[GS] Rate the civs in the hands of the AI - elimination thread

[The Highwayman]

Amanitore/Nubia [22]
Chandragupta/India [9]
Cleopatra/Egypt [6]
Cyrus/Persia [11]
Frederick/Germany [18]
Gandhi/India [14]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gilgamesh/Sumeria [2]
Gorgo/Greece [12]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [7]
John Curtin/Australia [25]
Lautaro/Mapuche [18]
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [27]
Pachacuti/Inca [10]
Pedro/Brazil [10]
Pericles/Greece [23]
Peter/Russia [1]
Poundmaker/Cree [18]
Robert the Bruce/Scotland [ELIMINATED] [3-3] Scotland's music not withstanding, it's better for the human to have them in the game, as they build you campuses and/or overpay for luxuries. The only ability the AI can leverage is the early GS hogging, which amounts to nothing.
Saladin/Arabia [17]
Seondeok/Korea [23]
Suleiman/Ottomans [16]
Tamar/Georgia [12]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [24] [23+1] Most of the remaining civs are irrelevant in the hands of the AI, but Teddy can't help but take advantage of the +5. Seems to beeline cultural things too, which is a solid strategy. A worthy adversary to his fellow AIs if not the player too.
Trajan/Rome [17]
Wilhelmina/Netherlands [10]

 

[enKage]

Amanitore/Nubia [22]
Chandragupta/India [9]
Cleopatra/Egypt [6]
Cyrus/Persia [11]
Frederick/Germany [18]
Gandhi/India [11] 14-3 in player hands I suppose he is better Indian leader, but in AI hands far behind Chandy. Too much apostles focus, too much depending on stepwell housing, so likely to settle strange places (only I have that feeling civs like India, Rome, Cree, Khmer are more likely to settle off-freshwater?)
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gilgamesh/Sumeria [2]
Gorgo/Greece [12]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [7]
John Curtin/Australia [25]
Lautaro/Mapuche [18]
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [27]
Pachacuti/Inca [10]
Pedro/Brazil [10]
Pericles/Greece [23]
Peter/Russia [1]
Poundmaker/Cree [19] 18+1 Very strong ancient-classical, much weaker medieval and strong late game. Even if starts religious, grows faster than other civs, so do not stuck for ages with district cap. Most civs are weak at developing land and do not spam builders, so extremely strong mekewap gives huge boost to cities, comparing what other leaders can take from city tiles. it is basically Germany that need some more time in AI hands to snowball. I rarely see him in my games, because 3 out of my 4 games are played as Cree (or even more), but the only case I saw he did bad was tundra start. Still that "bad" was better than usual state of development of other civs (he lost 2 cities to Teddy, but never cores). All other games with Poundmaker as opponent he was somehow level with AI monsters like Ted,Mbemba, Fred. And expect him sometimes to have lvl3 Oki early, 40 strenght before swords era - that is a killer thing (he doesn't even need player strategy to level them up by declaring on cty states after expanding borders via trader)
Saladin/Arabia [17]
Seondeok/Korea [23]
Suleiman/Ottomans [16]
Tamar/Georgia [12]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [24]
Trajan/Rome [17]
Wilhelmina/Netherlands [10]

 

[Drivingrevilo]

Amanitore/Nubia [22]
Chandragupta/India [9]
Cleopatra/Egypt [6]
Cyrus/Persia [11]
Frederick/Germany [18]
Gandhi/India [14]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gilgamesh/Sumeria [2]
Gorgo/Greece [12]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [7]
John Curtin/Australia [25]
Lautaro/Mapuche [18]
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [27]
Pachacuti/Inca [10]
Pedro/Brazil [10]
Pericles/Greece [20] (23-3)
Peter/Russia [1]
Poundmaker/Cree [18]
Saladin/Arabia [17]
Seondeok/Korea [23]
Suleiman/Ottomans [16]
Tamar/Georgia [13] (12+1)
Teddy Roosevelt/America [24]
Trajan/Rome [17]
Wilhelmina/Netherlands [10]

I'll explain these two together. Realistically, what victories do the AI manage to achieve? In descending order of ease, I consider it to be: 1.) Domination, 2.) Science, 3.) Religion, 4.) Culture, 5.) Diplomacy. I don't need to explain why Domination and Science are highest: a violent civ can rush the human player pretty easily & eliminate them; and a Tech-strong Civ can build a commanding lead, forcing the human player to desperately play catch-up. This leaves Religion and Culture. In my opinion, it is much easier to the AI to win a Religious Victory than a Cultural one.

