[NFP] Religious Victory Elimination Thread

[TCBB]

Amanitore/Nubia [16]
Catherine/France [12]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [16]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Eleanor/France [9]
Frederick/Germany [15]
Gandhi/India [17]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [17]
Gilgamesh/Sumeria [6]
Gitarja/Indonesia [18]
Gorgo/Greece [15]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [16]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [17]
Jadwiga/Poland [18]
Jayavarman/Khmer [17]
John Curtin/Australia [16]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [13]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [18]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [12] (15-3) It's probably time for Matthias to start leaving. I've founded a religion as him before, purely in order to get the 'Shield of Christianity' achievement. Overall, it was fairly pointless. 'Pearl of the Danube' encourages you to put holy sites next to rivers, but this comes at the cost of putting them in mountain ranges for adjacency bonuses. And the whole process of rushing a religion ultimately distracts you from what Matthias is really, really good at – conquering people early on. He's one of my favourite leaders, but religion is not his forte.
Montezuma/Aztec [16]
Pachacuti/Inca [15]
Pedro/Brazil [20] (19+1) I'm glad Pedro is finally getting some appreciation in these threads. He can get great adjacency on his holy sites in rainforests. And just imagine how good that would be in combination with the new version of 'work ethic'....
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [25]
Philip/Spain [17]
Qin Shi Huang/China [11]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [14]
Tamar/Georgia [20]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [6]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [16]

 

[Josephias]

Amanitore/Nubia [16]
Catherine/France [12]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [16]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Eleanor/France [9]
Frederick/Germany [15]
Gandhi/India [17]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [17]
Gilgamesh/Sumeria [3] (6-3) I'm in part torn by downvoting Gilgabro, as actually my first (and one of the few) religious victory was with him. But he actually has no major benefits for going religion, and if I won that game was probably because there were no major religion players invovled (Scytia being perhaps the stronger contender), and because I had plenty of room to develop at will on my continent. Nothing memorable from that religious victory came from actual Sumeria's or Gilgamesh bonuses, and therefore I canno't savage anthing form that game to defend him in this poll (on the contrary, time to go if you are vanilla)
Gitarja/Indonesia [18]
Gorgo/Greece [15]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [16]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [17]
Jadwiga/Poland [18]
Jayavarman/Khmer [18] (17+1) Along with Indonesia, SE Asia DLC came with a religion revamp for a reason. They may not be the best at the end, victory-wise, but the two are very religion-oriented civs. Combine suicide missionaries with Monastic isolation, and you practically negate all the risks of religion spread. The only con is it even helps you more in the culture race than in the religion race. He seems to be also one of the most active/annoying religion adversaries in the hands of the AI
John Curtin/Australia [16]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [13]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [18]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [12]
Pachacuti/Inca [15]
Pedro/Brazil [20]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [25]
Philip/Spain [17]
Qin Shi Huang/China [11]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [14]
Tamar/Georgia [20]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [6]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [16]

 

[Leucarum]

Amanitore/Nubia [16]
Catherine/France [12]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [16]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Eleanor/France [9]
Frederick/Germany [15]
Gandhi/India [17]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [17]
Gilgamesh/Sumeria [3]
Gitarja/Indonesia [19] (18+1) She has a lot of options for placing holy sites, and can usually score a good pantheon.
Gorgo/Greece [15]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [16]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [17]
Jadwiga/Poland [18]
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [16]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [10] (13-3) Not incentivised to build holy sites and tends to start off in flat open terrain with few good spots for them.
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [18]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [12]
Pachacuti/Inca [15]
Pedro/Brazil [20]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [25]
Philip/Spain [17]
Qin Shi Huang/China [11]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [14]
Tamar/Georgia [20]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [6]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [16]

 

[Hans Castorp]

