Civ Unique Ability Elimination Thread

[Victoria]

Fixed the dodgy Maori line.

Australia - Land Down Under: 17 (20-3) I find the + bonuses disruptive and compete with earth goddess and seaside resorts/national parks. Forces you coastal which is bad real estate. Makes you put campuses in places where they get no adjacency which is such a negative as adjacency bonus catches other civs up with this annoying ability. Culture bomb is nice, no more than nice though. Overrated compared to the rest IMO.
Aztec - Legend of the Five Suns: 23
Brazil - Amazon: 11
Greece - Plato's Republic: 25 (24+1) forbidden city from the start. What makes this so good is the ability to slot the +2 GG, GS and GW cards early combined with government flexibility increase. Extra bonuses early when they really count.
Japan - Meiji Restoration: 15
Kongo - Nkisi: 23
Maori - Mana: 31
Mongolia - Örtöö: 25
Netherlands - Grote Rivieren: 18
Ottomans - Great Turkish Bombard: 18
Russia - Mother Russia : 25
Scotland - Scottish Enlightenment: 25

 

[The Sentinel]

Australia - Land Down Under: 17
Aztec - Legend of the Five Suns: 23
Brazil - Amazon: 8 = 11-3 Many reasons have already been given here, not that powerfull and very map dependant on rainforests.
Greece - Plato's Republic: 25
Japan - Meiji Restoration: 15
Kongo - Nkisi: 23
Maori - Mana: 31
Mongolia - Örtöö: 25
Netherlands - Grote Rivieren: 19 = 18 + 1 Again the solid + 2 on districs is a good bonus, and to call it map dependant is weird as you will find rivers everywhere, from small islands to deserts, in fact it makes you less dependant on the map as you dont need mountains to get the bonus for a campus.
Ottomans - Great Turkish Bombard: 18
Russia - Mother Russia : 25
Scotland - Scottish Enlightenment: 25

 

[Weraptor]

Australia - Land Down Under: 17
Aztec - Legend of the Five Suns: 23
Brazil - Amazon: 5 (8-3) You really need to get lucky to use this to get high adjacencies from the getgo.
Greece - Plato's Republic: 25
Japan - Meiji Restoration: 15
Kongo - Nkisi: 23
Maori - Mana: 31
Mongolia - Örtöö: 25
Netherlands - Grote Rivieren: 19
Ottomans - Great Turkish Bombard: 18
Russia - Mother Russia : 25
Scotland - Scottish Enlightenment: 26 (25+1) One more shout out to this amazing ability that lets you monopolize Great Scientists and Engineers.

 

[Architect]

Australia - Land Down Under: 17
Aztec - Legend of the Five Suns: 23
Brazil - Amazon: 2 (5 - 3) Lately I've been packing my cities tight because of the new industrial zone adjacency rules. This means space is a premium so I don't like adjacency rules that depend on removable terrain features.
Greece - Plato's Republic: 25
Japan - Meiji Restoration: 16 (15 + 1) This and Grote Rivieren are about the same and since I have not played the Netherlands in GS and have played Japan I'm going to vote with what I know versus what I think I know. This ability is simplier, more consistent and can be applied anywhere on the map with any district type.
Kongo - Nkisi: 23
Maori - Mana: 31
Mongolia - Örtöö: 25
Netherlands - Grote Rivieren: 19
Ottomans - Great Turkish Bombard: 18
Russia - Mother Russia : 25
Scotland - Scottish Enlightenment: 26

 

[Troy Bruckner]

Australia - Land Down Under: 17
Aztec - Legend of the Five Suns: 23
Brazil - Amazon: 2
Greece - Plato's Republic: 25
Japan - Meiji Restoration: 17 (16+1) Japan's industrial districts rival and surpass most of Germany's now because they require less effort to build them up because of this ability.
Kongo - Nkisi: 23
Maori - Mana: 31
Mongolia - Örtöö: 25
Netherlands - Grote Rivieren: 19
Ottomans - Great Turkish Bombard: 15 (18-3) After a few siege units I never feel the need to build more since other unit types are needed, I guess this would be a great ability for somebody who is careless with their siege units or they are way behind in tech and 10 catapults are needed to take a medieval walled city because they get one shot killed by city defenses.
Russia - Mother Russia : 26
Scotland - Scottish Enlightenment: 26

 

[Leucarum]

