[Vanilla] Power Ranking the Vanilla Civs

Jewelrunna

Prince
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Jun 7, 2017
Messages
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With R&F closing in on us, I thought it might be fun to see how the dust has settled in vanilla Civ VI with all the patches, new Civs, buffs and nerfs, and just general development of how we understand the game, and determine the pecking order in overall Civ strength.

My ranking is as follows:
27. France (Catherine)
26. Spain (Phillip)
25. Norway (Harald)
24. Khmer (Jayavarman)
23. Brazil (Pedro)
22. Japan (Hojo)
21. India (Gandhi)
20. America (Teddy)
19. England (Victoria)
18. Egypt (Cleopatra)
17. Greece (Pericles)
16. Kongo (Mvemba)
15. China (Qin Shi Huang)
14. Greece (Gorgo)
13. Poland (Jadwiga)
12. Indonesia (Gitarja)
11. Macedon (Alexander)
10. Arabia (Saladin)
9. Rome (Trajan)
8. Persia (Cyrus)
7. Russia (Peter)
6. Aztec (Montezuma)
5. Sumeria (Gilgamesh)
4. Australia (Curtin)
3. Germany (Frederick)
2. Scythia (Tomyris)
1. Nubia (Amanitore)

Some of you might remember my posts in that previous thread about power ranking the civs where I went more in depth for why I ranked each civ the way I did. If you do, you've probably noticed my list has shifted around a lot. Most of it was pretty minor, the only Civ that really got bumped down from nerfs is the Kongo, but mainly I realized that I REALLY undersold Persia & Rome, and their skyrocketing placement on the list shows that. I don't think I'm gonna go too in-depth for each Civ again, since my opinions on most of the cast are largely the same, but if you guys want, I can do something for some of the more drastic movements & the new Civs.

But really, I just want to get a conversation on the base game started so we can send off vanilla in a proper fashion. :spear:
 
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Greece should be in top tier free wildcard slot is powerfull
It definitely is one of the most powerful uniques in the game, and it's the reason Greece is as high as it is currently. In my opinion though, the other uniques aren't nearly as strong as their wildcard policy slot, and other Civs in the game are just stronger than Greece overall.

And to clarify, this is how I would group the Civs:
27-24: Bottom-tier
23-20: Weak-tier
19-15: Mid-tier
14-11: Good-tier
10-6: Great-tier
5-1: God-tier
 
Spain is borderline OP if you know what you are doing. Inquisitor/conquistador spam plus the right policies and beliefs will make you the most powerful civ in the renaissance.
 
Spain is borderline OP if you know what you are doing. Inquisitor/conquistador spam plus the right policies and beliefs will make you the most powerful civ in the renaissance.
Here's my problem with Spain:
They're a Civilization that's almost entirely centered around getting a religion, with no actual benefits towards getting that religion. Additionally, all of their bonuses will probably come into play in the mid-to-late game, and as I've been quoted as saying many times, in my opinion the most impactful part of a Civ game is the early-to-mid portion. I agree in saying that if Spain meets all those criteria, yeah, they're ruthlessly strong in religious & domination victories, but meeting those conditions isn't always assured, especially on higher difficulties. The buffs to Treasure Fleet were also nice, but it's still one of the weaker UA's in my opinion. So I think their position is justified.
 
27. Egypt (Cleopatra)
26. Kongo (Mvemba)
25. Poland (Jadwiga)
24. France (Catherine)
23. Spain (Phillip)
22. Khmer (Jayavarman)
21. Brazil (Pedro)
20. Japan (Hojo)
19. India (Gandhi)
18. England (Victoria)
17. Norway (Harald)
16. America (Teddy)
15. Arabia (Saladin)
14. Greece (Pericles)
13. Russia (Peter)
12. China (Qin Shi Huang)
11. Indonesia (Gitarja)
10.Germany (Frederick)
9. Rome (Trajan)
8. Macedon (Alexander)
7. Scythia (Tomyris)
6. Greece (Gorgo)
5. Nubia (Amanitore)
4. Persia (Cyrus)
3. Australia (Curtin)
2. Sumeria (Gilgamesh)
1. Aztec (Montezuma)

My personal ranking.
 
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I find England very underrated pre RF. Virtually double trade routes with Dockyard + Commerical Hub, really decent adjacency from the Dockyard, the Ship of the Line is powerful, even on Deity (where you may find yourself behind in tech). Also, having a free melee unit when you either conquer/settle a city away from the original continent is pretty useful, buffs military score as well. Play an Island Plates domination game as england and youll notice the 1000+ gpt roll in in no time.
 
How is Macedonia not #1? Two very strong early UU, no war weariness, can be #1 in science without building a single campus district, don't need to divert resources to getting inspirations and eurekas, ability to heal when capturing world wonder. 2-5 is all a big tossup between Sumer, Nubia, Persia, Scythia and Rome but #1 is clearly Macedon.
 
27. Egypt (Cleopatra)
26. Kongo (Mvemba)
25. Poland (Jadwiga)
24. France (Catherine)
23. Spain (Phillip)
22. Khmer (Jayavarman)
21. Norway (Harald)
20. Brazil (Pedro)
19. Japan (Hojo)
18. India (Gandhi)
17. England (Victoria)
16. America (Teddy)
15. Arabia (Saladin)
14. Greece (Pericles)
13. Russia (Peter)
12. China (Qin Shi Huang)
11. Indonesia (Gitarja)
10.Germany (Frederick)
9. Rome (Trajan)
8. Macedon (Alexander)
7. Scythia (Tomyris)
6. Greece (Gorgo)
5. Nubia (Amanitore)
4. Persia (Cyrus)
3. Australia (Curtin)
2. Sumeria (Gilgamesh)
1. Aztec (Montezuma)

My personal ranking.
Wow, I do think that Poland is a bit overrated in terms of how people rate them compared to the actual bonuses they have, but I haven't seen them be ranked second-to-last before. I'm curious as to what your reasoning is.