Amanitore/Nubia [16]
Catherine/France [12]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [16]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Eleanor/France [9]
Frederick/Germany [12] 15-3 Far from Frederick's forte. Nothing specifically advantageous for RV, and plains starts are common.
Gandhi/India [17]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [17]
Gilgamesh/Sumeria [3]
Gitarja/Indonesia [19]
Gorgo/Greece [15]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [16]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [17]
Jadwiga/Poland [18]
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [16]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [10]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [19] 18+1 Production malus aside, once you get rolling with HS and CH adjacencies, Mali is terrific at faith generation. Add in Desert Folklore pantheon (easy to get thanks to existing faith bonus), and you have a powerhouse (unless you get seriously unlucky with the roll of the map, and there is little desert to be found).
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [12]
Pachacuti/Inca [15]
Pedro/Brazil [20]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [25]
Philip/Spain [17]
Qin Shi Huang/China [11]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [14]
Tamar/Georgia [20]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [6]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [16]

 

[bengalryan9]

Amanitore/Nubia [16]
Catherine/France [12]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [16]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Eleanor/France [9]
Frederick/Germany [12]
Gandhi/India [17]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [17]
Gilgamesh/Sumeria [eliminated] (3-3) For me, the leaders that get downvoted first are the ones that have to sacrifice what they're best at in order to chase a religion. Going religion as Gilgamesh means you're distracting yourself from building war carts and zigurrats, and he has no religious bonus (outside of the small chance of finding a relic in a barb camp) to offset that.
Gitarja/Indonesia [19]
Gorgo/Greece [15]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [16] I'm a little torn on Harald... on the one hand, you can get a ton of faith from pillaging with him. On the other, you need to be at war to pillage, and if you're at war then your missionaries and apostles are at risk.
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [17]
Jadwiga/Poland [19] (18+1) Easy adjacency bonuses to her holy sites, an early wildcard slot (converted from military) you can use to help get a great prophet, and the ability to convert neighboring cities via culture bombs (which she has two different ways of activating) makes her a strong religious contender.
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [16]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [10]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [19]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [12]
Pachacuti/Inca [15]
Pedro/Brazil [20]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [25]
Philip/Spain [17]
Qin Shi Huang/China [11]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [14]
Tamar/Georgia [20]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [6]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [16]

 

[fredrikslicer]

Amanitore/Nubia [16]
Catherine/France [12]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [16]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Eleanor/France [6] 9-3 Her gimmick has nothing to do with faith
Frederick/Germany [12]
Gandhi/India [17]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [17]
Gitarja/Indonesia [19]
Gorgo/Greece [15]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [16]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [17]
Jadwiga/Poland [19]
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [16]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [10]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [20] 19+1 Easy money easy faith
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [12]
Pachacuti/Inca [15]
Pedro/Brazil [20]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [25]
Philip/Spain [17]
Qin Shi Huang/China [11]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [14]
Tamar/Georgia [20]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [6]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [16]

 

[enKage]

Amanitore/Nubia [16]
Catherine/France [12]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [16]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Eleanor/France [6]
Frederick/Germany [12]
Gandhi/India [17]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [17]
Gitarja/Indonesia [19]
Gorgo/Greece [15]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [16]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [17]
Jadwiga/Poland [19]
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [13] 16-3 Nothing into religious victory here. +1 from appeal is too little and I don't see Curtin sacrificing science and culture play into founding a religion. And "against the spirit of a thread"
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [10]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [20]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [13] 12+1 not top15 I think, but shouldn't be downvoted *yet*. Levy = clear nearby religion founder, while focus on building cheap holy sites - and what is more important - cheap religious buildings across the water. Only Japan, Russia and Hungary have faster holy sites, only Matthias has cheaper shrines temples and tier3 building
Pachacuti/Inca [15]
Pedro/Brazil [20]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [25]
Philip/Spain [17]
Qin Shi Huang/China [11]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [14]
Tamar/Georgia [20]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [6]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [16]

 

[Francel]

Amanitore/Nubia [16]
Catherine/France [12]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [16]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Eleanor/France [6]
Frederick/Germany [9] (12-3) - Conquering city-states, especially religious city-states, is likely to be counter-productive, and he has little else going for him in terms of a religion game.
Gandhi/India [18] (17+1) - Upvoting Gandhi today for a couple reasons. Firstly, his missionaries and trade routes spread religion more effectively. Secondly, opponents are penalized for declaring war on him, which should allow for the allocation of most resources to things other than producing military units.
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [17]
Gitarja/Indonesia [19]
Gorgo/Greece [15]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [16]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [17]
Jadwiga/Poland [19]
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [13]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [10]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [20]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [13]
Pachacuti/Inca [15]
Pedro/Brazil [20]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [25]
Philip/Spain [17]
Qin Shi Huang/China [11]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [14]
Tamar/Georgia [20]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [6]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [16]

