Wind
    25. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    26. Wind ×3
    27. Converter
    28. Wind
    29. Converter ×2
    30. Wind
    31. Converter ×2
    32. Wind
    33. Converter
    34. Wind
    35. Con turret
    36. Wind
    37. Con turret ×2
    38. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantnot finished by 15:00
    39. ValiantValiant ×6
    40. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantdone 9:58
    41. ValiantValiant
    42. Con turret
    43. FalconFighter
    44. ValiantValiant
    45. Construction AircraftCon aircraft
    46. ValiantValiant
    47. Construction AircraftCon aircraft
    48. ValiantValiant
    49. Wind
    50. FalconFighter
    51. ValiantValiant
    52. Wind
    53. Con turret
    54. Wind
    55. ValiantValiant
    56. FalconFighter
    57. Wind
    58. Con turret
    59. ValiantValiant
    60. FalconFighter
    61. Wind ×2
    62. ValiantValiant
    63. FalconFighter
    64. Wind ×2
    65. ValiantValiant
    66. Wind ×2
    67. ValiantValiant
    68. FalconFighter
    69. ValiantValiant
    70. Wind
    71. Fusion ReactorFusiondone 12:44 · typical 11:01
    72. Wind
    73. ValiantValiant
    74. Wind
    75. ValiantValiant
    76. Wind
    77. ValiantValiant
    78. Converter
    79. Wind ×2
    80. ValiantValiant
    81. Wind
    82. Converter
    83. ValiantValiant
    84. Wind
    85. Converter
    86. ValiantValiant
    87. Wind
    88. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    89. Converter
    90. Wind
    91. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    92. Converter
    93. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    94. Wind
    95. Converter
    96. Wind
    97. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    98. Wind
    99. Converter
    100. Wind
    101. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    102. Wind
    103. Converter
    104. Wind ×2
    105. DolphinDolphin
    106. Wind
    107. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    108. Wind ×2
    109. Converter
    110. Wind ×2
    111. Dragon's ClawDragon's Claw
    112. Wind
    113. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    114. Converter
    115. Wind
    116. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    117. CauteriserCauteriser
    118. Wind ×3
    119. Converter
    120. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    121. Wind
    122. SkaterSkater
    123. Converter
    124. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    125. Wind ×2
    126. Converter
    127. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    128. Wind
    129. Converter
    130. Converter
    131. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    132. Con turret
    133. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    134. Converter
    135. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    136. Converter
    137. DolphinDolphin
    138. Wind
    139. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    140. Converter
    141. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    142. Wind
    143. Converter
    144. Con turret
    145. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    146. Wind
    147. WhirlwindWhirlwind ×2
    148. Wind
    149. FinchFinch
    150. HarpoonHarpoon
    151. FinchFinch ×4
    152. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    153. ValiantValiant ×6
    154. Con turret
    155. ValiantValiant ×7

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

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

  • Finch2 Finch to Geo sea or Beach seafirst at 1:58 · 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

TrollHardGoPro

37.2 OS · 23/09/2026

Open source match ↗

121 received units · includes a constructor
972 metal received · 46070 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

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