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

[zandermander]

Amanitore/Nubia [21]
Chandragupta/India [9]
Cyrus/Persia [11]
Frederick/Germany [13]
Gandhi/India [11]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gorgo/Greece [3]
John Curtin/Australia [27]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [28]
Pachacuti/Inca [1]
Pedro/Brazil [4]
Pericles/Greece [22]
Poundmaker/Cree [20]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Seondeok/Korea [25] 24 + 1: I'll throw an upvote to the civ with the greatest potential to be a science runaway. Yes, she often fails to take advantage of the Seowon's adjacency bonuses, but she remains a tech powerhouse. If I start next to her, the science bonuses mean that she has earlier walls and swordsmen to beat back an early rush, and if I start far away, she'll be an era ahead or more by the time I meet her.
Suleiman/Ottomans [7]
Tamar/Georgia [9]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [24] 27 - 3: I don't think Teddy is the worst civ on this list, but I do think he is overrated. If you start next to him, it may well be goodbye, but I've never been remotely challenged by him when we are on different continents. He does get a lot of cultural bonuses, but the Film Studio requires a lot of investment before it is reached, and the Rough Rider's bonuses are again diminished if you're not on Teddy's continent. He's a strong civ, but IMO just not at the level of Mvemba or Curtin.
Trajan/Rome [15]

 

[Kmart_Elvis]

Amanitore/Nubia [21]
Chandragupta/India [6] (9-3) The only difference between him and Gandhi's India is his territorial war bonus. Which means the AI never, ever uses it. It's like playing India without a leader ability.
Cyrus/Persia [12] (11+1) On the flip side, if the AI only declares surprise wars, wouldn't an ability centered around surprise wars be great? Enter Cyrus. He enjoys the speed bonus every time he starts a war.
Frederick/Germany [13]
Gandhi/India [11]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gorgo/Greece [3]
John Curtin/Australia [27]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [28]
Pachacuti/Inca [1]
Pedro/Brazil [4]
Pericles/Greece [22]
Poundmaker/Cree [20]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Seondeok/Korea [25]
Suleiman/Ottomans [7]
Tamar/Georgia [9]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [24]
Trajan/Rome [15]

 

[Icicle]

Amanitore/Nubia [21]
Chandragupta/India [6]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Frederick/Germany [13]
Gandhi/India [11]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gorgo/Greece [3]
John Curtin/Australia [27]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [28]
Pachacuti/Inca [1]
Pedro/Brazil [1] (4-3) He spams entertainment districts and then performs as the clown at his own circus.
Pericles/Greece [22]
Poundmaker/Cree [20]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Seondeok/Korea [26] (25+1) With Korea the ticking clock on the AI getting to space is that much faster, because not even the AI can screw up her science bonus. In fact one of the few "oh @#$!" moments in Civ 6 is when you're on a huge map and Korea is on the opposite end of it. Basically you have to plan around Korea in a way that you don't with other AIs, so she gets an upvote for me. Plus she has the potential to snowball v. other AIs as her units tend to be more advanced than theirs, and I've seen her do it a few times.
Suleiman/Ottomans [7]
Tamar/Georgia [9]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [24]
Trajan/Rome [15]

 

[Drivingrevilo]

