[NFP] Religious Victory Elimination Thread

[Lily_Lancer]

Alexander/Macedon [6]
Amanitore/Nubia [15]
Catherine/France [15]
Chandragupta/India [15]
Cleopatra/Egypt [15]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Eleanor/France [12]
Eleanor/England [12]
Frederick/Germany [15]
Gandhi/India [17]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [13=12+1] This may be the strongest Civ on religious victories, for its diplo UA works the best on religious combats that you don't have to declare wars(so that you receive +2 from embassy, while you can refuse your enemy's embassy, and this leads to a huge +12 advantage, and don't forget your +6 from trading posts, combined with spy and printing you can get +30 altogether, which means your apostles all work like religious GDRs. )
Gilgamesh/Sumeria [15]
Gitarja/Indonesia [16].
Gorgo/Greece [15]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [15]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [16]
Jadwiga/Poland [18]
Jayavarman/Khmer [15]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kristina/Sweden [15]
Kupe/Maori [15]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [13]
Lautaro/Mapuche [15]
Mansa Musa/Mali [16]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [15]
Montezuma/Aztec [15]
Pachacuti/Inca [15]
Pedro/Brazil [17]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [23]
Philip/Spain [15]
Poundmaker/Cree [9=12-3] Downvote some random blank ones.
Qin Shi Huang/China [13]
Robert the Bruce/Scotland [3]
Saladin/Arabia [17]
Seondeok/Korea [6]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [14]
Suleiman/Ottomans [9]
Tamar/Georgia [17]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [15]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Victoria/England [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [15]
Wilhelmina/Netherlands [9]

 

[lotrmith]

Alexander/Macedon [6]
Amanitore/Nubia [15]
Catherine/France [15]
Chandragupta/India [15]
Cleopatra/Egypt [15]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Eleanor/France [12]
Eleanor/England [12]
Frederick/Germany [15]
Gandhi/India [17]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [13]
Gilgamesh/Sumeria [15]
Gitarja/Indonesia [16].
Gorgo/Greece [15]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [15]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [16]
Jadwiga/Poland [18]
Jayavarman/Khmer [15]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kristina/Sweden [15]
Kupe/Maori [15]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [13]
Lautaro/Mapuche [15]
Mansa Musa/Mali [16]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [15]
Montezuma/Aztec [15]
Pachacuti/Inca [15]
Pedro/Brazil [17]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [23]
Philip/Spain [15]
Poundmaker/Cree [9]
Qin Shi Huang/China [13]
Robert the Bruce/Scotland [3]
Saladin/Arabia [17]
Seondeok/Korea [6]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [14]
Suleiman/Ottomans [9]
Tamar/Georgia [18] 17 + 1 While not the best she is finally deserving of at least a top 10 finish. Mechanically she has the easiest go at RV because she's all but guaranteed chain golden ages without having to focus on any other era score sources.
Teddy Roosevelt/America [12] 15 - 3 Equally MEH as just about everyone else on this list.
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Victoria/England [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [15]
Wilhelmina/Netherlands [9]

 

[Drivingrevilo]

If we allowed conquering of cities with holy sites then why not do that for every other thread? Conquer the high culture and tourism cities and boom, instant culture victory. Conquer all the high science cities and you'll shoot off into space in no time. That would make Simón Bolívar the winner of each thread, which again is boring.

I'm afraid I have to agree with @BenitoChavez here. Domination can help you win every victory type. But that doesn't mean it's the *best* way to win those victory types. In particular, I would argue that early game domination and early game religion are inherently incompatible / unsynchronised pathways. One requires you to prioritise campuses, unit production, and gold, while rushing for major techs like Horseback Riding or Iron Working; the other requires you to make heavy, heavy investments into holy sites, then shrines, and then temples, while rushing for the generally useless tech Astrology. (Also, domination tends to run along the top of the civic tree, while religion runs along the bottom). So sure, you *could* try to grab a religion in the early game while *also* building an army, building loads of campuses, building loads of commercial hubs, and declaring early wars on your neighbours. But on Deity, I firmly believe that doing both paths is far worse than pursuing either independently.