I find England very underrated pre RF. Virtually double trade routes with Dockyard + Commerical Hub, really decent adjacency from the Dockyard, the Ship of the Line is powerful, even on Deity (where you may find yourself behind in tech). Also, having a free melee unit when you either conquer/settle a city away from the original continent is pretty useful, buffs military score as well. Play an Island Plates domination game as england and youll notice the 1000+ gpt roll in in no time.

I agree, I think England is quite underrated in their ability to make money and how they're able to snowball in the late game. However, they're pretty weak in the early game, as aside from the dockyard none of their bonuses come online until midway through. So I think mid-tier is a fair place for them, but I might be a bit to generous in that assessment.
 
I find England very underrated pre RF. Virtually double trade routes with Dockyard + Commerical Hub, really decent adjacency from the Dockyard, the Ship of the Line is powerful, even on Deity (where you may find yourself behind in tech). Also, having a free melee unit when you either conquer/settle a city away from the original continent is pretty useful, buffs military score as well. Play an Island Plates domination game as england and youll notice the 1000+ gpt roll in in no time.

True, England are powerful in that way. Their CUA is really good for a cultural victory, and doesn’t require too much micro management. Problem is that it’s not good for anything else.
 
Just my experience.

bad tier
27 - Norway
26 - India
mediocre tier
25 - Brazil
24 - Egypt
23 - Indonesia
22 - Arabia
21 - Poland
good tier
20 - America
19 - Aztec
18 - Khmer
17 - France
16 - Greece/Pericles
15 - Greece/Gorgo
14 - Spain
13 - Russia
12 - Kongo
11 - Nubia
very good tier
10 - Macedon
9 - Sumeria
8 - England
7 - China
6 - Scythia
5 - Japan
4 - Germany
3 - Australia
overpowered tier
2 - Rome
1 - Persia
 
Wow, I do think that Poland is a bit overrated in terms of how people rate them compared to the actual bonuses they have, but I haven't seen them be ranked second-to-last before. I'm curious as to what your reasoning is.



I agree, I think England is quite underrated in their ability to make money and how they're able to snowball in the late game. However, they're pretty weak in the early game, as aside from the dockyard none of their bonuses come online until midway through. So I think mid-tier is a fair place for them, but I might be a bit to generous in that assessment.

I don't find any point that makes Poland better than a blank Civ.
The reason I don't rate it at the bottom is just because a blank Civ is better than a negative Civ.
 
My ranking is

1. England
2. Catherine

Then the rest, I cannot really rank them because I do not play them much.

True, England are powerful in that way. Their CUA is really good for a cultural victory, and doesn’t require too much micro management. Problem is that it’s not good for anything else.
Their UB amd UU come too late to be a strong nation, the UU is damn strong though as you never have to build them.

I play England an awful lot and must say they are jolly good at making lashings of gold. The can just buy anything they want. Many ask for a civ that has a CH as a UB.... the harbour is better IMO. They are in fact smashing at any victory, you must not be playing them right, they are a sneaky civ and play best with a subtle start.

I would agree with the general ranking around 17-19

I just look at a civ like Brazil and think, how can you place it so low? Or Japan.... civs just have to be played right and they can be very strong. I guess what I considervstrong is the enjoyment I get, and I certainly do not get enjoyment with OP civs.
 
Excluding DLCs besides Aztec as I don't have them.
God
1. Scythia
2. Sumeria
Great
3. Aztec
4. Russia
5. Greece (Gorgo)
6. Rome.
Good
7. Germany
8. Greece (Pericles)
9. Arabia
10. China
Ok
11. England
12. Japan
13. France
14. India
Low
15. America
16. Kongo
17. Brazil
18. Norway
Trash
19. Egypt
20. Spain.

Explanations:
20-15: https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/power-ranking-the-vanilla-civs.627389/page-2#post-15007103
14-11: https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/power-ranking-the-vanilla-civs.627389/page-4#post-15010159
10-7: https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/power-ranking-the-vanilla-civs.627389/page-4#post-15011403
6-1: https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/power-ranking-the-vanilla-civs.627389/page-5#post-15015107
 
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Spain is actually pretty great now imo. You've got to prioritize holy sites for faith and GPP but if you can get the belief Jesuit Education you will be a science giant.

Spam cities with holy sites followed by campus and commercial districts; Jesuit Education will let you buy all the buildings for your campus. Add in Wats for even more science. Missions next to campuses will give +2 faith and +2 science with another +2 science after the Atomic Era.

Honestly probably the best science Civ along with China in Vanilla imo
 
I've had absolutely powerful games with Nubia. I would not be surprised if they're nerfed come the release of R&F.
 
1. Aztec
2. Scythia
3. Sumeria
4. Australia
5. Macedon

Don't know why people don't rank Aztecs higher, buying builders to rush districts/ignore painful inflation and unstoppable combat strength that just keeps escalating is really the definition of power in Civ 6.
 
Perhaps I'll make a list later. I will have a hard time placing civs like Norway and Indonesia though, as their strength is really dependent on map type.

I agree England's double trade routes are pretty amazing. Egypt is pretty terrible. France is getting a significant bump in Rise and Fall.
 
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