Amanitore/Nubia [21]
Chandragupta/India [6]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Frederick/Germany [13]
Gandhi/India [11]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gorgo/Greece [3]
John Curtin/Australia [27]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16] Personally, this is the most interesting point to take away. I have never rated Lautaro. In fact, I'm playing as him right now, and I still think he is a poorly-designed, boring Civ who only narrowly escapes F tier because of that (entirely situational) +10 combat strength bonus. Nor have I ever noticed the AI do particularly well as him. So this has been an eye-opener to discover that everyone else rates him among 'the best'. As a deliberate test, I'm going to put him in my next few games and pay close attention to how well his AI does.
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [28]
Pachacuti/Inca [0] (1-0) ELIMINATED. Too much for the AI to think about with the Inca. Their design requires forward-planning: settling mountains, choosing the best spot for Campuses, and planning where Terrace Farms will fit around Aqueducts. The AI fails every aspect. First, he either gets shafted with a flatland desert/plains start or, more stupidly, chooses to settle away from the highlands. Second, he plops his Campuses down in the worst available spots or, just as often, prefers to put Holy Sites in the best places. And third, he doesn't build Aqueducts (or at least, not in the correct places) – meaning that those Terrace Farms he loves to spam are useless, since all they do is give him a food surplus he'll never be able to do anything with. Also wastes countless builder charges on his tunnels. Look up 'inefficient' in the dictionary, and you'll find Pachacuti.
Pedro/Brazil [2] (1+1) F in the chat for Pedro. Gone too soon, gone too soon ....
Pericles/Greece [22]
Poundmaker/Cree [20]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Seondeok/Korea [26]
Suleiman/Ottomans [7]
Tamar/Georgia [9]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [24]
Trajan/Rome [15]

 

[Hakan-i Cihan]

Correction for Gandhi, Noble Zarkon downvote wasn't taken correctly

Amanitore/Nubia [21]
Chandragupta/India [6]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Frederick/Germany [13]
Gandhi/India [8]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gorgo/Greece [3]
John Curtin/Australia [27]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [28]
Pedro/Brazil [2]
Pericles/Greece [22]
Poundmaker/Cree [20]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Seondeok/Korea [26]
Suleiman/Ottomans [7]
Tamar/Georgia [9]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [24]
Trajan/Rome [15]

 

[The Highwayman]

Amanitore/Nubia [21]
Chandragupta/India [6]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Frederick/Germany [13]
Gandhi/India [8]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gorgo/Greece [3]
John Curtin/Australia [27]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [28]
Pedro/Brazil [ELIMINATED] [2-3] Two of his abilities involve GP point generation, but he doesn't keep me from getting the GPs I want. The Battleship isn't leveraged any better than any other AI's navy. Can certainly luck into some good to great early districts, but the lack of forward thinking relegates Pedro to the same fate as most.
Pericles/Greece [22]
Poundmaker/Cree [20]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Seondeok/Korea [26]
Suleiman/Ottomans [7]
Tamar/Georgia [9]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [25] [24+1] Sure Tamar leverages her abilities (builds walls, spends her faith), but they never impact the game in my experience. At the very least Teddy can flex with his +5 on me or the AI. While the Film Studio won't likely be a factor, it does cause Teddy to push culture harder than most, which can slow my own culture victory. The UUs may as well not exist; but hey, we can't have everything.
Trajan/Rome [15]

 

[Chefofrats]

Amanitore/Nubia [21]
Chandragupta/India [6]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Frederick/Germany [13]
Gandhi/India [5] (8-3) - I can't believe Brazil got elimitaned before Gandhi's inept, apostle-spamming India. I've never seen the civ do well enough to remember in any of my games.
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gorgo/Greece [3]
John Curtin/Australia [27]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [29] (28+1) - already voted for Kongo once before, and it's time to do it again. Not being able to fall into the silly religion trap always makes Kongo perform better than other civs.
Pericles/Greece [22]
Poundmaker/Cree [20]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Seondeok/Korea [26]
Suleiman/Ottomans [7]
Tamar/Georgia [9]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [25]

 

[TCBB]

