Alright, the next patch is lagging and on the boards there's some talking about Tradition and even a 3.5 years old Arabia guide is being necroed so this game of mine might be worth sharing 
No other mods, no ruins/events, standard map/size/speed
Game Settings:
Starting Location:
The typical hammer starved start. It's going to be gold heavy through, hence it is still possible to compete for the early wonders if I save enough money for an investment. I always hover over the border tiles before moving my initial units, that lets me spot some fresh water tiles and realize the fog of war is hiding an oasis or a lake. Moving is an option today, but due to the river placement it's going to cost at least two turns to find a fresh water spot next to the hills. The nearby terrain is nothing special, no lucky natural wonder or luxury resource clusters, hence I settle in place.
First turns:
Build order is monument into Stonehenge, researching Wheel first and then Animal Husbandry/Trapping (hoping to spawn some nearby horse or deer for hammers, but I get none), then Pottery.
Having many 3
tiles means I reach 4
before selecting my first policy without even trying; I then open Tradition, grow to 6, work the incense and wine until I bank enough money for the wonder investment, then switch to forests and unemployed citizens worth 1 whole hammer. I squeeze a t29 SH and the hardest part of the game is being dealt with 
Having to use all my money on the SH leaves me with no option to rush buy a couple units to deal with barbarians. I knew this right from the start hence why I gambled on trapping/animal husbandry and didn't tech earlier for pottery: no way I can send unescorted settlers around. If I had a better starting location rush buying slingers (and later workers) offers a better gold to hammer ratio, but today I better delay settlers until after I hard build at least a slinger, barbs are no joke nowadays.
Pantheon and expansion rationale:
I sort of gave up on Goddess of Beauty, it helps snowballing but the power of early engineers has been nerfed badly so it can't help much with a t2 Ancient Era wonder anymore. It grants a lot of faith later on, but no early yields. Tutelary gods or Ancestor Worship are better picks if you deal with their poor faith output by selecting Sovereignty as second policy, but the terrain here was screaming Spirit of the Desert, as long as I settle the land in between me and Morocco and ignore the El Dorado north. Easy decision, as I don't want to settle near Gengis, while Ahmad is a nicer neighbour. There're at least two camps in between me and the Grand Mesa but I am greedy and go for the easternmost expo site first to deny Morocco most of the desert.
I take Justice as second policy over Sovereignty, in order to make up for the lack of hammers; there's a difference of 7
vs 3
3
in capital if you work the engineer over the artist, and in this situation more hammers means faster settlers (with 1 bonus in the expos to boot) that are going to work bonus unimproved desert resources and that natural wonder in order to make up with the faith and culture lag, while at the same time building critical infrastructure quicker. Everything considered the artist first (and earlier GWA) means getting to the 4th policy quicker but this build order is a lot safer.
The cradle of civilization:
Thankfully the barbs are an issue for Ahmad as well (there was a camp right over that Amber that was also a CS quest) and I can settle the prime desert estates. Tech path: Trade-Calendar-Mining. Capital went for slinger-settler-(bought slinger)-settler-(bought worker 2 turns before finishing Calendar, so I can move over the river and start with incense plantations)-Caravan. Expansions will do Bazaar first (very good return of hammers thanks to both faith and science, lets me delay shrines) then well (if applicable), monument and shrine.
Early international routes are key with Arabia, because if the city has a bazaar they trigger an historic event upon completion. I'm going to ignore the early TR CS quests (in fact, a few turns later I'll even tribute Samarkand because Valletta asks me so, and a militaristic is a better ally for Tradition play) and send my early TRs to William and Ahmad, gaining some diplomacy point as well. The early TRs are so good that I am tempted to enter classical through sailing but it's on a really bad path wonder-wise and judging by the timing of other ancient era wonders in this game I might have a chance at Hali or Hanging Gardens (those two go really early or really late in my experience).
T66 Classical Era:
There's never much competition for Petra, except when a peaceful AI capital starts on the desert but in between me and Morocco (I can scout Rabat and see it's not building Petra) we have most spot chances covered and I feel safe in this game, hence I don't bother investing into it. Workers and Investments in the expansions are a better return for my money. Mecca is going to complete Petra on t69, then will make a bazaar and see if there's a chance at snagging some other wonder. Construction->Mathematics. Early GE spawned thanks to era advanced historic event free GPs, but it's very weak (69 hammers where pre-patches it used to be worth 220 in a 6 pop city...) so its best use is a manufactory that I'll place over that desert wheat so that it benefits from spirit of the desert: standard tiles are competing with GP slots so I can only work the best of the best ones (luxuries, gpti, oasis and maybe switch to some mines later on).