 

[Kmart_Elvis]

Amanitore/Nubia [17] (16+1) For a warmonger, she can still do religious victory quite well. I've actually won a RV with them before. 40% production to holy sites when you have a Nubian Pyramid adjacent to the city center. You can surround your holy sites with more pyramids for even more faith. And their desert start allows them to take advantage of Desert Folklore (and thus now Work Ethic as well). Cheap and strong archers don't have to be used offensively - they can provide a formidable defense to deter anyone from invading you.
Catherine/France [12]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [16]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Eleanor/France [3] (6-3) Catherine at least has her diplomatic visibility bonus and spies, so it's not hard for her to have apostles with +9 CS advantages. Eleanor doesn't have that. Chateaux come too late to matter, because you need culture as early as possible. She does have a bonus to building some religious wonders though, but I don't think that alone could carry her.
Frederick/Germany [9]
Gandhi/India [18]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [17]
Gitarja/Indonesia [19]
Gorgo/Greece [15]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [16]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [17]
Jadwiga/Poland [19]
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [13]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [10]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [20]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [13]
Pachacuti/Inca [15]
Pedro/Brazil [20]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [25]
Philip/Spain [17]
Qin Shi Huang/China [11]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [14]
Tamar/Georgia [20]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [6]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [16]

 

[JesseS]

Amanitore/Nubia [17]
Catherine/France [12]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [16]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Eleanor/France [3]
Frederick/Germany [9]
Gandhi/India [18]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [17]
Gitarja/Indonesia [19]
Gorgo/Greece [15]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [16]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [18](17+1) Half-priced holy sites and strong adjacency bonuses mean Japan's faith game is nearly as good as Russia's. Their cheaper and better theater squares help with getting to Theocracy quicker.
Jadwiga/Poland [19]
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [13]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [7](10-3) This list still includes a fair amount of civs with no real bonuses to religious victories, so I'll downvote the Maya because going for early holy sites has a uniquely high opportunity cost for them. With no housing from fresh water, it's a struggle to get Mayan cities to pop 4, so an early holy site takes up a district slot in their cities for even longer. They're incentivized to settle relatively few cities, so a Monumentality golden age leveraging a faith economy isn't nearly as good for expansion.
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [20]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [13]
Pachacuti/Inca [15]
Pedro/Brazil [20]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [25]
Philip/Spain [17]
Qin Shi Huang/China [11]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [14]
Tamar/Georgia [20]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [6]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [16]

 

[Drivingrevilo]

Amanitore/Nubia [17]
Catherine/France [12]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [16]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Eleanor/France [3]
Frederick/Germany [10] (9+1) I won a RV as Frederick in one of my earliest Civ VI games, so I know that he's actually not that bad. Like the previous poster identified for the Maya, rushing a holy site usually means you don't get other, objectively better districts until you hit population 4. But Frederick isn't affected by this because he gets +1 district slot in all his cities. So if you really want a religion as Germany, you can easily build an early holy site in your first two cities and still proceed as normal, since you can immediately place another, more useful district as well. The Hansa is also surprisingly good for RV because, as we're identifying with the whole 'OMG Work Ethic is amazing' trend, high production lets you rush Tier 3 religious buildings & religious wonders, which speeds up your RV considerably. By no means is Frederick the best at religion, but at least he has some benefits going his way to support the victory type.
Gandhi/India [18]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [17]
Gitarja/Indonesia [19]
Gorgo/Greece [15]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [13] (16-3) Gulp, I predict this could be controversial ... Exactly as @bengalryan9 observed, there is a fundamental dissonance between Norway's natural play-style and a religious victory. Norway wants to declare war, early and often, in order to pillage their way to victory. But with the sole exception of Spain, constant war is terrible for RV because it leaves your apostles & missionaries vulnerable. Yes, Harald gets a load of faith from his pillages (c.f. PotatoMcWhiskey's recent 'Let's Play'); but to me, it's pretty clear that this faith is much better spent on Grand Master's Chapel than on actual religious units. And yes, the Stave Church can be a nice-ish addition to your cities; but again, you don't actually need a religion to benefit from it. And then there's the constant point – made several times already, but just as applicable to Norway – that rushing a religion comes at the cost of early aggression. In Norway's case, this means you're not building Viking Longboats, you're not building campuses, and you're not doing what Norway's only real strength is: pillage economy. So in short, it's an either/or situation as Norway. Either you decide to go pillaging, in which case you're earning a lot of faith but are also endangering all your apostles & missionaries; or you decide to go RV, in which case you're missing out on Norway's only decent bonus. You can't do both.
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [18]
Jadwiga/Poland [19]
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [13]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [7]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [20]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [13]
Pachacuti/Inca [15]
Pedro/Brazil [20]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [25]
Philip/Spain [17]
Qin Shi Huang/China [11]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [14]
Tamar/Georgia [20]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [6]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [16]