i.) Religion: the AI focuses mega-heavy on Faith output, and overwhelms the world with Apostles. This usually happens sometime around the Renaissance Era. If the human realises what is happening, they can declare war on the Faith leader and condemn all their Apostles as heretics. However, if you aren't paying attention, it is surprisingly common to discover that you've been completely converted and, as a result, the AI is coming close to an RV. This is particularly common if you have already destroyed another AI who also founded a Religion.
ii.) Culture: the AI focuses mega-heavy on Theatre Squares (usually Wonders too), and gets such a commanding Great Works lead that their Tourism overwhelms the human player before the human can get their basic Tourism infrastructure online (national parks, rock bands, museums, etc). However, the AI is clueless when it comes to the most important aspects of CV: building lots of national parks and seaside resorts, theming GWAMS, running the right policy cards, and using Rock Bands strategically. Therefore, if they achieve this victory, it is almost always by accident. And there are very easy steps the human player can take to prevent this: either invade the Culture leader (who often does not have much of an army at all), spam Theatre Squares to raise defensive culture, or rush a Science Victory.

For these reasons, I would gladly relegate Pericles beneath the remaining 'religious' Civs: Arabia, India, and Georgia (ignoring Russia, who is basically gone). Pericles will *only* win if he gets the perfect conditions for a peaceful snowball, uninterrupted by other AI or the human player; and you can end that snowball very easily by conquering him. The 'danger' he poses is therefore completely superficial: I'm much more concerned about a Faith-obsessed AI sniping me with a sudden Religious Victory. This is reflected in the fact that, during 1000+ hours of Civ VI, I have twice lost to a Religious Victory, but not once to a Cultural one. I chose to give the points to Georgia because of her strong defensive set-up: she gets to medieval & renaissance walls so quickly, that you basically need to rush Bombards if you want any chance of eliminating her and her RV threat.

 

[Leucarum]

Amanitore/Nubia [22]
Chandragupta/India [9]
Cleopatra/Egypt [6]
Cyrus/Persia [11]
Frederick/Germany [18]
Gandhi/India [14]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gilgamesh/Sumeria [2]
Gorgo/Greece [12]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [7]
John Curtin/Australia [22] (25-3) I think the last post made s a good point. The AI can usually only realistically win a religion or domination victory. Curtin gets lots of cool stuff but he usually gets pulled in so many directions he is never actually close to winning. Then he squanders his defensive buff by attacking you and that's it for him. If the AI was quicker at winning science I would probably not downvote here...
Lautaro/Mapuche [18]
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [27]
Pachacuti/Inca [10]
Pedro/Brazil [10]
Pericles/Greece [20]
Peter/Russia [2] (1+1) I'm gonna waste an upvote. Peter can generate so much faith he's one of the few AIs to threaten a religious victory or challenge your own. Like a human, he doesn't need big cities for an RV. You can stomp him if you start close, but a distant Peter is one of my least favourite things in Civ6.
Poundmaker/Cree [18]
Saladin/Arabia [17]
Seondeok/Korea [23]
Suleiman/Ottomans [16]
Tamar/Georgia [13]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [24]
Trajan/Rome [17]
Wilhelmina/Netherlands [10]

 

[TCBB]

Amanitore/Nubia [22]
Chandragupta/India [9]
Cleopatra/Egypt [6]
Cyrus/Persia [11]
Frederick/Germany [18]
Gandhi/India [14]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gilgamesh/Sumeria [2]
Gorgo/Greece [9] (12-3) I'm also pretty impressed by @Drivingrevilo's post. It made me realise that, thinking back, I've never seen the AI win a Tourism victory, but I *have* seen them win plenty of religious ones. So even though I up-voted Gorgo only yesterday, I'm down-voting her now because all of Driving's arguments apply for her as much as for Pericles.
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [7]
John Curtin/Australia [22]
Lautaro/Mapuche [18]
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [27]
Pachacuti/Inca [10]
Pedro/Brazil [10]
Pericles/Greece [20]
Peter/Russia [2]
Poundmaker/Cree [18]
Saladin/Arabia [18] (19+1) Following the same line of thinking, Saladin has definitely defeated me with religious victory at least once, and has posed a threat of it numerous other times. 'Actually winning' is more than can be said for a lot of the remaining civs.
Seondeok/Korea [23]
Suleiman/Ottomans [16]
Tamar/Georgia [13]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [24]
Trajan/Rome [17]
Wilhelmina/Netherlands [10]