So that is how I shall be voting – EXCEPT in the case of Mongolia or Aztec, because their combat strength advantages also apply to their religious units. So it is, in fact, a feasible strategy to ignore warmongering as Genghis or Montezuma and, instead, play an entirely peaceful religious game.

(Can anyone confirm 100% whether Scythia's religious units benefit from her LA? And what about Teddy's LA?)


Alexander/Macedon [3] (6-3) In light of what I explained above, I think the clear contenders for early elimination are Alexander, Suleiman, and Gilgamesh: none of them have an incentive to go for early religion while they're also trying early conquest, and none of them have any bonuses to generating faith. After them, I see the next in line as Matthias and Bolivar. Although they might have very minor bonuses to religion (e.g. Pearl of the Danube could help with holy sites, and Bolivar's movement apparently applies to religious units), going for a religion is completely out of sync with what their ideal early game would be – building units, building campuses, and killing people. After them, it's the mass of middling Civs who don't have any explicit reason to go for religion but, unlike the domination Civs, don't have any explicit reason not to grab one (e.g. Netherlands, Phoenicia, France, England, Cree, Germany, Australia, Sweden, etc ....)
Amanitore/Nubia [15]
Catherine/France [15]
Chandragupta/India [15]
Cleopatra/Egypt [15]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Eleanor/France [12]
Eleanor/England [12]
Frederick/Germany [15]
Gandhi/India [17]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [13]
Gilgamesh/Sumeria [15]
Gitarja/Indonesia [16].
Gorgo/Greece [15]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [15]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [16]
Jadwiga/Poland [18]
Jayavarman/Khmer [15]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kristina/Sweden [15]
Kupe/Maori [16] (15+1) Trying to think outside the box here. Kupe gets a tonne of free faith from his Marae, while his amazing culture game helps him reach the important religious civics & grab the religious suzerainties. Plus, the amount of era score he accumulates in the opening turns (e.g. first boats, exploration, finding other civs) gives him one of the most reliable Classical Era golden ages. This allows you to pick Exodus of the Evangelists, which either helps you secure your religion or, if you have one, to spread it super fast – which is all the more easy because you can already embark & cross oceans.
Lady Six Sky/Maya [13]
Lautaro/Mapuche [15]
Mansa Musa/Mali [16]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [15]
Montezuma/Aztec [15]
Pachacuti/Inca [15]
Pedro/Brazil [17]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [23]
Philip/Spain [15]
Poundmaker/Cree [9]
Qin Shi Huang/China [13]
Robert the Bruce/Scotland [3]
Saladin/Arabia [17]
Seondeok/Korea [6]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [14]
Suleiman/Ottomans [9]
Tamar/Georgia [18]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [12]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Victoria/England [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [15]
Wilhelmina/Netherlands [9]

 

[TCBB]

Alexander/Macedon [3]
Amanitore/Nubia [15]
Catherine/France [15]
Chandragupta/India [15]
Cleopatra/Egypt [15]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Eleanor/France [12]
Eleanor/England [12]
Frederick/Germany [15]
Gandhi/India [17]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [13]
Gilgamesh/Sumeria [12] (15-3) Broad agreement with the previous. Gilgamesh needs to spam war carts early on; he doesn't have time for holy sites. You could argue that those war carts allow you to conquer a neighbour who already has holy sites, which then lets you get a religion of your own without needing to invest hammers. But this is conditional on your neighbour building holy sites first and, moreover, on there being great prophets remaining. The only relevant bonus I can see for Sumeria is that Ziggurats grant culture, but that's hardly enough to support him. All in all, grabbing a religion as Gilgamesh comes at the cost of achieving early game conquering, which is what he really shines at – so why would you do it?
Gitarja/Indonesia [16].
Gorgo/Greece [15]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [15]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [16]
Jadwiga/Poland [18]
Jayavarman/Khmer [15]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kristina/Sweden [15]
Kupe/Maori [16]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [13]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16] (15+1) I'm no fan of Lautaro. But he stands slightly ahead of the crowd by virtue of his mountain start bias (= good holy site adjacencies) and his CA which, although situational, gives a massive combat strength boost to your apostles when fighting Civs in golden ages.
Mansa Musa/Mali [16]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [15]
Montezuma/Aztec [15]
Pachacuti/Inca [15]
Pedro/Brazil [17]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [23]
Philip/Spain [15]
Poundmaker/Cree [9]
Qin Shi Huang/China [13]
Robert the Bruce/Scotland [3]
Saladin/Arabia [17]
Seondeok/Korea [6]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [14]
Suleiman/Ottomans [9]
Tamar/Georgia [18]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [12]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Victoria/England [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [15]
Wilhelmina/Netherlands [9]

