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Geo / Cortex / Economy first / OBSERVED BUILD

Whirlwind rush

Geo pivots into an Aircraft Plant for Whirlwind bombers around 7 minutes, striking into the enemy base instead of the usual bot/vehicle push to front.

Usually blows up the commander for T2 (72%)

#air #rush #raid · 18 distinct matches · 15 players · 5% of Cortex Geo games · team won 56% of 18 · Recently observed

THE CATCH, AND WHAT COMES WITH IT
  • WhirlwindT1 air bombers from 7:06 · 8% of role by thenFrom the Aircraft Plant. Only 8% of Geo games have it by then; others who build it get it around 7:20
  • Aircraft PlantAircraft Plant in 100%17% of all Geo games by then
  • ValiantValiant in 72%11% of all Geo games by then
  • FinchFinch in 67%8% of all Geo games by then
  • ValiantValiant in 50%6% of all Geo games by then

Where those units first fight, in 18 games with kill data: in the middle 56%, in the enemy base 44%.

Those units destroy a typical 1,980 metal of enemy units by 15:00.

Then transitions into Sheldon (12% of army), valiant (8% of army).

HOW TO PLAY IT

Key timing: Aircraft Plant by 7:01

  1. Open standard Geo eco with Bot Lab and geothermal into T2 con.
  2. Get geothermal running to fund the air switch coming up.
  3. Build Aircraft Plant right after advanced geothermal finishes.
  4. Send Whirlwind bombers straight into the enemy base.
  5. Add Valiant fighters and Finch scouts to round out the air force.

Phase by phase

TYPICAL OF ITS 18 GAMES · AGAINST STANDARD GEO
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
PLAY THE OPENING

Follow the example game's first 8:06 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 Extractor2Mex
    • Wind Turbine4Wind+2 vs standard
    Order
    1. Bot LabBot Lab after 2 mex, 4 winddone ~1:06, middle half 0:53–1:18

    By 0:50 in all: 2 mex · 4 wind (standard 2)

    The example game in this phase · 7 steps
    1. Mex ×2
    2. Wind
    3. GuardGuard
    4. Mex
    5. Wind ×4
    6. Energy storage
    7. Bot LabBot Labdone 1:55 · typical 1:06
  2. 2

    Bot Lab to 5:00

    Economy
    • Metal Extractor2Mex
    • Wind Turbine5Wind
    • Energy Converter7Converter
    • Energy Storage1Energy storage
    Order
    1. Geothermal PowerplantGeo after 4 mex, 5 wind
    Builders
    • Construction Turret6 Con turret
    • Graverobber4 Graverobber
    • Construction Bot2 Con bot
    • Construction Bot1 Con bot for allies
    • Graverobber1 Graverobber for allies

    By 5:00 in all: 4 mex · 8 wind · 1 geo · 7 converter · 1 energy storage · 6 con turret

    The example game in this phase · 26 steps
    1. Construction BotCon botfor Beach sea
    2. Construction BotCon bot ×2
    3. GraverobberGraverobber ×2
    4. Geothermal PowerplantGeodone 3:25 · typical 3:08
    5. Mex
    6. GraverobberGraverobber
    7. GraverobberGraverobberfor Beach sea
    8. GraverobberGraverobber
    9. Con turret
    10. Converter
    11. Con turret ×3
    12. Converter ×3
    13. Wind
    14. Con turretfor Suicide front
    15. Converter ×2
    16. Wind ×2
    17. Converter
    18. Con turretfor Suicide front
    19. Converter
    20. Wind
    21. Converter ×2
    22. Wind
    23. Con turretfor Suicide front
    24. Converter
    25. Wind
    26. Converter
  3. 3

    5:00 to T1 air bombers

    Economy
    • Wind Turbine6Wind+5 vs standard
    Order
    1. Advanced Geothermal PowerplantAdvanced Geothermal Powerplant after 14 wind, 9 converter, 6 con turretin 61% of games
    2. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plant after 16 wind, 9 converter, 7 con turretin 78% of games
    3. WhirlwindT1 air bombers after 14 wind, 9 converter, 7 con turret
    Builders
    • Construction Turret1 Con turret