 

[Arianrhod]

Amanitore/Nubia [22]
Chandragupta/India [9]
Cleopatra/Egypt [6]
Cyrus/Persia [11]
Frederick/Germany [18]
Gandhi/India [14]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gilgamesh/Sumeria [0] (2-3) In general, a leader trying to get a surprise Religious Victory is probably the best thing they can hope for, but Gilgamesh should be more than that. He has all the makings of a competent Domination or Science leader, but he'll never succeed at either, and even if he somehow comes close the player can easily eliminate whatever threat he poses by just befriending him. I'm always happy to start next to him, and that's exactly why he should no longer be here.
Gorgo/Greece [9]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [7]
John Curtin/Australia [22]
Lautaro/Mapuche [18]
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [27]
Pachacuti/Inca [10]
Pedro/Brazil [10]
Pericles/Greece [20]
Peter/Russia [2]
Poundmaker/Cree [18]
Saladin/Arabia [18]
Seondeok/Korea [23]
Suleiman/Ottomans [16]
Tamar/Georgia [14] (13+1) In most cases, the best thing an AI can contribute is annoying the player, and Tamar is perfectly equipped to do just that with an emphasis on anything that would make the game take longer. Her fetish for walls is capable of completely putting the brakes on physical domination in the midgame, as upper-tier walls are much better in the hands of those who are at risk of being conquered. Her lust for religion can definitely throw a wrench in the player's attempts at a fast religious victory, while also being a possible victory option against players who decided to ignore Religion altogether. Her kit is almost better in the hands of the AI than in the player, because more than anything else it feels like a set of bandage fixes to convert the AI's usual pitfalls into something resembling a viable strategy. She will not generally win (as most AI won't), but her ability to check basically any victory that isn't science is nontrivial enough that I wouldn't put her in immediate risk of elimination just yet -- not with bigger losers still around.
Teddy Roosevelt/America [24]
Trajan/Rome [17]
Wilhelmina/Netherlands [10]

 

[bengalryan9]

I'm going to be the one to disagree with @Drivingrevilo on this one, I guess, because my experience on deity has been the opposite in that I feel domination and religious victories are the two you are least likely to ever see the AI achieve. First of all, what we're calling "domination" here isn't really a domination victory at all - it's just wiping one civ (the player's), and in my experience the only way an AI is ever even going to pull that off is with a very early rush where they can take advantage of their huge starting advantages (it's not like the AI is doing anything special here, they've just got way more resources than the player at that point). That's enough to give folks like Monty and Teddy a leg up in a competition like this for sure, but if you can get through that first age or two you're basically safe. I'd even argue that hypothetically speaking an AI that eliminates the human player from the game still is no guarantee to win the game were it to continue - I've seen AIs capture capitals from each other before and still not be a threat, and I'd be willing to bet that these AIs wouldn't even pursue domination afterwards anyways. It's pretty rate to see an AI conquer more than one other capital from what I've seen.

As for religious victory, I certainly agree that the AI seems most willing to aggressively chase after it. The reason they so seldom actually get there is that every other AI in the game does the same thing. In my experience they almost always cancel each other out by keeping each other in check. I suppose an AI could surprise you with an RV from time to time if you're not careful, but that's more a failing of the human player than the AI succeeding IMO.

I have absolutely seen the AI compete for both science and culture victories, though (science more often than culture). There has been plenty of times where I've had to come from behind to claim a space race, usually when someone like Australia, Korea, or the Inca are involved. I've seen both Pedro and even the Khmer claim cultural victories before (granted, these came early on when I first made the switch to deity and wasn't playing particularly well). I've never even seen an AI come *close* to a domination victory.

Interesting discussion for sure. It's pretty clear we've all had different experiences.