 

[Republic of San Montuoso]

Will enjoy my vote to continue the debate about how domination is the best at religion victory.
Yes, it's true, killing all your opponents is a way to go (even if @Drivingrevilo temperated it in a way I never thought). ANd, for what is worth, I'll compare with Humankind and something they said in one of their early reveals. You win the game Humankind by accumulating Fame (basically it can be seen as a score victory when you gain fame by being the first to do something or by completing "tasks" during your era). But the trick here is that, once a civ as gain a Fame point, it will never loose it again.
In Civ 6, when someone is ahead of science but not military, just erase them for the map; idem for culture or religion (maybe less for diplomacy). But in Humankind, if an adversary is waaay ahead of you in Fame, conquering and destroying it will be of no use because, even if they don't exist anymore, if they have so much fame that the guy conquering them will never be able to catch up, the destroyed civilization will still win. And that's, IMO, a very elegant way to deal with victory. Being an overly warmonger will not be enough; it might help, but if you're too far behind, it will be of no use. And if someone says "yeah but letting a civilization destroyed win is stupid!" I'll say: Ancient Egypt might be no more today and has lost against Romans and Macedonians and Arabs, but nobody would argue that they're one of the most important civilization that ever existed and that they're still way more relevant than San Marino, a wonderful country sure but which only great feat is its unnatural longevity.
So, yeah, my take about how Victory is dealt in civ 6: too many problems might be solve by brute force, and I don't like that. And I don't play that way. And since each person is voting according to their own experience and how they play the game (a lot of people are saying "this civ is not use because it has no chance in Deity", yes maybe but the thread is not "who's the best at religious victory in deity") I'll continue to downvote civs that are good to RV only through domination because it's not in their spirit.

Alexander/Macedon [3]
Amanitore/Nubia [16] (15+1) Nobody upvoted her before (as well as nobody upvoted Mansa Moussa before except for me), and I don't know why people are avoiding our desert friends. I mean, Desert Folklore is as strong as Dance of the Aurora in term of faith generation. Just for that they deserve an upvote. But for Amanitore, it goes beyong: the Nubian Pyramid gives faith as a base yield (always something good) and gives more faith if adjacent to the holy site. +20% production for districts is also something that might help you getting the few turn(s) to have it before others. So, yeah, definitely not S tier but certainly in the top third of the list.
Catherine/France [15]
Chandragupta/India [15]
Cleopatra/Egypt [15] Same reasoning that for Nubians, that's why I'll upvote her tomorrow.
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Eleanor/France [12]
Eleanor/England [12]
Frederick/Germany [15]
Gandhi/India [17]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [13]
Gilgamesh/Sumeria [12]
Gitarja/Indonesia [16].
Gorgo/Greece [15]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [15]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [16]
Jadwiga/Poland [18]
Jayavarman/Khmer [15]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kristina/Sweden [15]
Kupe/Maori [16]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [13]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [16]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [15]
Montezuma/Aztec [15]
Pachacuti/Inca [15]
Pedro/Brazil [17]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [23]
Philip/Spain [15]
Poundmaker/Cree [9]
Qin Shi Huang/China [13]
Robert the Bruce/Scotland [0 - ELIMINATED] (3-3) Maybe it's too early for our friend Bobby Bruce, but 1) no bonus towards religion-founding/faith-generation 2) contrary to Seondeok, the best mountain spots are taken by campuses, not holy sites 3) even his military bonuses aren't of use for taking down enemies with religion if you're going the military path 4) scientifically you'll go for writing rather than astrology for the campus, and culturally you'll go for games and recreations for the entertainment complex rather than mysticism/theology, so in each tree you're going in the wrong direction. So, overall, a civ that hasno bonuses and no incentives to go for religion.
Saladin/Arabia [17]
Seondeok/Korea [6] The only thing saving her from an early downvote is that since the Seowon doesn't need mountains for adjacency bonuses, it left the mountains for holy sites. But besides that, I'll downvote her quickly.
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [14]
Suleiman/Ottomans [9]
Tamar/Georgia [18]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [12]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Victoria/England [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [15]
Wilhelmina/Netherlands [9]