 

[Republic of San Montuoso]

Amanitore/Nubia [17] I love how Amanitore is considered a "warmonger" civ while she's clearly a builder type one. I mean, she has only bonuses to ranged units (which are best at defense) and all other boni are around building districts and mines. Just a fun revelation, no up/downvote for her this day for me.
Catherine/France [12]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [16]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Eleanor/France [0] (3-3 ELIMINATED) As long as I love Freleanor and is one of my favourite leaders, she has nothing for RV. No bonus to early faith; no bonus to early religious wonders (after the Middle-Ages if you don't have a religion it's basically too late); no bonus to spread her religion; no bonus to her religious units; no bonus for Holy Sites, be it by building or by having them; and she even don't have any military bonus that can be use for defend/attack heathens. Overall, the worst left in the list IMO.
Frederick/Germany [10]
Gandhi/India [18]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [17]
Gitarja/Indonesia [19]
Gorgo/Greece [15]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [13]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [18]
Jadwiga/Poland [19]
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [13]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [7]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [20]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [14] (13+1) I upvote Corvinus for the same reasons as @enKage (and going on my quest to upvote underdogs because I hate overfeeding Peter) : he has a lot of situational boni for RV which means he has to not go before some other with way less bonuses (like Gran Columbia). 1: building HS and HS buildings 50% quicker can be a blessing and, while it might not generate as much faith as a well placed HS against mountains, it will provide GPrP quicker; 2: he has a way to maintain the suzerainety of city-States, meaning that he can keep as long as he wants religious ones, like Yerevan; 3: his bonuses are rather late and don't interfer with early game (except CS levies), meaning that contrary to Montezuma or Harald, he can spend some hammers to religion before going to what's he's good at (plus, by the time he encounter city-States and gain suzerainty, he can do something else by the time). For this, Matthias needs to stay a little longer in the race.
Pachacuti/Inca [15]
Pedro/Brazil [20]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [25]
Philip/Spain [17]
Qin Shi Huang/China [11]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [14]
Tamar/Georgia [20]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [6]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [16]

 

[Noble Zarkon]

Amanitore/Nubia [17]
Catherine/France [12]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [16]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Frederick/Germany [10]
Gandhi/India [18]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [17]
Gitarja/Indonesia [19]
Gorgo/Greece [15]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [10] 13 - 3 As @Drivingrevilo put it "So in short, it's an either/or situation as Norway. Either you decide to go pillaging, in which case you're earning a lot of faith but are also endangering all your apostles & missionaries; or you decide to go RV, in which case you're missing out on Norway's only decent bonus. You can't do both."
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [18]
Jadwiga/Poland [19]
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [13]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [7]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [20]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [14]
Pachacuti/Inca [15]
Pedro/Brazil [20]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [25]
Philip/Spain [17]
Qin Shi Huang/China [11]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [14]
Tamar/Georgia [20]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [6]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [17] 16+1 Doesn't have to worry about early was and as long as Peter is not in the game Dance of the Aurora is a great fit.

