Personally, my tendency leads towards picking someone with the
Financial trait, since it's so overpowered in Civ4. Maybe it's a bit predictable (and perhaps boring) for some, but there's no denying the all-around usefulness of being Financial. There's no map on which this trait doesn't work its magic - it's really a great thing to have regardless of your situation.
Besides, many of the other teams are likely to pick Financial leaders themselves, so if we
don't pick a leader with the Financial trait then we'll automatically be at a disadvantage -
especially if tech trading ends up being off. (And if tech trading
is voted off, I would 100% lobby for a Financial leader, or else we'll almost certainly find ourselves backward during the mid game.) The only reason I wouldn't be worried about avoiding the Financial trait would be if we knew none of the other teams would be Financial. But as it is, it's pretty important to pick a Financial leader, in my opinion.
So, who are the Financial leaders?
Darius
Other Trait: Organized - decent economic civic, plus good building bonuses spread out across the game (Lighthouse, Courthouse, Factory)
UU: Immortal (Chariot) - slim possibility of rushing a neighbour, although unlikely since we will probably be spread out on the map... but still handy for battling barbs
UB: Apothecary (Grocer) - additional 2 health, not bad but not great
Elizabeth
Other Trait: Philosophical - useful to have, allows our first great people to be available earlier
UU: Redcoat (Rifleman) - not bad but comes pretty late... it was much better before it was nerfed in BTS
UB: Stock Exchange (Bank) - a nice little bonus, but it comes pretty late in the game
Hannibal
Other Trait: Charismatic - effectively 2 extra happiness per city in the early game once we get Monuments up, fairly good especially if the happiness resources are not plentiful... also the lower XP thresholds should not be underestimated, they can prove extremely useful
UU: Numidian Cavalry (Horse Archer) - awkward to enable (Horseback Riding is a dead-end tech), and not really very powerful against an opponent with Spearmen (probably everyone)... useful for home territory defence, but not good for taking cities
UB: Cothon (Harbor) - adds an extra trade route at the cost of more hammers to build, alright but not great
Huayna Capac
Other Trait: Industrious - bonus production on wonders, extremely useful in the early game, especially if stone and marble are not plentiful on the map (which they often aren't), slightly less useful as the game progresses
UU: Quecha (Warrior) - will never be a factor in any war, but still useful in the early game against barbarians... plus very useful for military police as they don't obsolete until Macemen become available
UB: Terrace (Granary) - a very useful unique building, we won't need to worry about building Monuments in most (if not all) cities
Mansa Musa
Other Trait: Spiritual - very handy for those quick civic switches in war and peacetime, although slightly less powerful as Golden Ages also allow anarchy-free civic changes since BTS
UU: Skirmisher (Archer) - quite powerful, and should remove a lot of barbarian hassles as well as deterring any neighbours from attacking us early on
UB: Mint (Forge) - although it's only a +10% gold bonus, you want Forges in every city anyway so this is actually quite a useful bonus
Pacal II
Other Trait: Expansive - slightly faster Worker builds are useful, and extra health is sometimes useful, but the cheaper Granaries are very handy
UU: Holkan (Spearman) - not really much use at all in a game like this, where we are almost certain to be able to find Copper or Iron somewhere in our vicinity, and distances will be too large for people to rush us early on
UB: Ball Court (Colosseum) - bonus +2 happiness, bringing it to 3 happiness and making it a very powerful unique building, perhaps one of the best
Ragnar
Other Trait: Aggressive - handy in a war, and goes well with his unique unit, but we will not be making use of this trait until well into the game (except against barbs)
UU: Beserker (Maceman) - very decent... Macemen are typically the backbone of a mid-game army, so it's nice to have further bonuses applied to them (+10% city attack, Amphibious)
UB: Trading Post (Lighthouse) - a building that we'll want anyway in all our coastal cities... plus the extra movement point for naval units is rather useful, and if we manage to circumnavigate the globe as well it makes us tremendously powerful at sea
Victoria
Other Trait: Imperialistic - the Great General bonus is fairly mediocre, but the production bonus to Settlers is actually very powerful, especially in the early game
UU: Redcoat (Rifleman) - see above: not bad but comes pretty late... it was much better before it was nerfed in BTS
UB: Stock Exchange (Bank) - see above: a nice little bonus, but it comes pretty late in the game
Wang Kon
Other Trait: Protective - weakest trait in the game, not really very useful in multiplayer
UU: Hwacha (Catapult) - packs a powerful punch with its +50% vs. melee units
UB: Seowon (University) - an extra +10% more research, not bad but comes quite late
William Van Oranje
Other Trait: Creative - very handy in the early game since we don't have to worry about Monuments or Stonehenge; we're freer to place cities in their optimal locations right from the start... also the bonus production for Libraries is very useful
UU: East Indiaman (Galleon) - quite useful, especially if we manage to get to Astronomy first... the extra strength isn't a huge factor, but the ability to carry an extra unit is quite nice, as well as the ability to enter rival borders without Open Borders
UB: Dike (Levee) - incredibly powerful, arguably even overpowered: +1 production not only from rivers but from coastal tiles and lakes too,
and it's able to be built in
any city bordering a river, coast, or lake... only downside is it comes quite late in the game