 

[kryat]

Alexander/Macedon [3]
Amanitore/Nubia [16]
Catherine/France [15]
Chandragupta/India [15]
Cleopatra/Egypt [15]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Eleanor/France [9] (12-3) I’m not seeing much in this kit. Later wonders don’t have much to do with religion, and you really want earlier kicks for a religious victory.
Eleanor/England [12]
Frederick/Germany [15]
Gandhi/India [17]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [13]
Gilgamesh/Sumeria [12]
Gitarja/Indonesia [16].
Gorgo/Greece [15]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [15]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [16]
Jadwiga/Poland [18]
Jayavarman/Khmer [15]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kristina/Sweden [15]
Kupe/Maori [16]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [13]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [16]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [15]
Montezuma/Aztec [15]
Pachacuti/Inca [16] (15+1) Excellent mountain bias, great mobility on mountain paths, has a unique pairing with Earth Goddess, and just has mighty fine fundamental play.
Pedro/Brazil [17]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [23]
Philip/Spain [15]
Poundmaker/Cree [9]
Qin Shi Huang/China [13]
Saladin/Arabia [17]
Seondeok/Korea [6] <- I’ve been thinking the same thing about the Seowan, you save your mountain adjacencies, usually.
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [14]
Suleiman/Ottomans [9]
Tamar/Georgia [18]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [12]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Victoria/England [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [15]
Wilhelmina/Netherlands [9]

 

[Noble Zarkon]

Alexander/Macedon [3]
Amanitore/Nubia [16]
Catherine/France [15]
Chandragupta/India [15]
Cleopatra/Egypt [15]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Eleanor/France [9]
Eleanor/England [12]
Frederick/Germany [15]
Gandhi/India [17]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [13]
Gilgamesh/Sumeria [12]
Gitarja/Indonesia [16].
Gorgo/Greece [15]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [15]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [16]
Jadwiga/Poland [18]
Jayavarman/Khmer [15]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kristina/Sweden [15]
Kupe/Maori [16]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [13]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [17] 16+1, has the ability to generate faith from the outset allowing him to take Desert Folklore and away you go
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [15]
Montezuma/Aztec [15]
Pachacuti/Inca [16]
Pedro/Brazil [17]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [23]
Philip/Spain [15]
Poundmaker/Cree [9]
Qin Shi Huang/China [13]
Saladin/Arabia [17]
Seondeok/Korea [6]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [14]
Suleiman/Ottomans [6] 9-3 - Nothing here for a religious win
Tamar/Georgia [18]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [12]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Victoria/England [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [15]
Wilhelmina/Netherlands [9]

 

[Dantesedge]

Alexander/Macedon [3]
Amanitore/Nubia [16]
Catherine/France [15]
Chandragupta/India [15]
Cleopatra/Egypt [15]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Eleanor/France [9]
Eleanor/England [12]
Frederick/Germany [15]
Gandhi/India [17]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [13]
Gilgamesh/Sumeria [12]
Gitarja/Indonesia [16].
Gorgo/Greece [15]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [15]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [16]
Jadwiga/Poland [18]
Jayavarman/Khmer [15]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kristina/Sweden [15]
Kupe/Maori [16]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [13]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [17]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [15]
Montezuma/Aztec [15]
Pachacuti/Inca [16]
Pedro/Brazil [17]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [23]
Philip/Spain [15]
Poundmaker/Cree [9]
Qin Shi Huang/China [13]
Saladin/Arabia [17]
Seondeok/Korea [6]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [14]
Suleiman/Ottomans [6]
Tamar/Georgia [19] (18+1) The ability to easily chain Exodus of the Evangelists in the early game, keep constant control over religious city states (looking at you Yerevan), and an excellent mid-game faith revenue source (one Tsikhe can generate up to +16 faith!) gives Tamar a leg up in this field. The biggest problem comes with the fact that she is dependent on certain uncontrollable things: the randomness of city state placement and other civs wanting to attack them to trigger protectorate wars. When given the right map though she can be extremely powerful.
Teddy Roosevelt/America [12]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Victoria/England [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [15]
Wilhelmina/Netherlands [6] (9-3) Holy Sites are not affected by her civ ability and I don't know why anyone would prioritize building one over the other districts she can generate terrific yields with. I don't see any real RV advantage here.

