[NFP] Religious Victory Elimination Thread

[Solver]

Amanitore/Nubia [18]
Catherine/France [6]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [17]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Frederick/Germany [4] (7-3) Not only does Germany lack any religious bonuses, a religious victory can play against their strengths. They do well at conquering all city-states they start close to, but a religious victory is helped by being friends with Religious city-states, and you definitely don't want to conquer Yerevan or Jerusalem when going for RV!
Gandhi/India [19]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [18]
Gitarja/Indonesia [19]
Gorgo/Greece [17]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [7]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [19]
Jadwiga/Poland [19]
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lautaro/Mapuche [17]
Mansa Musa/Mali [21]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [14]
Pachacuti/Inca [13]
Pedro/Brazil [20]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [27]
Philip/Spain [15]
Qin Shi Huang/China [9]
Saladin/Arabia [23] (22 + 1) I'm not sure if Peter should be the runaway winner or not. Saladin's great. On higher difficulties, getting a religion involves a key economic sacrifice to get that Holy Site out in time and also Shrine or prayers. Saladin can do a standard economy-first or military-first build and will still get a religion. I'm also a big fan of the bonuses he gets from his religion.
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [2] Is this just revenge for him being the runaway domination victor or what? Why so low? Some others get no religion bonuses whatosever, Bolívar gets the useful +1 move and move-after-promotion.
Tamar/Georgia [21]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [6]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [12]

 

[Josephias]

Amanitore/Nubia [18]
Catherine/France [6]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [17]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Frederick/Germany [1] (4-3) Don't want to miss the oportunity to downvote Germany, as they have performed normally poor in religion in the games I played with them, altough this is just a subjective feeling. Objectively, I think the extra district that "could" be used for a holy site is a plus that justifies they are not eliminated yet. Even probably in par with wonder bonuses or small culture bonuses. But that's it. And, as Solver said above, city-state conquering may not be the best tool in religion game (unless, maybe you want to deprive all other RV contenders -but also yoursefl- of Yerevan, Jerusalem and all the others
Gandhi/India [19]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [18]
Gitarja/Indonesia [19]
Gorgo/Greece [17]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [7]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [19]
Jadwiga/Poland [19]
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lautaro/Mapuche [17]
Mansa Musa/Mali [21]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [14]
Pachacuti/Inca [13]
Pedro/Brazil [20]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [28] (27+1) I mean, best strenght is conditional to getting Dance of the Aurora, but with the CUA and the Lavra you have a very, very big chance of not losing it. Lavra also nearly grants you a Great Prophet, which is also something not of little importance for RV. Plus, you are interested in building Lavras for the extra bonuses. Peter's LUA is maybe the less contributing here, but as it has been commented, it allows you to recover the gap if you fell behind for focusing in religion. Quite good package overall for him to reach the finals. (Still, probably he should not be a runaway and we can have an interesting end battle with Saladin, and maybe some other contender: ¿Musa?¿Tamar?.... but I upvoted Saladin in last post)
Philip/Spain [15]
Qin Shi Huang/China [9]
Saladin/Arabia [23]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [2]
Tamar/Georgia [21]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [6]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [12][/QUOTE]

 

[Hans Castorp]

Amanitore/Nubia [18]
Catherine/France [3] 6-3 I've downvoted Frederick already, so I'll let someone else finish him off. Catherine can get a reasonably decent combat bonus, but the wonder production bonus comes late and doesn't, for example, cover Mahabodhi. Overall, she is one of the weaker picks left.
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [17]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Frederick/Germany [1]
Gandhi/India [19]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [18]
Gitarja/Indonesia [19]
Gorgo/Greece [17]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [7]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [19]
Jadwiga/Poland [19]
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lautaro/Mapuche [17]
Mansa Musa/Mali [21]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [14]
Pachacuti/Inca [13]
Pedro/Brazil [21] 20+1 It's all about adjacency bonuses here, and they can now pay off in all kinds of ways.
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [28]
Philip/Spain [15]
Qin Shi Huang/China [9]
Saladin/Arabia [23]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [2]
Tamar/Georgia [21]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [6]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [12]

 

[Kmart_Elvis]