Amanitore/Nubia [21]
Chandragupta/India [6]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Frederick/Germany [14] (13+1) Eighteen civs remain, and IMO Frederick deserves to be top 10. Saying 'the AI can defeat city states easily' is the wrong take: Frederick defeats all the city states anywhere near him. This directly benefits him, but it also seriously inconveniences the human player. I often find myself having to change my strategy mid-game because Frederick has engulfed one of my essential city states (e.g. Auckland, Antanarivo, Yerevan). It also represents a massive loss of investment when you're six envoys deep in a state, only for him to rock up and destroy them. In this way, I would argue that he directly 'challenges' or 'sets back' the human player more than several civs remaining. Also, someone said that he doesn't use Hansas well, which is not my experience at all – so this must be another example of different players experiencing the game differently.
Gandhi/India [2] (5-3) C'mon, calling Gandhi 'inept' is not fair. He is very peaceful, so he rarely suffers at the hands of his (generally more powerful) neighbours. And he dedicates all his resources to religious victory; as several of us have explained already, when the AI focus all their resources on religious victory, their odds of achieving it are surprisingly high. So Gandhi has 1.) a focussed goal and 2.) a chance of achieving it. This is not 'inept', and puts him far ahead the pack of (largely aimless) civs we've already eliminated. NONETHELESS: I agree that Gandhi's time has come. Apart from that religious victory, he poses no threat to a human player. And as long as you don't attack him right when his Varus are in full force, he's also an easy civ to conquer. So A- for effort Gandhi, but C+ for performance.
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gorgo/Greece [3]
John Curtin/Australia [27]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [29]
Pericles/Greece [22]
Poundmaker/Cree [20]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Seondeok/Korea [26]
Suleiman/Ottomans [7]
Tamar/Georgia [9]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [25]

 

[bengalryan9]

Amanitore/Nubia [21]
Chandragupta/India [6] This thread is very strange. As has been pointed out by both @Kmart_Elvis and me, Chandragupta is basically just Gandhi without a leader ability and yet he has more points. *Any* bonus is better than one bonus, and while Gandhi's isn't the strongest it's also passive and one the AI can't help but benefit from.
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Frederick/Germany [14] Why would you spend envoys on a city state next to Frederick anyways? That's just bad planning.
Gandhi/India [2]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gorgo/Greece [3]
John Curtin/Australia [28] (27+1) Has easy to take advantage of adjacency bonuses to most of his districts and can outproduce just about anyone. Based on how this thread has gone that means he'll be getting downvoted soon so I'll go ahead and start propping him up now.
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [29]
Pericles/Greece [22]
Poundmaker/Cree [20]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Seondeok/Korea [26] I'm not voting her down yet, but she's the only AI that will found cities that literally cannot build campus districts. Real quality play right there. Same thing applies to Pericles but he's not the overrated meme that Korea is.
Suleiman/Ottomans [7]
Tamar/Georgia [6] (9-3) The fact that Tamar (and half this list quite frankly) are here and Pedro is gone is criminal. If you want to value "she builds walls earlier" and "sometimes when I don't pay any attention to her she can threaten an RV despite not having any actual bonuses to it" more power to you, but she's the worst left on here by a country mile in my eyes.
Teddy Roosevelt/America [25]

 

[Connor_CivFan]

Amanitore/Nubia [21]
Chandragupta/India [6]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Frederick/Germany [14]
Gandhi/India [2]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gorgo/Greece [3]
John Curtin/Australia [28]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [30] 29 + 1 Kongo is arguably the best civ when it comes to culture. The amount of culture Kongo produces is insane compared to the likes of Greece.
Pericles/Greece [22]
Poundmaker/Cree [20]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Seondeok/Korea [26]
Suleiman/Ottomans [7]
Tamar/Georgia [3] 6 - 3 At this point, Georgia is by far the worst remaining as (once again) they never do anything. It is a gift to be near Georgia in my games.
Teddy Roosevelt/America [25]

 

[Arianrhod]

Amanitore/Nubia [21]
Chandragupta/India [6]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Frederick/Germany [15] One of few AIs who actively changes gameplay in any capacity, because he loves to destroy city states even more than usual, and that army has to go somewhere once he's done. Probably not a top tier threat, but the fact that you even need to pay attention to him still gives him an edge over some remaining civs.
Gandhi/India [0] Slightly more likely to win than Tamar if he wins the lottery, but much more likely to die horribly because of an unwillingness to defend himself. Easy for even the AI to conquer, never mind a competent player, and poses no real threat in any capacity outside of religion.
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gorgo/Greece [3]
John Curtin/Australia [28]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [30]
Pericles/Greece [22]
Poundmaker/Cree [20]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Seondeok/Korea [26]
Suleiman/Ottomans [7]
Tamar/Georgia [3]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [25]