 

[Leucarum]

I'm going to be voting assuming that only direct bonuses to religious units (Genghis, Bolivar etc...) apply. Yes any victory is easy to win if you kill everyone but it would also mean that the previous elimination thread is the only one we should have actually done.

Alexander/Macedon [3]
Amanitore/Nubia [16]
Catherine/France [15]
Chandragupta/India [15]
Cleopatra/Egypt [15]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Eleanor/France [9]
Eleanor/England [12]
Frederick/Germany [15]
Gandhi/India [17]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [13]
Gilgamesh/Sumeria [12]
Gitarja/Indonesia [16]
Gorgo/Greece [15]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [16] (15+1) I'm going to throw a curveball early to a civ that I don't expect to do well. Converting the world to worshipping odin makes me happy, but also being able to cross oceans early and get faith by pillaging some coastal improvements makes Norway a fun civ to play RV with. Maybe the only one I actually enjoy...
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [16]
Jadwiga/Poland [18]
Jayavarman/Khmer [15]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kristina/Sweden [15]
Kupe/Maori [16]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [13]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [17]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [15]
Montezuma/Aztec [15]
Pachacuti/Inca [16]
Pedro/Brazil [17]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [23]
Philip/Spain [15]
Poundmaker/Cree [6] (9-3) Nothing to see here...
Qin Shi Huang/China [13]
Saladin/Arabia [17]
Seondeok/Korea [6]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [14]
Suleiman/Ottomans [6]
Tamar/Georgia [19]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [12]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Victoria/England [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [15]
Wilhelmina/Netherlands [6]

 

[ky ky]

Alexander/Macedon [3]
Amanitore/Nubia [16]
Catherine/France [15]
Chandragupta/India [15]
Cleopatra/Egypt [15]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Eleanor/France [9]
Eleanor/England [12]
Frederick/Germany [15]
Gandhi/India [17]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [13]
Gilgamesh/Sumeria [12]
Gitarja/Indonesia [16]
Gorgo/Greece [15]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [16]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [16]
Jadwiga/Poland [18]
Jayavarman/Khmer [15]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kristina/Sweden [15]
Kupe/Maori [16]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [13]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [18] (17+1) Desert folklore + 100% holy site adjacency + 30% cheaper missionaries and apostles + suguba faith purchase discounts = unstoppable apostle & guru spam.
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [15]
Montezuma/Aztec [15]
Pachacuti/Inca [16]
Pedro/Brazil [17]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [23]
Philip/Spain [15]
Poundmaker/Cree [6]
Qin Shi Huang/China [13]
Saladin/Arabia [17]
Seondeok/Korea [6]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [14]
Suleiman/Ottomans [6]
Tamar/Georgia [19]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [12]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Victoria/England [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [15]
Wilhelmina/Netherlands [3] (6-3) Don't know why you'd go for religious victory with Wilhelmina when other victories/ other civs are more fun :^)

 

[Arithmion]