 

[TCBB]

Amanitore/Nubia [17]
Catherine/France [12]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [16]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Frederick/Germany [10]
Gandhi/India [18]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [17]
Gitarja/Indonesia [19]
Gorgo/Greece [15]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [10]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [18]
Jadwiga/Poland [19]
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [14] (13+1) Another elimination thread, another person underestimating just how strong Australia's versatility is. There's many things I could raise here (e.g. how high production translates into absolutely anything you want, including religious buildings). But I think the most important point is this: not only can 'Land Down Under' give extra yields for holy sites, but it also allows you great versatility in their placement. All you need is appeal, and appeal is found across the map. Settle next to a mountain range or natural wonder? Enjoy ridiculously high faith adjacency. Settle next to the coast? Still enjoy high faith adjacency. Settle in the middle of forest or tundra? Still enjoy high faith adjacency. This flexibility is extremely powerful, and means Australia can have a +3 or +4 holy site in almost all of their cities. In addition, all these arguments also apply to theatre squares, meaning that Australia can have a very strong culture game too; and since culture is very important for RV, this is yet another reason why they definitely do not deserve to go anytime soon.
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [7]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [20]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [14]
Pachacuti/Inca [15]
Pedro/Brazil [20]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [25]
Philip/Spain [17]
Qin Shi Huang/China [11]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [11] (14-3) Not sure he should remain much longer. Don't get me wrong, his quality of life bonuses to movement & promotions are nice to have for your religious units, and might shave a few turns off a RV here and there. But bear in mind that, in order to even buy those religious units, you (i) need to found a religion and (ii) need a source of faith, neither of which Bolivar gets bonuses to. And also remember that (iii) if you're investing heavily into religion, that means you're not investing into conquest; and without conquest, Bolivar doesn't have much going for him at all.
Tamar/Georgia [20]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [6]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [17]

 

[kryat]

Amanitore/Nubia [17]
Catherine/France [12]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [16]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Frederick/Germany [10]
Gandhi/India [18]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [17]
Gitarja/Indonesia [19]
Gorgo/Greece [16] (15+1) Great early culture because someone is likely to attack you, and the acropolis is fast and powerful. Likely to have decent control over serendipitous city states. And most importantly, has a free wildcard slot open for Revelation.
Harald Hardrada/Norway [10]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [18]
Jadwiga/Poland [19]
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [14]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [7]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [20]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [14]
Pachacuti/Inca [15]
Pedro/Brazil [20]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [25]
Philip/Spain [17]
Qin Shi Huang/China [11]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [11]
Tamar/Georgia [20]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [3] (6-3) His bonuses come too late to matter.
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [17]

 

[JhGf_123]

Amanitore/Nubia [17]
Catherine/France [12]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [16]
Cyrus/Persia [12] worth noting that because Paeridaezas grant +2 appeal to surrounding tiles, Persia can earn a lot of faith from the Earth Goddess pantheon. Might not be worth an upvote, but it's still something in their favor.
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Frederick/Germany [10]
Gandhi/India [18]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [17]
Gitarja/Indonesia [19]
Gorgo/Greece [16]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [7] (10-3) to jump on this train, I'll add that what makes Norway's pillaging special isn't the faith, it's the science and culture. Every civ gets faith from pillaging, ergo, if you wanted to combine a pillage economy with religious victory, you could do that as any Civ.
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [18]
Jadwiga/Poland [19]
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [15] (14+1) was also going to vote Curtin, but Tcbb summed it up well.
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [7]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [20]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [14]
Pachacuti/Inca [15]
Pedro/Brazil [20]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [25]
Philip/Spain [17]
Qin Shi Huang/China [11]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [11]
Tamar/Georgia [20]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [3]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [17]

 

[Lily_Lancer]

Amanitore/Nubia [17]
Catherine/France [12]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [16]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Frederick/Germany [10]
Gandhi/India [18]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [18=17+1] My Favorite for RV, very strong.
Gitarja/Indonesia [19]
Gorgo/Greece [16]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [7] Yes Every civ gets faith from pillaging, but only Norway can coastal pillage with Navy.
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [18]
Jadwiga/Poland [19]
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [7]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [20]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [14]
Pachacuti/Inca [15]
Pedro/Brazil [20]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [25]
Philip/Spain [17]
Qin Shi Huang/China [11]
Saladin/Arabia [20]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [11]
Tamar/Georgia [20]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [3]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [14=17-3] No bonus and tundra bias, who gives this one upvotes?