 

[Leucarum]

Amanitore/Nubia [22] (21+1) I really don't like seeing Pitati archers on my doorstep early game...
Chandragupta/India [6]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Frederick/Germany [15]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gorgo/Greece [3]
John Curtin/Australia [28]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [30]
Pericles/Greece [22]
Poundmaker/Cree [20]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Seondeok/Korea [26]
Suleiman/Ottomans [4] (7-3) Gotta agree with some of the other posters. Never seems to live up to his warmongering potential. A lot of his abilities are more subtle in their use so I'm not surprised the AI messes them up...
Tamar/Georgia [3]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [25]

This is definitely the most subjective elimination thread I've seen in a while. What the player sees also probably depends on how they play. For example, are the players who more often report seeing AIs come close to religious victory players who tend not to found their own?

 

[Virdrago]

Amanitore/Nubia [22]
Chandragupta/India [6]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Frederick/Germany [15]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gorgo/Greece [3]
John Curtin/Australia [28]
Lautaro/Mapuche [17] (16+1) Maybe it's the bonus against civs with Golden Ages when at war, but Lautaro always seems to hold his own with either through Culture, Science, or Militarily. It's rare that I see the Mapuche destroyed early, and they start to snowball later. Maybe a lack of Religious focus helps too
Montezuma/Aztec [13]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [30]
Pericles/Greece [22]
Poundmaker/Cree [20]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Seondeok/Korea [26]
Suleiman/Ottomans [1] (4-3) Of all the ones left, Suleiman is the only one I have never seen do much. Even Chandra, Gorgo and Tamar have had powerful empires in some of my games. The Ottomans are always fighting just to survive
Tamar/Georgia [3]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [25]

 

[Vahnstad]

Amanitore/Nubia [22]
Chandragupta/India [6]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Frederick/Germany [15]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gorgo/Greece [3]
John Curtin/Australia [28]
Lautaro/Mapuche [17]
Montezuma/Aztec [14] (13+1) They go absolutely nuts in most of my games.
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [30]
Pericles/Greece [22]
Poundmaker/Cree [20]
Saladin/Arabia [17] (20-3) Often the first to go exttnct.
Seondeok/Korea [26]
Suleiman/Ottomans [1] (4-3)
Tamar/Georgia [3]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [25]

 

[Icicle]

Amanitore/Nubia [23] (22+1) Gonna give her another boost, her broken ranged xp bonus means you may actually see her archers with promotions before she suicides them into your troops. Yes, that's a step above most others on this list. But don't worry, she mas more. And more. And more. And ahhh I'm gonna go fight someone else first.
Chandragupta/India [6]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Frederick/Germany [15]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
Gorgo/Greece [ELIMINATED] (3-3) I have literally never seen this warrior queen win a war. She seems to be reduced to one city more often than not by the time I find her.
John Curtin/Australia [28]
Lautaro/Mapuche [17]
Montezuma/Aztec [14]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [30]
Pericles/Greece [22]
Poundmaker/Cree [20]
Saladin/Arabia [17]
Seondeok/Korea [26]
Suleiman/Ottomans [1]
Tamar/Georgia [3]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [25]

 

[Drivingrevilo]

Amanitore/Nubia [23]
Chandragupta/India [6]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Frederick/Germany [15]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
John Curtin/Australia [28]
Lautaro/Mapuche [17]
Montezuma/Aztec [11] (14-13) We're definitely at the point of pure subjectivity, in the sense that there's little to separate the remaining civs. So I've got no rational explanation here, just a purely subjective take: Montezuma is bad. Doesn't achieve early conquering in my games, doesn't challenge for science in my games, and *does* get wiped off the map in my games. Go figure.
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [30]
Pericles/Greece [22]
Poundmaker/Cree [20]
Saladin/Arabia [17]
Seondeok/Korea [26]
Suleiman/Ottomans [2] (1+1) Another vote based purely on "it's-happened-in-my-games"-ism: Suleiman *does* achieve early conquering in my games, *does* challenge for science in my games, and *doesn't* get wiped off the map in my games. Go figure.
Tamar/Georgia [3]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [25]