Amanitore/Nubia [22]
Chandragupta/India [9]
Cleopatra/Egypt [6]
Cyrus/Persia [11]
Frederick/Germany [18]
Gandhi/India [14]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gorgo/Greece [9]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [7]
John Curtin/Australia [23] (22+1) Funny how when downvoting with the rationale that science victory isn't something the AI can reliably accomplish it's Australia and not the almighty Korea that gets singled out despite the fact that Curtin does better in every other area (culture, faith, gold, and production) than Seondeok. Korea is such a meme.
Lautaro/Mapuche [18]
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [27]
Pachacuti/Inca [10]
Pedro/Brazil [10]
Pericles/Greece [20]
Peter/Russia [eliminated] I've made my case at this point, and I just don't think Dance of the Auroras is enough to keep him around. Even if he's going full speed towards a religious victory, just go conquer him - he'll have tiny cities, bad production, and will most likely be lagging in both science and culture.
Poundmaker/Cree [18]
Saladin/Arabia [18]
Seondeok/Korea [23]
Suleiman/Ottomans [16]
Tamar/Georgia [14]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [24]
Trajan/Rome [17]
Wilhelmina/Netherlands [10]

 

[The Highwayman]

Amanitore/Nubia [22]
Chandragupta/India [9]
Cleopatra/Egypt [6]
Cyrus/Persia [11]
Frederick/Germany [18]
Gandhi/India [14]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gorgo/Greece [9]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [4] [7-3] Let's talk for a sec, Hojo. What if I told you that you possess one of the best abilities in the game that ignores terrain features, providing excellent adjacency?
John Curtin/Australia [23]
Lautaro/Mapuche [18]
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [27]
Pachacuti/Inca [10]
Pedro/Brazil [10]
Pericles/Greece [20]
Poundmaker/Cree [18]
Saladin/Arabia [18]
Seondeok/Korea [24] [23+1] It's so easy to plop down farms and mines even the AI can do it. +4, +3, or even +2 adjacency on a campus is going to be better than most since the AI's districting isn't exactly forward thinking. Korea pushes tech as consistently as any AI. But let's be serious...it doesn't really matter in the "who screws up their abilities the least" competition.
Suleiman/Ottomans [16]
Tamar/Georgia [14]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [24]
Trajan/Rome [17]
Wilhelmina/Netherlands [10]

 

[Connor_CivFan]

Amanitore/Nubia [22]
Chandragupta/India [9]
Cleopatra/Egypt [6]
Cyrus/Persia [11]
Frederick/Germany [18]
Gandhi/India [14]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gorgo/Greece [9]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [4]
John Curtin/Australia [24] 23 + 1 Im confused as to why we are voting this down, science aside, Australia is consistently at the top of my games and can definitely prove a contender to my many science victories.
Lautaro/Mapuche [15] 18 - 3 Another civ that should be scary to be next to, but falls for the trap of being way too easy to be friendly with.
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [27]
Pachacuti/Inca [10]
Pedro/Brazil [10]
Pericles/Greece [20]
Poundmaker/Cree [18]
Saladin/Arabia [18]
Seondeok/Korea [24] I haven't voted this down because there is definitely others that do worse but does Korea deserve to be at the top, not in a million years. For a science civ, I see them struggle with science (strangely) quite a lot.
Suleiman/Ottomans [16]
Tamar/Georgia [14]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [24]
Trajan/Rome [17]
Wilhelmina/Netherlands [10]

 

[Icicle]

Amanitore/Nubia [22]
Chandragupta/India [9]
Cleopatra/Egypt [6]
Cyrus/Persia [11]
Frederick/Germany [18]
Gandhi/India [14]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gorgo/Greece [9]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [4]
John Curtin/Australia [24]
Lautaro/Mapuche [15]
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [27]
Pachacuti/Inca [7] (10-3). Gah the AI Inca annoys me. They always have so many +4 to +6 campus spots and they somehow manage to build their campus in the one spot that gives less than that. They also waste so many builder charges on tunnels I swear they'd do better with no abilities at all. "Should we build a library here?" "Nah, tunnel." "Okay how about here?" "Nope tunnel!" "You know we could build bo-" "SHUT UP MORE TUNNELS." Gah. Pachacuti was the Sapa Inca not the Foremole of Redwall Abbey.
Pedro/Brazil [10]
Pericles/Greece [20]
Poundmaker/Cree [18]
Saladin/Arabia [18]
Seondeok/Korea [24]
Suleiman/Ottomans [16]
Tamar/Georgia [15] (14+1) This is an upvote because they're currently underrated. There are so many civs left that effectively have no bonus or a negative bonus in the hands of the AI that should go first. That Georgia builds walls everywhere at least makes her slightly more of a speedbump to a player and pretty much invincible to other AIs. Again it's not a high bar here.
Teddy Roosevelt/America [24]
Trajan/Rome [17]
Wilhelmina/Netherlands [10]

