Favorite Civs or Leaders so far? Combos?

[Yzman]

So I am working on my 5th game I think and having a lot of fun so far. I tend to be more on the peaceful side focusing on the cultural / science victories, but I have done at least one of each so far. My thoughts on leaders I used

Ben Franklin - This was my first game so I didn't know a lot of the mechanics. He seems decent but after playing with others I wonder if he may be on the weaker side. I will have to use him again. I think I went Greece / Ming / America on this and somehow won with a economic victory even though I really didn't understand the system well.
Xerves, Achmenaid (sp?) - This was my weakest game I feel. I can't even remember what I did. I think it was Persia / Abbasids / .....blanking here. Even though I was playing a non-military leader, still seemed like I had to focus on military to get anything done with him. Not great synergy. I achieved a military victory which I wasn't really going after until the end.
Filipino Leader ( sorry forgetting his name already) This game was a lot of fun. I went Maya / Hawaii / Mexico and achieved a cultural victory. This path had great synergy the whole way through. Hawaii is a monster at culture and Mexico is too provided you have the happiness. Very fun leader.
Catherine the Great - Love her. Even though I felt that the civs she had available didn't have great synergy with her for a science victory, I ended up loving her anyway. I went Rome / Normans ( liked them a lot better than I thought but I had no good options. The free defenses is really nice) / Russia. Won pretty comfortably with a science victory. Had culture lined up but Russia wanted a science so I went with that. Forgot to mention that I try to get as many paths unlocked as possible. I achieved flawless campaign on this one.
Machevelli - Was trying to decide what play style to do next so I decided on going hardcore diplo. I noticed that diplo is not really a play style in and of itself though, it is mostly just complementary to culture ( it is even under the culture track) but I am having fun so far. Like I said previously, I have been using the city states to help get science / culture victories in each age. I achieve science on very last turn so was close this time in antiquity. Just started exploration.

What has everyone else done so far? Found good combos for civs?

 

[CoconutTank]

It's not a strong combination but any means, but I was rather fond of Persia > Chola > Prussia with fighty Xerxes in one particular session. I prefer going to war most of the time, and none of the AI ever liked me anyway, so the civs and their traditions helped a lot in that regard.

I think if I were to revisit this combo, I might swap out Chola for Mongolia if I wasn't interested in distant lands. I might also swap out Persia for Mississippian, though I will really miss Persia's last tradition.

Edit: oh I might as well mention Maya > Hawaii > Meiji Japan. This particular line was a lot fun, and each civ unlocks the subsequent civ in the next age, so no need to fret over unlock conditions. Only trouble is that Maya is a little overtuned at the moment, so winning with this line might be slightly less gratifying.

 

[Yzman]

I was skeptical but I just did Techmaseh with Missipians and it was the first game I achieved all legacy paths. Crazy good.

 

[dan-the-man278]

I have just finished an Antiquity Age with Tecumseh & Mississippians too - I’m a fan. I like that the IP bonus is strong (provided you can successfully suz a few early on) but general - extra food & production and combat strength are useful for a multitude of different playstyles rather than than encouraging you down one specific path. I have taken Hawa’ii for my Exploration Age in this game as I have not played them at all yet - looking forward to it!