Between TRs, militaristic ally (providing a nice UU) and ceremony (expos start work on cheap councils/lodges/herbalists) my tech pace is starting to catch up: Bronze Working (hoping to spot some iron in the nearby desert, but no luck, this desert is really...flat)-Military Strategy once I connect horses so that Valletta can start gift me Companion Cavalry-Fishing-Sailing-Writing->onward to Philosophy. Neither Roman Forum nor Hanging Gardens have been taken by anybody pre-70, hence I feel safe to go for the latter.
T90 Religion
I befriended Ahmad so he doesn't mind too much if I steal all his good desert tiles. Actually, I don't care if he does because I plan to attack him once I have a tech lead, we share a wide border and I can't be 100% safe in late game with two fronts open. In the north, William stole some settling spots to Genghis and the two are at each other throat right now.
Unsurprisingly Parthenon has been taken (AI really loves it) but that usually means an AI techs Drama before Philosophy: I do the other way around for Philo->Drama->Education and take the Oracle on my way there. I'm at 8
from my UA, nothing to write about yet but it makes up for 20% of my output and it speeds up GPPs, I'll have the second engineer ready for an early medieval wonder.
Religion: Genghis founded first few turns ago with Hero Worship and Orders, I'm second and everything is still on the table.
Snowballing is the name of the game so I prefer to go for yields now rather than planning for the (very) long term. Hence I'm a big fan of Veneration belief as my first follower: it provides flat yields so it's perfect for low population cities and unlike buildings doesn't require faith investment. Mastery at 1
plus 1 of whatever specialist you're working is crap, I am working 2-3 specialists right now (can't fill all the available slots if I want to grow my capital, so once a GP is spawned I rotate and work the other specialist slots in order to spawn the next in line and play with my UA) and the expos are a long way until they'll be able to work any. Scaling follower beliefs or cooperation don't work well with low grow rate in my desert expos, and I don't plan to send food TRs to my capital any time soon either. The bonus /
upon spending is especially nice after your first missionary, when I'll focus all the faith buy in the expansions to improve border growth. Creativity would have been an ok fallback plan, especially with early bazaars.
Founder wise, Ceremonial Burial is my pick due to good synergy with Arabia UA and crazy scaling yields should I manage to spread effectively.
Divine Inheritance lost a some appeal with the tradition rework but even before that I couldn't help feeling it was too backloaded: by the time I found my first GA already triggered (usually due to some CS quest I happen to complete on the way there) and the second one is going to happen in the midgame. Good only if you don't plan to spread. Transcendent Thoughts have been killed badly with low scaling yields and a cap, it's hard for me to enter Medieval with more than 3-5 cities converted and the game is decided by Industrial so only Renaissance trigger matters... I feel the belief should be reworked. Council of Elders simply doesn't scale, it feels good for maybe the first 4 missionaries then the yields are nothing to write about. Way of the Noble Truth offers tourism at a stage tourism doesn't matter, it rewards a come back mechanic that I never had a chance to test. Apostolic could work, I could work specialists only and let the capital grow thanks to active spread, otoh the scaler rewards a wider play, much alike Holy Law and Theocratic Rule, both adequate but not this time.
T99 Medieval
Medieval through Education, with plenty of leftover beakers thanks to Oracle. Also enough culture to complete Tradition. I spawned a Great Artist but was going to consume it in this era to get double culture yields from Splendor policy. Instead, I'll wait a bit more and grab Sankore as well.
I have just enough units to keep the fog of war safe for my caravans, but my gpt is quite high so can always rush buy something on demand. Outdated spears are being gifted to Valletta. William is settling the (quite awful) land in between me and him and I don't mind at all, it offers me some good trade routes. The barbarians that keep spawning and the fact that by now that leftover land is in colonization range for the Netherlands though make me willing to settle the leftover land around Mecca, so it's time the expansions pay for themselves and spawn a couple settlers now that the food loss will be easy to make up for. I'll then work on Barracks-Forges-Arenas to improve local production, given that I have not enough city states in my pocket to justify chanceries yet.