 

[konokono]

Amanitore/Nubia [22]
Chandragupta/India [9]
Cleopatra/Egypt [6]
Cyrus/Persia [11]
Frederick/Germany [18]
Gandhi/India [14]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gorgo/Greece [9]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [4]
John Curtin/Australia [24]
Lautaro/Mapuche [15]
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [27]
Pachacuti/Inca [7]
Pedro/Brazil [10]
Pericles/Greece [21] = 20 + 1. Upvoting Pericles to jump in on the AI victory debate. I don't think the important question is whether this AI can achieve victory, I think the question is whether this AI can prevent YOU from achieving victory, and for how long. For anyone who has tried winning a cultural victory against Pericles, you know what a pain in the neck this guy is. And by slowing down your victory he is giving others AI a better chance at winning, even if Pericles himself isn't going to win. Speaking of which, when your neighbor conquers you on turn 20 that's what's happening: the AI preventing you from achieving victory. We call that powerful, regardless of whether your conqueror ends up the ultimate victor.
Poundmaker/Cree [18]
Saladin/Arabia [18]
Seondeok/Korea [24]
Suleiman/Ottomans [16]
Tamar/Georgia [15]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [24]
Trajan/Rome [17]
Wilhelmina/Netherlands [7] = 10 - 3. River adjacency bonus should be quite good but I've never seen Netherlands achieve much. Having a naval UU doesn't help matters for the AI either.

 

[borad]

The plural of anecdote is anecdata, right?

I just came off a game where I decided to seriously try a cultural victory for the first time since they changed it from “oh, I won Cultural accidentally while trying to do Science”. Australia absolutely crushed me in all aspects and won via Culture. How embarrassment.

[Tried again, was smarter and luckier with the start, and despite having to war with the Incas early -- hence annoying everyone else and cutting off lots of income -- won easily.]

Netherlands tends to go on and on and on again about how much rich she is and everyone should hobnob with her… and then I find her with a runt of a civilisation no one would want to be caught dead with.

Amanitore/Nubia [22]
Chandragupta/India [9]
Cleopatra/Egypt [6]
Cyrus/Persia [11]
Frederick/Germany [18]
Gandhi/India [14]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gorgo/Greece [9]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [4]
John Curtin/Australia [25] = 24 + 1
Lautaro/Mapuche [15]
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [27]
Pachacuti/Inca [7]
Pedro/Brazil [10]
Pericles/Greece [21]
Poundmaker/Cree [18]
Saladin/Arabia [18]
Seondeok/Korea [24]
Suleiman/Ottomans [16]
Tamar/Georgia [15]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [24]
Trajan/Rome [17]
Wilhelmina/Netherlands [4] = 7 - 3

 

[Leucarum]

I mean this whole thread is anecdotal unless someone has been collating data on all their wins and losses? This would be the place to find such a hero...

Amanitore/Nubia [22]
Chandragupta/India [9]
Cleopatra/Egypt [6]
Cyrus/Persia [11]
Frederick/Germany [18]
Gandhi/India [14]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gorgo/Greece [9]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [4]
John Curtin/Australia [25]
Lautaro/Mapuche [15]
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [27]
Pachacuti/Inca [7]
Pedro/Brazil [7] (10-3) Another AI with good bonuses which resolutely fails to use them, gets annoyed with the human for playing the game normally then suicidally attacks.
Pericles/Greece [21]
Poundmaker/Cree [18]
Saladin/Arabia [18]
Seondeok/Korea [24]
Suleiman/Ottomans [16]
Tamar/Georgia [15]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [25] (24+1) Can pose a serious threat if hou happen to start nearby.
Trajan/Rome [17]
Wilhelmina/Netherlands [4]

 

[bengalryan9]