 

[Dantesedge]

Amanitore/Nubia [17]
Catherine/France [12]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [16]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [10]
Frederick/Germany [10]
Gandhi/India [18]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [18]
Gitarja/Indonesia [19]
Gorgo/Greece [16]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [7] Feels too early to knock them out. Unlike a few others on this list, at least Norway is pushed to build Holy Sites and build up faith. Not going to upvote though since I'd already decided to give it to Arabia today.
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [18]
Jadwiga/Poland [19]
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [7]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [20]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [14]
Pachacuti/Inca [15]
Pedro/Brazil [20]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [25]
Philip/Spain [17]
Qin Shi Huang/China [11]
Saladin/Arabia [21] (20+1) Guaranteed prophet, extra faith from Madrasa and leader ability, and cheap to free worship buildings. Pretty good at the religious game.
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [11]
Tamar/Georgia [20]
Teddy Roosevelt/America [0] (3-3) Eliminated. One of the weaker ones left. The +5 CS bonus helps in the early religious game but once you have to leave your continent there are no bonuses left.
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [14]

 

[Civ Chemist]

I really don't like the argument: They is better at x victory, therefore they should use y strategy and going for a religious victory is counterproductive. Instead I'd jugde each civ on how good they are when going for religion compared to other civs, even if they have to sacrificy some of their uniques for it. Like eliminating GIlgabro just because he is considered a strong domination civ and religion means no war carts rush. Sure, he is not top 15, but ziggurats give both science and culture so he gets those yields without having to build the appropriate district and can focus completely on holy sites. Early culture is always very strong and science helps a lot when playing on naval maps and even on pangea, reaching printing before the AI gives you some extra CS. And with ziggurats and war carts he has a much easier time to grab a classical golden age (either monumentality or exodus) which again is almost required for very fast religious victories.

Amanitore/Nubia [17]
Catherine/France [12]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [16]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [7] (10-3): The only thing that somewhat helps for a religious victory are the extra trade routes (= higher CS from diplo visibility) she gets from gov. plaza + buildings. But that is just not enough anymore.
Frederick/Germany [10]
Gandhi/India [18]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [18]
Gitarja/Indonesia [19]
Gorgo/Greece [16]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [8] (7+1): Wanted to upvote Japan, but I have to defend Norway here. Just because he gets additional yield from pillaging, does not mean he has to declare on the whole world. And if you really want you can always declare on city states or a civ you have already converted. But even without pillage economy, the Stave Church is quite useful: Each forest gives +1.5 adjacency, giving him potentially very high adjacency holy sites (and production with work ethic). On naval maps he can also start converting other civs quicker than most other civs and not using any additional movement when embarking is another little additon that will speed up his victory.
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [18]
Jadwiga/Poland [19]
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [7]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [20]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [14]
Pachacuti/Inca [15]
Pedro/Brazil [20]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [25]
Philip/Spain [17]
Qin Shi Huang/China [11]
Saladin/Arabia [21]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [11]
Tamar/Georgia [20]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [14]

 

[Solver]

Amanitore/Nubia [17]
Catherine/France [12]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [16]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Dido/Phoenicia [4] (7 - 3) At this point, many on the list have no religious advantage, Dido is one of them. Nothing that helps with faith generation, nothing that helps getting a religion.
Frederick/Germany [10]
Gandhi/India [18]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [18]
Gitarja/Indonesia [19]
Gorgo/Greece [16]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [8]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [18]
Jadwiga/Poland [19]
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lady Six Sky/Maya [7]
Lautaro/Mapuche [16]
Mansa Musa/Mali [21] (20 + 1) Top-tier early faith generation, can have faith from turn 1 with a desert start. Could even have extra faith to purchase a GP and speed up a religion. The core to Religious Victory is having lots of Apostles. Mansa Musa has solid faith generation, and has discounts on purchasing, making him one of the best at RV.
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [14]
Pachacuti/Inca [15]
Pedro/Brazil [20]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [25]
Philip/Spain [17]
Qin Shi Huang/China [11]
Saladin/Arabia [21]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [11]
Tamar/Georgia [20]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [12]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [14]