Rooftrellen
King
I'm a little vexed by how great this 'trick' is. Surely if going for tradition you should fill it out ASAP (taking the monuments) or 3 monuments one amphitheater. The real prize is the free aquaducts so delaying them for free Wats it a shot in the foot right?
I haven't done this with legalism, but I'd imagine that if you want to stick to just 4 cities, you'd be better off taking legalism early.
If you go wide, however, tradition can still certainly be worth taking (the opener is actually awesome with the liberty opener), and you won't likely really want the tradition finisher, and those bonuses for the capital aren't as good either.
In that case, getting free universities in 4 cities would likely be more than worth it, and putting it off doesn't really make much of a difference since you won't be finishing the tree anyway.
That being said, it seems that people are suggesting a 4 city opening and getting wats in all your cities with legalism, and, as I said, if that is the case, I think I'd agree with you, it would be more worth it just to finish Tradition instead of putting policies into honor (when you are going for science?) or liberty (when you have only 4 cities?)