Amanitore/Nubia [22]
Chandragupta/India [9]
Cleopatra/Egypt [6]
Cyrus/Persia [11]
Frederick/Germany [18]
Gandhi/India [14]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gorgo/Greece [9]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [1] (4-3) Speaking of bonuses the AI will never use...
John Curtin/Australia [25]
Lautaro/Mapuche [15]
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [27]
Pachacuti/Inca [7]
Pedro/Brazil [8] (7+1) I don't see how you can say Pedro doesn't use his bonuses when he's got tons of unchopped jungle giving big adjacency bonuses to most of his districts. His bonus is actually one of the few that an AI can't help but benefit from. He is far and away the most underrated AI leader on this list and it's not even close.
Pericles/Greece [21]
Poundmaker/Cree [18]
Saladin/Arabia [18]
Seondeok/Korea [24]
Suleiman/Ottomans [16]
Tamar/Georgia [15]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [25]
Trajan/Rome [17]
Wilhelmina/Netherlands [4]

 

[TCBB]

Amanitore/Nubia [22]
Chandragupta/India [9]
Cleopatra/Egypt [6]
Cyrus/Persia [11]
Frederick/Germany [18]
Gandhi/India [14]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gorgo/Greece [9]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [1]
John Curtin/Australia [25]
Lautaro/Mapuche [15]
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [27]
Pachacuti/Inca [7]
Pedro/Brazil [8]
Pericles/Greece [21]
Poundmaker/Cree [18]
Saladin/Arabia [18]
Seondeok/Korea [24]
Suleiman/Ottomans [13] (16-3) Starting to run out of ideas about who to downvote. Similar to what I said about Cyrus, Suleiman doesn't necessarily do bad. In fact, his wars sometimes go really well (probably because his universal buffs to siege units help mitigate the AI's uselessness in attacking walled cities). But most of the time, Suleiman is middle-of-the-road: he's not struggling, but he's also not challenging for any victory type. He's just kind of there.
Tamar/Georgia [16] (15+1) Never gets conquered by the AI? Check. Poses a challenge for the human to conquer? Check. Stands a not insignificant chance of achieving a victory type herself (ie. religion)? Check. I'd say that several civs remaining can't tick all three boxes.
Teddy Roosevelt/America [25]
Trajan/Rome [17]
Wilhelmina/Netherlands [4]

 

[enKage]

2 matters about this thread

1) What excatly means "civ in AI hands". The problem it causes to a player, how difficult it is to defeat OR how well AI civ does against other AI civs, just like in only AI game. I try to rate the second. 3rd possibility how well it utilises its uniques. This is not a big factor IMO, just because more important is how a civ usually behave, if it expands, or sits in place with spamming apostles. Inca for exampe use all their bonuses and 2 of them correctly, but they knowledge how to play in general is far from being ideal.

2) Already discussed victory types. I strongly agree domination is the last possible victory for AI to achieve. Any warring is for getting more land to achieve science victory.
So in my experience science is the most probable, deity AI is even able to build spacports (though not able to build advanced projects). Second possible is tourism, I saw many times China being close to it, just because of wonders+great wall spam. So I am schocked Qin is eliminated, as China is the most probable culture winner. In only AI game (see 1 above) what I try to rate China should be very high, the reason China is usually not a problem to conquer for a player (but a problem for AI) and is juicy target due to wonders, doesn't make Qin one of the most probable winners in only AI game.
Third possible is religious, so some civs like Georgia should also be rated high

Amanitore/Nubia [22]
Chandragupta/India [9]
Cleopatra/Egypt [6]
Cyrus/Persia [11]
Frederick/Germany [18]
Gandhi/India [14]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gorgo/Greece [9]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [1]
John Curtin/Australia [25]
Lautaro/Mapuche [15]
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [27]
Pachacuti/Inca [7]
Pedro/Brazil [8]
Pericles/Greece [21]
Poundmaker/Cree [18]
Saladin/Arabia [19] 18+1 Starts slowly, but if not disturbed, does better mid and late game in science than for example Australia. Usually not impressive military, but other AI cannot take advantage of it
Seondeok/Korea [24]
Suleiman/Ottomans [13]
Tamar/Georgia [16]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [25]
Trajan/Rome [17]
Wilhelmina/Netherlands [1] 4-3 When you have great adjecency for campus, theatre, no bonus to holy site and always start with a holy side. I never saw the Dutch above average. But at least Wilhelmina always founds protestantism.