No other mods, no ruins/events, standard map/size/speed
Game Settings:
Spoiler :
Starting Location:
Spoiler :
The typical hammer starved start. It's going to be gold heavy through, hence it is still possible to compete for the early wonders if I save enough money for an investment. I always hover over the border tiles before moving my initial units, that lets me spot some fresh water tiles and realize the fog of war is hiding an oasis or a lake. Moving is an option today, but due to the river placement it's going to cost at least two turns to find a fresh water spot next to the hills. The nearby terrain is nothing special, no lucky natural wonder or luxury resource clusters, hence I settle in place.
First turns:
Spoiler :
Build order is monument into Stonehenge, researching Wheel first and then Animal Husbandry/Trapping (hoping to spawn some nearby horse or deer for hammers, but I get none), then Pottery.
Having many 3
tiles means I reach 4 before selecting my first policy without even trying; I then open Tradition, grow to 6, work the incense and wine until I bank enough money for the wonder investment, then switch to forests and unemployed citizens worth 1 whole hammer. I squeeze a t29 SH and the hardest part of the game is being dealt with Having to use all my money on the SH leaves me with no option to rush buy a couple units to deal with barbarians. I knew this right from the start hence why I gambled on trapping/animal husbandry and didn't tech earlier for pottery: no way I can send unescorted settlers around. If I had a better starting location rush buying slingers (and later workers) offers a better gold to hammer ratio, but today I better delay settlers until after I hard build at least a slinger, barbs are no joke nowadays.
Pantheon and expansion rationale:
Spoiler :
I sort of gave up on Goddess of Beauty, it helps snowballing but the power of early engineers has been nerfed badly so it can't help much with a t2 Ancient Era wonder anymore. It grants a lot of faith later on, but no early yields. Tutelary gods or Ancestor Worship are better picks if you deal with their poor faith output by selecting Sovereignty as second policy, but the terrain here was screaming Spirit of the Desert, as long as I settle the land in between me and Morocco and ignore the El Dorado north. Easy decision, as I don't want to settle near Gengis, while Ahmad is a nicer neighbour. There're at least two camps in between me and the Grand Mesa but I am greedy and go for the easternmost expo site first to deny Morocco most of the desert.
I take Justice as second policy over Sovereignty, in order to make up for the lack of hammers; there's a difference of 7
vs 33 in capital if you work the engineer over the artist, and in this situation more hammers means faster settlers (with 1 bonus in the expos to boot) that are going to work bonus unimproved desert resources and that natural wonder in order to make up with the faith and culture lag, while at the same time building critical infrastructure quicker. Everything considered the artist first (and earlier GWA) means getting to the 4th policy quicker but this build order is a lot safer.The cradle of civilization:
Spoiler :
Thankfully the barbs are an issue for Ahmad as well (there was a camp right over that Amber that was also a CS quest) and I can settle the prime desert estates. Tech path: Trade-Calendar-Mining. Capital went for slinger-settler-(bought slinger)-settler-(bought worker 2 turns before finishing Calendar, so I can move over the river and start with incense plantations)-Caravan. Expansions will do Bazaar first (very good return of hammers thanks to both faith and science, lets me delay shrines) then well (if applicable), monument and shrine.
Early international routes are key with Arabia, because if the city has a bazaar they trigger an historic event upon completion. I'm going to ignore the early TR CS quests (in fact, a few turns later I'll even tribute Samarkand because Valletta asks me so, and a militaristic is a better ally for Tradition play) and send my early TRs to William and Ahmad, gaining some diplomacy point as well. The early TRs are so good that I am tempted to enter classical through sailing but it's on a really bad path wonder-wise and judging by the timing of other ancient era wonders in this game I might have a chance at Hali or Hanging Gardens (those two go really early or really late in my experience).
T66 Classical Era:
Spoiler :
There's never much competition for Petra, except when a peaceful AI capital starts on the desert but in between me and Morocco (I can scout Rabat and see it's not building Petra) we have most spot chances covered and I feel safe in this game, hence I don't bother investing into it. Workers and Investments in the expansions are a better return for my money. Mecca is going to complete Petra on t69, then will make a bazaar and see if there's a chance at snagging some other wonder. Construction->Mathematics. Early GE spawned thanks to era advanced historic event free GPs, but it's very weak (69 hammers where pre-patches it used to be worth 220 in a 6 pop city...) so its best use is a manufactory that I'll place over that desert wheat so that it benefits from spirit of the desert: standard tiles are competing with GP slots so I can only work the best of the best ones (luxuries, gpti, oasis and maybe switch to some mines later on).