    Some games also: converter (44%)

    The standard build makes here, this one skips: 3 converter

    By 7:03 in all: 4 mex · 14 wind · 1 geo · 1 Advanced Geothermal Powerplant · 9 converter (standard 12) · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 27 steps
    1. Converter ×3
    2. Radar TowerRadar Tower
    3. Converter ×3
    4. GuardGuard ×2
    5. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mexdone 5:57 · typical 5:30
    6. GuardGuard
    7. Wind
    8. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    9. GuardGuard
    10. Wind ×4
    11. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    12. Wind
    13. Con turret
    14. Wind ×7
    15. Advanced Metal ExtractorT2 mex
    16. Wind
    17. Con turret
    18. Advanced Geothermal PowerplantAdvanced Geothermal Powerplantdone 7:49 · typical 6:57
    19. Con turret ×2
    20. Wind
    21. RattlesnakeRattlesnakefor Suicide frontdone 8:31
    22. Con turret
    23. Wind
    24. Con turret
    25. Wind
    26. Aircraft PlantAircraft Plantdone 7:55 · typical 6:59
    27. WhirlwindWhirlwinddone 8:00
  4. 4

    T1 air bombers to Advanced Bot Lab

    Order
    1. Advanced Bot LabAdvanced Bot Lab after 15 wind, 10 converter, 9 con turretdone ~9:55, middle half 9:09–10:15
    Army
    • Whirlwind14 Whirlwind +14 vs standard
    • Valiant11 Valiant +11 vs standard

    Some games also: finch (50%) · con turret (39%) · wind (39%)

    The standard build makes here, this one skips: 3 converter

    By 9:30 in all: 4 mex · 17 wind · 1 geo · 1 Advanced Geothermal Powerplant · 10 converter (standard 17) · 1 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 83 steps
    1. Wind
    2. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    3. Wind ×2
    4. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    5. Wind
    6. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    7. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    8. Wind
    9. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    10. Wind
    11. WhirlwindWhirlwind ×2
    12. Wind
    13. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    14. Wind ×2
    15. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    16. ArbalestArbalestfor Suicide front
    17. Wind
    18. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    19. Wind
    20. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    21. Wind ×2
    22. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    23. Wind ×2
    24. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    25. Wind ×2
    26. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    27. Advanced Radar TowerAdvanced Radar Towerfor Suicide front
    28. Wind
    29. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    30. Wind ×2
    31. WhirlwindWhirlwind
    32. Wind
    33. ValiantValiant ×2
    34. Wind ×2
    35. ValiantValiant
    36. Wind ×2
    37. ValiantValiant
    38. Wind
    39. ValiantValiant
    40. Wind ×2
    41. ValiantValiant ×2
    42. Wind ×2
    43. ValiantValiant
    44. Wind ×3
    45. ValiantValiant
    46. Wind
    47. ValiantValiant
    48. Wind ×2
    49. ValiantValiant
    50. Wind ×2
    51. ValiantValiant
    52. Wind
    53. ValiantValiant
    54. Wind
    55. ValiantValiant
    56. Wind ×2
    57. ValiantValiant
    58. Wind
    59. ValiantValiant
    60. Wind ×2
    61. ValiantValiant ×2
    62. Wind
    63. ValiantValiant
    64. Wind
    65. ValiantValiant
    66. Wind ×2
    67. ValiantValiant ×2
    68. Wind
    69. Construction AircraftCon aircraft
    70. Wind ×2
    71. Vehicle PlantVehicle Plantdone 10:26
    72. Wind ×6
    73. Construction VehicleCon vehiclefor Pond
    74. Wind
    75. Construction VehicleCon vehiclefor Pond
    76. Wind
    77. Construction VehicleCon vehiclefor Pond
    78. Wind
    79. Construction VehicleCon vehiclefor Pond
    80. Wind ×2
    81. Construction VehicleCon vehiclefor Pond
    82. Wind ×9
    83. Advanced Bot LabAdvanced Bot Labdone 11:46 · typical 9:55
  5. 5

    Advanced Bot Lab to 15:00

    Some games also: con turret (50%) · Radar Tower (50%) · wind (44%) · converter (39%) · Sheldon (33%)