Australia - Land Down Under: 18 (17+1) This is a pretty easy asjacency to achieve and is very consequential
Aztec - Legend of the Five Suns: 23
Brazil - Amazon: ELIMINATED (2-3) it's not terrible but very map dependent and conflicts with the need to chop...
Greece - Plato's Republic: 25
Japan - Meiji Restoration: 17
Kongo - Nkisi: 23
Maori - Mana: 31
Mongolia - Örtöö: 25
Netherlands - Grote Rivieren: 19
Ottomans - Great Turkish Bombard: 15
Russia - Mother Russia : 26
Scotland - Scottish Enlightenment: 26

 

[Ceydezed]

Correcting Russia's score which should be 25

Australia - Land Down Under: 18
Aztec - Legend of the Five Suns: 20 = 23-3 - It's probably good and nice but it forces you to go to war to really take advantage of early game (to generate builders with your eagle warriors, because if you have to build yourself dozens of builders early game then you won't go very far) - and if you want to go to war then you probably won't build that many districts early game. I can see it be super useful mid or late game for newly established cities though, when you have enough money to purchase builders or once ancestral hall has been built.
Greece - Plato's Republic: 25
Japan - Meiji Restoration: 17
Kongo - Nkisi: 23
Maori - Mana: 31
Mongolia - Örtöö: 25
Netherlands - Grote Rivieren: 19
Ottomans - Great Turkish Bombard: 15
Russia - Mother Russia : 25
Scotland - Scottish Enlightenment: 27 = 26+1 - Completely agree that this is the ability that makes Scotland such a great science civ, if not the best. You can target all the great scientists that give you +1,2 or 4 to your campus buildings, or wonder-building engineers. Really nice bonus, except when you are yourself playing against Scotland AI and you see these 15GS points per turn at turn 60...

 

[Arraz]

Australia - Land Down Under: 15 (18-3) Not terrible but the other abilities are better
Aztec - Legend of the Five Suns: 20
Greece - Plato's Republic: 25
Japan - Meiji Restoration: 17
Kongo - Nkisi: 23
Maori - Mana: 31
Mongolia - Örtöö: 26 (25+1) This ability's bonus concerns every mongolian unit including melee/AC/siege and even religious units !
Netherlands - Grote Rivieren: 19
Ottomans - Great Turkish Bombard: 15
Russia - Mother Russia : 25
Scotland - Scottish Enlightenment: 27

Moderator Action: Corrected Aztec, Russia and Scotland totals -- Browd

 

[monstercat]

Australia - Land Down Under: 16(15 + 1) Appeal is abundant enough to at least get a couple Breathtaking tiles to start your first districts. When this gets going, it is very powerful. Rush the Eiffel Tower, plant woods, and keep your districts Appeal hotspots. Also, 11 free Housing for a city on freshwater coast, and culture bomb. Shouldn't be downvoted before some others.
Aztec - Legend of the Five Suns: 20
Greece - Plato's Republic: 25
Japan - Meiji Restoration: 17
Kongo - Nkisi: 23
Maori - Mana: 31
Mongolia - Örtöö: 26
Netherlands - Grote Rivieren: 19
Ottomans - Great Turkish Bombard: 12 (15 - 3) As far as the domination abilities remaining go, Mongolia is better.
Russia - Mother Russia : 25
Scotland - Scottish Enlightenment: 27

 

[NullNullError]

Australia - Land Down Under: 16
Aztec - Legend of the Five Suns: 20
Greece - Plato's Republic: 25
Japan - Meiji Restoration: 18(17+1 Japans ability is more consistent and can be higher than australias. I would pick japans ability in almost every single map over Australia.)
Kongo - Nkisi: 23
Maori - Mana: 31
Mongolia - Örtöö: 26
Netherlands - Grote Rivieren: 19
Ottomans - Great Turkish Bombard: 9 (12-3. Having a really hard time to still find something bad in abilities. The few that are left are all really strong. It is kind of win more?)
Russia - Mother Russia : 25
Scotland - Scottish Enlightenment: 27

 

[Kimiimaro]

RIP Brazil, you did well.