Alexander/Macedon [3]
Amanitore/Nubia [16]
Catherine/France [15]
Chandragupta/India [15]
Cleopatra/Egypt [15]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Eleanor/France [9]
Eleanor/England [12]
Frederick/Germany [15]
Gandhi/India [17]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [13]
Gilgamesh/Sumeria [12]
Gitarja/Indonesia [16]
Gorgo/Greece [15]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [16]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [16]
Jadwiga/Poland [18]
Jayavarman/Khmer [15]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kristina/Sweden [15]
Kupe/Maori [16]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [13]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [18]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [15]
Montezuma/Aztec [15]
Pachacuti/Inca [16]
Pedro/Brazil [17]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [23]
Philip/Spain [15]
Poundmaker/Cree [6]
Qin Shi Huang/China [13]
Saladin/Arabia [17]
Seondeok/Korea [6]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [14]
Suleiman/Ottomans [6]
Tamar/Georgia [19]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [12]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Victoria/England [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [16] (15+1) His anti-surprise war vulnerability allows him to go for an early holy site without having to spam troops to survive.
Wilhelmina/Netherlands [3] (Eliminated) Kind of fun to play as, but no bonuses to religion and few to conquering make it counterproductive to pick her for religious victory.

 

[The Highwayman]

Alexander/Macedon [3]
Amanitore/Nubia [16]
Catherine/France [15]
Chandragupta/India [15]
Cleopatra/Egypt [15]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Eleanor/France [9]
Eleanor/England [12]
Frederick/Germany [15]
Gandhi/India [17]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [13]
Gilgamesh/Sumeria [12]
Gitarja/Indonesia [16]
Gorgo/Greece [15]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [16]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [16]
Jadwiga/Poland [18]
Jayavarman/Khmer [15]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kristina/Sweden [15]
Kupe/Maori [17] [16+1] Early exploration helps everything, including first meets on many religious city states. Good faith economy from Marae and better than average advantages from Earth Goddess. Being able to cross the ocean and do what ever you want from turn 1 helps all victory conditions.
Lady Six Sky/Maya [13]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [18]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [15]
Montezuma/Aztec [15]
Pachacuti/Inca [16]
Pedro/Brazil [17]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [23]
Philip/Spain [15]
Poundmaker/Cree [3] [6-3] Nice early bonuses still don't help religious combat or great faith gen.
Qin Shi Huang/China [13]
Saladin/Arabia [17]
Seondeok/Korea [6]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [14]
Suleiman/Ottomans [6]
Tamar/Georgia [19]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [12]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Victoria/England [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [16]

 

[Kmart_Elvis]

Alexander/Macedon [3]
Amanitore/Nubia [16]
Catherine/France [15]
Chandragupta/India [15]
Cleopatra/Egypt [16] (15+1) To start off, she has the Sphinx which is a great source of early faith and culture. Having an early source of faith is nice, but especially that valuable culture; it will help you to get to Theology and Theocracy much quicker. The Sphinx has been buffed to provide +2 appeal which creates excellent synergy with Earth Goddess. Egypt draws most of its faith from tiles instead of holy site adjacency. There's also the small bonus of 15% production towards holy sites on rivers, which doesn't usually have good adjacency, but like I said, they're all about tiles.
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Eleanor/France [9]
Eleanor/England [12]
Frederick/Germany [15]
Gandhi/India [17]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [13] @Lily_Lancer rightfully pointed out that these guys can get some beefy apostles since their CS bonuses also apply to religious units as well. Double strength from diplomatic visibility is nothing to ignore. Just by 1) not allowing other civs to send you delegations 2) sending a trade route to a civ and 3) a spy doing the Listening Post mission, will give your apostles +18 CS! That's almost like having a Debater promotion. (Mongol Debater apostles are then +38CS). So yeah, there's no way Genghis should be downvoted this early in the game.
Gilgamesh/Sumeria [12]
Gitarja/Indonesia [16]
Gorgo/Greece [15]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [16]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [16]
Jadwiga/Poland [18]
Jayavarman/Khmer [15]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kristina/Sweden [15]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [13]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [18]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [15]
Montezuma/Aztec [15]
Pachacuti/Inca [16]
Pedro/Brazil [17]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [23]
Philip/Spain [15]
Poundmaker/Cree [3]
Qin Shi Huang/China [13]
Saladin/Arabia [17]
Seondeok/Korea [6]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [14]
Suleiman/Ottomans [3] (6-3) It's possible you could get lucky by invading a neighbor that has some holy sites using your cats and Ibrahim and then generate enough GPP to get a late religion. That does require a bit of luck and you don't really have anything else going that helps with RV. Plus you're playing one of the best dom civs, so Why?
Tamar/Georgia [19]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [12]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Victoria/England [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [16]

 

[bengalryan9]

Took a whole two pages to get to complaining this time around. A new record?