 

[Leucarum]

Amanitore/Nubia [23]
Chandragupta/India [6-3] (3) I always expect Chandragupta to do more. As a neighbour that's guaranteed to be aggressive... He never really delivers on it in my experience. I think part of it is timing. If you start off right next to him, often you end up warring before he has many Varu. If you are a bit further away he doesn't tend to hate you for sharing a border until his Varu are less useful. After that he's more or less vanilla...
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Frederick/Germany [15]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
John Curtin/Australia [28]
Lautaro/Mapuche [17]
Montezuma/Aztec [12] (11+1) Montezuma has better timing. He has a small window where he's a big threat if you start close. Less of a problem once that window has passed but it's still there.
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [30]
Pericles/Greece [22]
Poundmaker/Cree [20]
Saladin/Arabia [17]
Seondeok/Korea [26]
Suleiman/Ottomans [2]
Tamar/Georgia [3]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [25]

Voted late yesterday. Back to normalish time today

 

[TCBB]

Amanitore/Nubia [23]
Chandragupta/India [0] ELIMINATED. Like I defended Gandhi, I was also defending Chandragupta a while back. When he uses his Varu correctly, his aggression can pay him great dividends. However, as @Leucarum points out, the timing window is quite small for him to pull it off. Now is the right time for him to go.
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Frederick/Germany [15]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
John Curtin/Australia [28]
Lautaro/Mapuche [17]
Montezuma/Aztec [12]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [30]
Pericles/Greece [22]
Poundmaker/Cree [20]
Saladin/Arabia [18] (17+1) I dont accept that he is "often the first to go extinct". His faith-science combo poses a double threat to the player and means he keeps pace in terms of tech & military. I've also seen him use Mamluks very effectively. On a side note, if I'm rushing a religion my worst nightmare is finding that Saladin spawned. I know that he's guaranteed a great prophet, so I have to double-rush my efforts to secure one. This usually means spamming holy site prayers, which is not ideal when you could be building settlers or a campus. So he gets points for forcing a change in the usual tempo of the early game, too.
Seondeok/Korea [26]
Suleiman/Ottomans [2]
Tamar/Georgia [3]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [25]

 

[Connor_CivFan]

Amanitore/Nubia [23]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Frederick/Germany [15]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
John Curtin/Australia [29] 28 + 1, Australia's civ ability is incredibly good. They can easily get adjacency bonuses of above 5, 6 and maybe even 7 in some cases.
Lautaro/Mapuche [17]
Montezuma/Aztec [12]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [30]
Pericles/Greece [22]
Poundmaker/Cree [20]
Saladin/Arabia [18]
Seondeok/Korea [26]
Suleiman/Ottomans [2]
Tamar/Georgia [ELIMINATED] 3 - 3 Im gonna get rid of Georgia now. All the other civs remaining, I often find they are at least competent when they are in my games unlike Georgia who will build walls and sit on a couple of cities for the whole game.
Teddy Roosevelt/America [25]

 

[konokono]

Amanitore/Nubia [23]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Frederick/Germany [15]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [22]
John Curtin/Australia [29]
Lautaro/Mapuche [14] = 17 - 3. I don't think I've ever seen him be a problem for me or anyone in my games. I'm not very warlike though and I don't play Deity so maybe it makes a difference on how often other civs get golden age?
Montezuma/Aztec [12]
Mvemba a Nzinga/Kongo [30]
Pericles/Greece [22]
Poundmaker/Cree [21] = 20 + 1. Just purely from observation, whenever I see him in my games he develops a solid empire.
Saladin/Arabia [18]
Seondeok/Korea [26]
Suleiman/Ottomans [2]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [25]