Australia - Land Down Under: 16+1=17 - I sort of can't ignore that early +8 campus I got when I tried to play as Australia. Similarly to Hungary and rivers, I hardly ever find myself in lack breathtaking tiles. Complete with little need for rivers due to freshwater coast and culturebomb on pastures, I just don't see it a worse ability than Japan.
Aztec - Legend of the Five Suns: 20
Greece - Plato's Republic: 25
Japan - Meiji Restoration: 18-3=15 - Like Brazil, Netherlands and Australia, it has potential to create greatly effective districts, and it has the advantage of all districts getting better yields. However, my problem with this is that unlike Brazil or Australia, where you can easily squeeze +4-6 campus, holy site or theater square in the very beginning of the game, you have to slowly build your bonus up with Japan. And, compared to Australia, I don't get culture bombs with Japan. And I like culture bombs.
Kongo - Nkisi: 23
Maori - Mana: 31
Mongolia - Örtöö: 26
Netherlands - Grote Rivieren: 19
Ottomans - Great Turkish Bombard: 9
Russia - Mother Russia : 25
Scotland - Scottish Enlightenment: 27

 

[bengalryan9]

Australia - Land Down Under: 18 (17+1) - Way too good to be voting this down so early. Let me address two of the concerns brought up here. Sure, it clashes with Earth Goddess if you choose to take that as your pantheon... but you shouldn't be taking that as your pantheon as Australia because you know you're putting districts on those tiles! Take something like the pasture pantheon (which you'll probably have a lot of as Australia), Divine Spark, or the free settler pantheon instead. Second, regarding adjacencies, you're still not going to ignore the natural bonuses these districts get outside of appeal, either. With Australia, you'll still want to put campuses next to mountains and theater squares next to wonders, but now not only will you get the normal adjacency, you'll also get a bonus because mountains and wonders increase the appeal of the surrounding tiles. That campus tucked among 3 mountains is going to give every other civ +3... with Australia you'll have +6. That's huge!
Aztec - Legend of the Five Suns: 20
Greece - Plato's Republic: 25
Japan - Meiji Restoration: 15
Kongo - Nkisi: 23
Maori - Mana: 31
Mongolia - Örtöö: 26
Netherlands - Grote Rivieren: 19
Ottomans - Great Turkish Bombard: 6 (9-3) Weakest remaining ability...
Russia - Mother Russia : 25
Scotland - Scottish Enlightenment: 27

 

[BenitoChavez]

Australia - Land Down Under: 18
Aztec - Legend of the Five Suns: 20
Greece - Plato's Republic: 25
Japan - Meiji Restoration: 15
Kongo - Nkisi: 23
Maori - Mana: 31
Mongolia - Örtöö: 26
Netherlands - Grote Rivieren: 19
Ottomans - Great Turkish Bombard: 6
Russia - Mother Russia : 22 = 25 - 3. This is a very good ability. Free tiles are nice but not game breakingly good like some of the remaining abilities. It's also a bit random and given its current point total it needs to be knocked down a bit.
Scotland - Scottish Enlightenment: 28 = 27 + 1. This ability is what makes Scotland probably the best science civ in the game. Before GS this was a top 5 ability. With the recent IZ changes the production and great engineer points make this even better.

Edit: Altered my Russian downvote reasoning

 

[bbbt]

Australia - Land Down Under: 18
Aztec - Legend of the Five Suns: 21 = 20+1 Even peaceful this is very strong. Hit a classical golden age and buy districts for 100 faith (and some micromanaging)
Greece - Plato's Republic: 25
Japan - Meiji Restoration: 15
Kongo - Nkisi: 23
Maori - Mana: 31
Mongolia - Örtöö: 26
Netherlands - Grote Rivieren: 16 = 19-3 A consistent +2 adjacency bonus - strong but not game changing
Ottomans - Great Turkish Bombard: 6
Russia - Mother Russia : 22
Scotland - Scottish Enlightenment: 28

 

[Disgustipated]

Australia - Land Down Under: 19 = 18 + 1 I'm almost to the point where I feel the adjacency bonus abilities are too map dependent (even Japan's - you try bunching districts when playing true start location Earth map), but not quite. I've gotten some pretty high adjacency bonuses with this civ, not just campus, but also holy sites. Not ready to downvote this yet.
Aztec - Legend of the Five Suns: 21
Greece - Plato's Republic: 25
Japan - Meiji Restoration: 15
Kongo - Nkisi: 23
Maori - Mana: 31
Mongolia - Örtöö: 26
Netherlands - Grote Rivieren: 16
Ottomans - Great Turkish Bombard: 3 = 6 - 3. The + 5 is nice, and the production bonus, but it's still hard to get more than a few catapults out in the early game. I'd rather just concentrate on melee and battering ram/siege tower. Because you know eventually they can upgrade to your awesome uu.
Russia - Mother Russia : 22
Scotland - Scottish Enlightenment: 28

 

[Kwami]