Spoiler :
Between TRs, militaristic ally (providing a nice UU) and ceremony (expos start work on cheap councils/lodges/herbalists) my tech pace is starting to catch up: Bronze Working (hoping to spot some iron in the nearby desert, but no luck, this desert is really...flat)-Military Strategy once I connect horses so that Valletta can start gift me Companion Cavalry-Fishing-Sailing-Writing->onward to Philosophy. Neither Roman Forum nor Hanging Gardens have been taken by anybody pre-70, hence I feel safe to go for the latter.
T90 Religion
Spoiler :
I befriended Ahmad so he doesn't mind too much if I steal all his good desert tiles. Actually, I don't care if he does because I plan to attack him once I have a tech lead, we share a wide border and I can't be 100% safe in late game with two fronts open. In the north, William stole some settling spots to Genghis and the two are at each other throat right now.
Unsurprisingly Parthenon has been taken (AI really loves it) but that usually means an AI techs Drama before Philosophy: I do the other way around for Philo->Drama->Education and take the Oracle on my way there. I'm at 8
from my UA, nothing to write about yet but it makes up for 20% of my output and it speeds up GPPs, I'll have the second engineer ready for an early medieval wonder.Religion: Genghis founded first few turns ago with Hero Worship and Orders, I'm second and everything is still on the table.
Snowballing is the name of the game so I prefer to go for yields now rather than planning for the (very) long term. Hence I'm a big fan of Veneration belief as my first follower: it provides flat yields so it's perfect for low population cities and unlike buildings doesn't require faith investment. Mastery at 1
plus 1 of whatever specialist you're working is crap, I am working 2-3 specialists right now (can't fill all the available slots if I want to grow my capital, so once a GP is spawned I rotate and work the other specialist slots in order to spawn the next in line and play with my UA) and the expos are a long way until they'll be able to work any. Scaling follower beliefs or cooperation don't work well with low grow rate in my desert expos, and I don't plan to send food TRs to my capital any time soon either. The bonus / upon spending is especially nice after your first missionary, when I'll focus all the faith buy in the expansions to improve border growth. Creativity would have been an ok fallback plan, especially with early bazaars.Founder wise, Ceremonial Burial is my pick due to good synergy with Arabia UA and crazy scaling yields should I manage to spread effectively.
Divine Inheritance lost a some appeal with the tradition rework but even before that I couldn't help feeling it was too backloaded: by the time I found my first GA already triggered (usually due to some CS quest I happen to complete on the way there) and the second one is going to happen in the midgame. Good only if you don't plan to spread. Transcendent Thoughts have been killed badly with low scaling yields and a cap, it's hard for me to enter Medieval with more than 3-5 cities converted and the game is decided by Industrial so only Renaissance trigger matters... I feel the belief should be reworked. Council of Elders simply doesn't scale, it feels good for maybe the first 4 missionaries then the yields are nothing to write about. Way of the Noble Truth offers tourism at a stage tourism doesn't matter, it rewards a come back mechanic that I never had a chance to test. Apostolic could work, I could work specialists only and let the capital grow thanks to active spread, otoh the scaler rewards a wider play, much alike Holy Law and Theocratic Rule, both adequate but not this time.
T99 Medieval
Spoiler :
Medieval through Education, with plenty of leftover beakers thanks to Oracle. Also enough culture to complete Tradition. I spawned a Great Artist but was going to consume it in this era to get double culture yields from Splendor policy. Instead, I'll wait a bit more and grab Sankore as well.
I have just enough units to keep the fog of war safe for my caravans, but my gpt is quite high so can always rush buy something on demand. Outdated spears are being gifted to Valletta. William is settling the (quite awful) land in between me and him and I don't mind at all, it offers me some good trade routes. The barbarians that keep spawning and the fact that by now that leftover land is in colonization range for the Netherlands though make me willing to settle the leftover land around Mecca, so it's time the expansions pay for themselves and spawn a couple settlers now that the food loss will be easy to make up for. I'll then work on Barracks-Forges-Arenas to improve local production, given that I have not enough city states in my pocket to justify chanceries yet.
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By now wasting 1 turn for it is not worth it, there won't be enough hammer overflow in the queue either. I'm at 32 
I'm not going to bother with Rabat, as it is in pretty bad terrain. I secured my southern border, now vassalizing Morocco to keep him as a buffer and trade partner. I actually forgot to set taxes for him in this game, usually I milk all the gpt I can.
My fault for having too many land TRs, now the only viable target city is Rabat so I turn most of them to production while making sure I build sea ones for more trade opportunities among different players. William has been caught even more unprepared though, he is going to lose a bunch of TRs and I'm going to answer another citadel of him with one of my own.