    By 15:00 in all: 4 mex · 28 wind · 1 geo · 1 Advanced Geothermal Powerplant · 15 converter (standard 20) · 2 energy storage

    The example game in this phase · 51 steps
    1. Wind ×4
    2. JunoJuno
    3. SkuttleCrawling bombdone 12:20
    4. Wind ×2
    5. Con turret ×3
    6. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    7. Con turret
    8. SAMSAM
    9. SkuttleCrawling bomb ×2
    10. Wind
    11. SAMSAM
    12. Wind
    13. SkuttleCrawling bomb
    14. Wind ×2
    15. SAMSAM
    16. SkuttleCrawling bomb
    17. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    18. ManticoreManticoredone 13:18
    19. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    20. ManticoreManticore
    21. Wind
    22. Converter
    23. ManticoreManticore
    24. Converter
    25. Twin GuardTwin Guard
    26. Wind
    27. Converter
    28. ManticoreManticore
    29. Converter
    30. Wind
    31. ManticoreManticore
    32. Converter ×2
    33. Wind
    34. Converter ×5
    35. Wind
    36. Converter
    37. Dragon's MawDragon's Maw
    38. Converter ×2
    39. FiendFiend
    40. Wind
    41. FiendFiend
    42. Converter
    43. FiendFiend
    44. Wind
    45. FiendFiend
    46. Wind
    47. FiendFiend
    48. Wind
    49. FiendFiend ×2
    50. Wind
    51. FiendFiend ×2

Counts are medians over the build's games: half of them build more, half fewer. The example game is Viltrum's (42 OS, 04/09/2026); pick another.

Team trades

IN AT LEAST 30% OF ITS GAMES

You hand over

  • Graverobber1 Graverobber to Beach sea or Suicide frontfirst at 2:11 · in 78% of games
  • Construction Bot1 Con bot to Beach sea or Suicide frontfirst at 2:39 · in 89% of games

You get

  • Advanced Construction Bot1 T2 con bot from Techfirst at 4:52 · in 94% of games
  • Valiant12–13 Valiant from Air or Suicide frontfirst at 8:31 · in 33% of games

How it plays out

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

  • This build
  • Standard geo

Metal produced

020k40k
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

18 games.

Show as table
ByMetal produced: This buildMetal produced: Standard geoEnemy metal destroyed: This buildEnemy metal destroyed: Standard geoOwn metal lost: This buildOwn metal lost: Standard geo
1:003313350000
2:008038590000
3:00153014970000
4:00273426620000
5:00366637560000
6:00569956740000
7:00799779860000
8:0010583110340000
9:0013209140806603113874
10:00165771692218963341963258
11:001937719769266212552711720
12:0022010226483472249936181538
13:0025097255125132431638102629
14:0027817284976116600351724360
15:0030091317478637826460996299
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY

Won more often than the standard build while dealing much more damage from 10:00 onward for similar losses.

  • + Enemy metal destroyed far above standard by 10:00 (1896 vs 406) and 15:00 (9707 vs 7969).
  • + Team win rate above the standard build's 45%.
  • − Own metal lost climbs above standard by 10:00 (1963 vs 260).
  • − Aircraft Plant this early is a big deviation Geo rarely attempts (17% by then).
THE EXAMPLE YOU ARE READING

Viltrum

41.5 OS · 04/09/2026

Open source match ↗

22 received units · includes a constructor
5754 metal received · 53833 energy received

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

Typical milestones

Bot Lab1:06Middle 50%: 0:53–1:18 · n=18
Geothermal Powerplant3:08Middle 50%: 3:01–3:29 · n=18
Advanced Metal Extractor5:30Middle 50%: 5:23–6:02 · n=17
Advanced Geothermal Powerplant6:57Middle 50%: 6:51–7:45 · n=13
Aircraft Plant6:59Middle 50%: 6:42–7:15 · n=18
Advanced Bot Lab9:55Middle 50%: 9:09–10:15 · n=11

Played most by

zeus_on_god3games of this buildImmort2games of this build[GerBoyz]Stinkfisch1game of this buildDukeofStars1game of this buildGieds1game of this build