Alexander/Macedon [eliminated] (3-3) This was already covered by Drivingrevilo, but he hit the nail on the head. Yes, you could conquer those with other religions easily enough with Alexander, but if you're going to win a Religious Victory you do have to, you know, found a religion yourself. On Deity this means you have to a) rush at least one holy site, and b) run Prayers to make sure you get the GPP points you need, and while you certainly can do that with Alex, you'd have to sacrifice other things you should probably be priortizing as him - namely, his UB and both of his pretty good classical era UUs. That seems like a really suboptimal way to play to me, and so Alex gets the boot. At least other domination leaders (like Genghis) get combat buffs to their religious units. Maybe if you're outraged by leaders like Shaka and Alex being eliminated you should actually upvote them yourself rather than criticize everyone else?
Amanitore/Nubia [16]
Catherine/France [15]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [15]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Eleanor/France [9]
Eleanor/England [12]
Frederick/Germany [15]
Gandhi/India [17]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [13]
Gilgamesh/Sumeria [12]
Gitarja/Indonesia [16]
Gorgo/Greece [15]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [16]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [16]
Jadwiga/Poland [18]
Jayavarman/Khmer [15]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kristina/Sweden [15]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [13]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [18]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [15]
Montezuma/Aztec [15]
Pachacuti/Inca [16]
Pedro/Brazil [17]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [23]
Philip/Spain [15]
Poundmaker/Cree [3]
Qin Shi Huang/China [13]
Saladin/Arabia [18] (17+1) Not only are you guaranteed to get a religion with zero effort, but spreading your religion as you chase an RV also gives you science.
Seondeok/Korea [6]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [14]
Suleiman/Ottomans [3]
Tamar/Georgia [19]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [12]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Victoria/England [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [16]

 

[fredrikslicer]

Amanitore/Nubia [16]
Catherine/France [15]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [15]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Eleanor/France [9]
Eleanor/England [12]
Frederick/Germany [15]
Gandhi/India [17]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [13]
Gilgamesh/Sumeria [12]
Gitarja/Indonesia [16]
Gorgo/Greece [15]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [16]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [16]
Jadwiga/Poland [18]
Jayavarman/Khmer [15]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kristina/Sweden [15]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [13]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [18]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [15]
Montezuma/Aztec [15]
Pachacuti/Inca [16]
Pedro/Brazil [17]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [23]
Philip/Spain [15]
Poundmaker/Cree [3]
Qin Shi Huang/China [13]
Saladin/Arabia [19] (18+1) garunteed religion is a great advantage
Seondeok/Korea [6]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [14]
Suleiman/Ottomans [3] - 3 Eliminated, entierly dom driven
Tamar/Georgia [19]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [12]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Victoria/England [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [16]

 

[Hans Castorp]

Amanitore/Nubia [16]
Catherine/France [15]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [15]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Eleanor/France [9]
Eleanor/England [12]
Frederick/Germany [15]
Gandhi/India [17]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [13]
Gilgamesh/Sumeria [12]
Gitarja/Indonesia [17] 16+1 Early pantheon highly likely, and cleans up on faith on any map with a fair amount of water. Hard to get a really good adjacency bonus for HS from the coastal placement, but still gives options for cities without mountains, etc.
Gorgo/Greece [15]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [16]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [16]
Jadwiga/Poland [18]
Jayavarman/Khmer [15]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kristina/Sweden [15]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [13]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [18]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [15]
Montezuma/Aztec [15]
Pachacuti/Inca [16]
Pedro/Brazil [17]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [23]
Philip/Spain [15]
Poundmaker/Cree [0] 3-3 Eliminated. No bonuses for religion here.
Qin Shi Huang/China [13]
Saladin/Arabia [19]
Seondeok/Korea [6]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [14]
Tamar/Georgia [19]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [12]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Victoria/England [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [16]

 

[Dantesedge]

Cleopatra should be at 16.

 

[bengalryan9]

Cleopatra should be at 16.

That's my bad, I put it on Chandy by accident. So Cleopatra should be 16 and Chandy should be 15.