 

[Icicle]

Amanitore/Nubia [22]
Chandragupta/India [9]
Cleopatra/Egypt [6]
Cyrus/Persia [11]
Frederick/Germany [18]
Gandhi/India [14]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gorgo/Greece [9]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [1]
John Curtin/Australia [25]
Lautaro/Mapuche [15]
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [27]
Pachacuti/Inca [7]
Pedro/Brazil [8]
Pericles/Greece [21]
Poundmaker/Cree [18]
Saladin/Arabia [20] (19+1) I once saw the AI do an absolutely beautiful timing attack with Mamluks and Crusade. Those things were practically tanks. It was almost certainly a complete accident, but being good accidentally is better than most of this list can manage.
Seondeok/Korea [24]
Suleiman/Ottomans [13]
Tamar/Georgia [16]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [25]
Trajan/Rome [17]
Wilhelmina/Netherlands [ELIMINATED] (1-3) I've never seen the AI do anything at all with her, and she always starts wars over lack of trade routes and, ironically, never gets ready for climate change and floods.

 

[Dotsworthy]

Amanitore/Nubia [22]
Chandragupta/India [9]
Cleopatra/Egypt [6]
Cyrus/Persia [11]
Frederick/Germany [18]
Gandhi/India [14]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gorgo/Greece [6] 9-3. Considering she is a warmonger civ, she does literally nothing.
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [1]
John Curtin/Australia [25]
Lautaro/Mapuche [15]
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [27]
Pachacuti/Inca [7]
Pedro/Brazil [9] 8 + 1. Yeah Pedro is underrated. His agency for rainforest means he often jumps ahead in science.
Pericles/Greece [21]
Poundmaker/Cree [18]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Seondeok/Korea [24]
Suleiman/Ottomans [13]
Tamar/Georgia [16]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [25]
Trajan/Rome [17]

 

[zandermander]

Amanitore/Nubia [22]
Chandragupta/India [9]
Cleopatra/Egypt [6]
Cyrus/Persia [11]
Frederick/Germany [18]
Gandhi/India [14]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gorgo/Greece [6]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [1]
John Curtin/Australia [25]
Lautaro/Mapuche [15]
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [27]
Pachacuti/Inca [7]
Pedro/Brazil [9]
Pericles/Greece [22] 21 + 1: I'll throw another upvote Pericles' way -- he's singlehandedly forced me to change my plans from Cultural victory to some other type before, which is something I can't say about very many AI leaders.
Poundmaker/Cree [18]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Seondeok/Korea [24]
Suleiman/Ottomans [13]
Tamar/Georgia [16]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [25]
Trajan/Rome [14] 17 - 3: Kind of nitpicking here, but I find Trajan to be less than formidable from the Medieval era onwards, and if you start immediately next to him, you can usually archer-rush before he reaches those terrifying Legions. In the hands of a human, those Legions lead to a large empire entering the Medieval era, but I haven't found AI Rome to be much of a warmonger.

 

[Drivingrevilo]

Amanitore/Nubia [22]
Chandragupta/India [9]
Cleopatra/Egypt [6]
Cyrus/Persia [11]
Frederick/Germany [18]
Gandhi/India [14]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gorgo/Greece [6]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [0] (1-0) ELIMINATED. I defended Hojo earlier, but his time has come. Sometimes does a decent job at culture or science, but is frustratingly awful at utilising his über-powerful adjacency bonuses.
John Curtin/Australia [26] (25+1) What more is there to say at this stage? The only Civ who consistently challenges me for Science Victory on Deity.
Lautaro/Mapuche [15]
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [27]
Pachacuti/Inca [7]
Pedro/Brazil [9]
Pericles/Greece [22] Interesting that we are up-voting Pericles, "because he makes Cultural Victory much harder to achieve, even though he never achieves it himself". You know who else makes Cultural Victory much, *much* harder to achieve without achieving it himself? Peter & Russia: but we eliminated him with cursory contempt. Peter is just as good at stealing GWAMs from the player, but *also* stands a chance of winning a Religious Victory too. So in my eyes, he is far more dangerous than Pericles: so how come the wrinkly old goon gets such inexplicable love? I'm going to hold off down-voting him again, since that's not in the spirit of this thread when others clearly disagree strongly with me. But let it be known that I think he is the most overrated Civ remaining, by a country mile .....
Poundmaker/Cree [18]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Seondeok/Korea [24]
Suleiman/Ottomans [13]
Tamar/Georgia [16]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [25]
Trajan/Rome [14]