Australia - Land Down Under: 19
Aztec - Legend of the Five Suns: 21
Greece - Plato's Republic: 25
Japan - Meiji Restoration: 15 + 1 = 16 (So many adjacency bonuses. No dependence on coasts, or tile appeal, or anything else.)
Kongo - Nkisi: 23
Maori - Mana: 31
Mongolia - Örtöö: 26
Netherlands - Grote Rivieren: 16
Ottomans - Great Turkish Bombard: 3 - 3 = 0 (Eh, it's another warmongering bonus. A really good one, sure, but I'd rather an adjacency bonus or something else that works in non-domination games. Yeah, yeah, killing your neighbors improves all win conditions. I know. I just don't enjoy playing that way.)
Russia - Mother Russia : 22
Scotland - Scottish Enlightenment: 28

 

[DWilson]

Australia - Land Down Under: 19
Aztec - Legend of the Five Suns: 22 (21+1) If I were going to draft an ability in a game where players took turns picking their uniques, this would be among my first picks from any ability type (not just Civ UA). Most of the time, that would probably be an early UU instead, but I think this has the potential for a similarly significant impact.
Greece - Plato's Republic: 25
Japan - Meiji Restoration: 16
Kongo - Nkisi: 23
Maori - Mana: 31
Mongolia - Örtöö: 26
Netherlands - Grote Rivieren: 13 (16-3) Of the remaining bonuses, this is probably my least favorite.
Russia - Mother Russia : 22
Scotland - Scottish Enlightenment: 28

I just want to say I am shocked by the sudden, rapid fire rolling of the incredible Ottoman Ability. Not only for making all siege units basically into UUs, but for the saved population, added loyalty, and free amenities which are just insanely powerful. I get thinking it struggles to match the rest here, but I think it deserved more than the sudden downfall. Dang, that was almost as rough to me as watching the War-Cart dogpile.

 

[BarbarianHunter]

Australia - Land Down Under: 19
Aztec - Legend of the Five Suns: 22
Greece - Plato's Republic: 25
Japan - Meiji Restoration: 16
Kongo - Nkisi: 24 (23+1) --- Pizzazz.
Maori - Mana: 31
Mongolia - Örtöö: 26
Netherlands - Grote Rivieren: 10 (13-3) --- If I can't cav blitz war any more, I'm going to need an ability with a bit more pizzazz to spice up the game.
Russia - Mother Russia : 22
Scotland - Scottish Enlightenment: 28

 

[KayAU]

Australia - Land Down Under: 19
Aztec - Legend of the Five Suns: 22
Greece - Plato's Republic: 25
Japan - Meiji Restoration: 17 (16 + 1) I take this opportunity to give an upvote to a very simple, yet very impactful ability, and probably the most consistent adjacency bonus in the game.
Kongo - Nkisi: 24
Maori - Mana: 31
Mongolia - Örtöö: 23 (26 - 3) It's getting really hard to find a reason to downvote anything, but I choose this one for being the only remaining ability which has no application unless you are going to war. The other remaining abilities will give benefits no matter what kind of victory or playstyle you are aiming for.
Netherlands - Grote Rivieren: 10
Russia - Mother Russia : 22
Scotland - Scottish Enlightenment: 28

 

[Pure24]

Australia - Land Down Under: 19
Aztec - Legend of the Five Suns: 22
Greece - Plato's Republic: 25
Japan - Meiji Restoration: 17
Kongo - Nkisi: 24
Maori - Mana: 31
Mongolia - Örtöö: 20 (23 - 3). To add on to what @KayAU has said, the game doesn't automatically tell you which civs/cities you have trading posts to, making it kind of a chore sorting stuff out, especially in games with a lot of Civs.
And even if you do go for war, trader routes also come fairly late to take advantage of early war (it takes a while for the one route to finish, or for you to build market/harbour/Colossus for more)
Netherlands - Grote Rivieren: 10
Russia - Mother Russia : 23 (22 + 1). Random tiles? Sure... but EIGHT free tiles at the beginning of the game? And this isn't even the whole of it; in fact, the next third of their abilities (because there's even MORE) synergises with Peter to make Russia the absolute best Civ to play a Religious victory for (and top 5 cultural civs to boot!). Sure, you could say it is situational - Australia's ability is also situational. As is Aztec, and Kongo, and Netherlands...
Last third is a bonus. Not strong at all, but as I've said before I give it points for being thematic to Russia. Makes all three aspects contribute in different ways to make this a great overall ability
Scotland - Scottish Enlightenment: 28