 

[Civ Chemist]

Can confirm that Tomyris does NOT get extra CS and heal on kill for religious units anymore. Not sure if this change was intended or is just bugged as I don't remember it being mentioned in any of the patch notes and I'm certain it was still there before the septmeber patch. Haven't tested Monty, Philip or Chandra yet.

Amanitore/Nubia [16]
Catherine/France [15]
Chandragupta/India [15]
Cleopatra/Egypt [16]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Eleanor/France [9]
Eleanor/England [9] (12-3): Nothing here that really helps a religious victory.
Frederick/Germany [15]
Gandhi/India [17]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [14] (13+1): Genghis however (as any other civ) definitely gets extra CS from diplo vis. Just be sending delegations and denying them to the AI he starts with +6 CS. I'm pretty sure you don't get another level for embassies but I haven't tested it. However, sending a trade route actually gives him +2 diplo vis (+1 from trading post and +1 from active trade route). That means if the AI does not send a trade route your way you'll get +18 CS against that civ and this is before we are even considering more diplo vis. from printing or spies. That is pretty insane and a single debater apostles will one-shot enemy missionaries and even non-debater apostles if they are not within the borders of their religious cities. If you have that much CS advantage you don't need a lot of faith to win a religious victory.
Gilgamesh/Sumeria [12]
Gitarja/Indonesia [17]
Gorgo/Greece [15]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [16]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [16]
Jadwiga/Poland [18]
Jayavarman/Khmer [15]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kristina/Sweden [15]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [13]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [18]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [15]
Montezuma/Aztec [15]
Pachacuti/Inca [16]
Pedro/Brazil [17]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [23]
Philip/Spain [15]
Qin Shi Huang/China [13]
Saladin/Arabia [19]
Seondeok/Korea [6]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [14]
Tamar/Georgia [19]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [12]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Victoria/England [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [16]

 

[enKage]

Just wanted to remind, that war is the same tool as others like monumentality, spamming campuses, AH expansion and others, and is not given for fee, it has its opportunity cost. Declining warmongers in every elimination thread just for being a warmonger is nothing but a hypocrisy, as you still take into account all other tools.

In religious victory specifically you have a choice:
1) you eliminate nearby religion by apostles wasting precious charges just to notice 1 era later religion is resurected by religious battles
2) save precious apostle charges for distant religions, while completely remove nearby, with added benefit of plenty free holy sites
That leads to obvious fact, all strong military civs are above average here. Constantly eliminated as "not in spirit of a thread"

Still theological combat is more important to RV, so better apostles matter more than their number. It is a shame Tomyris is bugged now

Amanitore/Nubia [16]
Catherine/France [15]
Chandragupta/India [15]
Cleopatra/Egypt [16]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Eleanor/France [9]
Eleanor/England [9]
Frederick/Germany [15]
Gandhi/India [17]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [15] (14+1): Extreme very early bonus strength (+6 at foreign trade, +9 for mounted) to kill religious neighbour. The strongest apostles in game to finish distant religions. With Tomyris not working as designed, there is no real rival for Genghis (Aztec? Lautaro? Catherine? their bonus strength is lower, if works in every case). Though I am aware Mongolia will finish out of top20 as being "not in the spirit of a thread"
Gilgamesh/Sumeria [12]
Gitarja/Indonesia [17]
Gorgo/Greece [15]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [16]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [16]
Jadwiga/Poland [18]
Jayavarman/Khmer [15]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kristina/Sweden [12] 15-3 Not a great early warmonger, no bonus faith, bno bonus strength to apostles. I wish one day tourism give other benefits (like strength boost for example) but before it happens Kristina is just a misery in terms of RV. Especially as she has no culture early as well. Should be one of 3 civs eliminated in first days, before any other civ already eliminated
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [13]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [18]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [15]
Montezuma/Aztec [15]
Pachacuti/Inca [16]
Pedro/Brazil [17]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [23]
Philip/Spain [15]
Qin Shi Huang/China [13]
Saladin/Arabia [19]
Seondeok/Korea [6]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [14]
Tamar/Georgia [19]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [12]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Victoria/England [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [16]