Amanitore/Nubia [18]
Catherine/France [3]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [17]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Frederick/Germany [1]
Gandhi/India [19]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [18]
Gitarja/Indonesia [19]
Gorgo/Greece [17]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [7] Not upvoting or downvoting, but just wanted to point out that Norway does have the highest possible holy site adjacency in the game. With Dance of the Aurora, a holy site with stave church, surrounded completely by tundra woods has a +15 faith adjacency (+30 with the Holy Orders card). Granted, it's difficult to find a spot where all this lines up, but it is possible.
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [19]
Jadwiga/Poland [20] (19+1) Only her and Greece have the unique advantage of running that Great Prophet points wildcard earlier than anyone else. So they get a leg-up in founding a religion, a district adjacency bonus to holy sites, pretty powerful relics, and a means to convert neighbors using no faith via encampment and fort bombs.
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lautaro/Mapuche [17]
Mansa Musa/Mali [21]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [14]
Pachacuti/Inca [13]
Pedro/Brazil [21]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [28]
Philip/Spain [15]
Qin Shi Huang/China [9]
Saladin/Arabia [23]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [2]
Tamar/Georgia [21]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [3] (6-3) Rome does have quick early culture in the form of free monuments - but here's the catch - it works best when you ignore religion. Dedicating production to holy sites, prayers, and shrines can be better used turning out settlers instead. Also workers to improve some tiles. And trying to get that early trader. You're just gimping yourself with religion at the cost of taking advantage of one of the best leader abilities in the game.
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [12]

 

[The Highwayman]

Amanitore/Nubia [18]
Catherine/France [3]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [17]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Frederick/Germany [1]
Gandhi/India [19]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [18]
Gitarja/Indonesia [19]
Gorgo/Greece [17]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [7]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [19]
Jadwiga/Poland [21] [20+1] Likely the only upvote Poland will ever receive from me in any category, they have the means to leverage the Revelations card early along with standard holy site adjacency from districts. You can also culture bomb your way to religious conversion. Not sure how reliable that is in the mid game, but it's something.
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lautaro/Mapuche [17]
Mansa Musa/Mali [21]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [14]
Pachacuti/Inca [13]
Pedro/Brazil [21]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [28]
Philip/Spain [15]
Qin Shi Huang/China [9]
Saladin/Arabia [23]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [2]
Tamar/Georgia [21]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Trajan/Rome [ELIMINATED] [3-3] Rome is better suited expanding and possibly setting up a Legion rush (if iron is available). Rushing holy sites and doing the prayers thing on Deity with them isn't playing to their strengths. Early culture does help everything, but religion is last on the list.
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [12]

 

[MrTans]

Amanitore/Nubia [18]
Catherine/France [3]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [17]
Cyrus/Persia [12]
Frederick/Germany [ELIMINATED] No bonuses to religion or production of faith. A couple of very small bonuses like the extra district if you really want to go for a religious victory, but not enough to save him from elimination
Gandhi/India [19]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [18]
Gitarja/Indonesia [19]
Gorgo/Greece [17]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [7]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [20] Half price holy sites, and you’ll want to pick in as many cities as possible with their district adjacencies. More cities equals more faith equals more missionary/apostle spam
Jadwiga/Poland [21]
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lautaro/Mapuche [17]
Mansa Musa/Mali [21]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [14]
Pachacuti/Inca [13]
Pedro/Brazil [21]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [28]
Philip/Spain [15]
Qin Shi Huang/China [9]
Saladin/Arabia [23]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [2]
Tamar/Georgia [21]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [12]

 

[Leucarum]

Amanitore/Nubia [15] (18-3) Amanitore has some bonuses in this arena, but they aren't huge...
Catherine/France [3]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [17]
Gandhi/India [19]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [18]
Gitarja/Indonesia [19]
Gorgo/Greece [17]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [7]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [20]
Jadwiga/Poland [21]
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lautaro/Mapuche [17]
Mansa Musa/Mali [21]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [14]
Pachacuti/Inca [13]
Pedro/Brazil [21]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [28]
Philip/Spain [15]
Qin Shi Huang/China [10] (9+1) There's a lot of wonders which are good for a religious victory and Qin can go down that route pretty effectively...
Saladin/Arabia [23]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [2]
Tamar/Georgia [21]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [12] Weighing in on the usual downvote Canada elimination thread meme. Canada has a lot of advantages from going for an early holy site. They are under less risk from early war and a nice monumentality era can really set them up for a good game. Later on, not having to spend faith on parks means you can load out on rock bands while doubling up your tourism sources... But it all depends upon whether they can snatch the aurora pantheon and with no bonuses to scoring a pantheon it is hit 'n' miss. If Russia is in the game, or a religious AI also sees tundra this pantheon will often be gone. And religion for Canada always feels like a side strategy while culture is your main goal. So not ready to downvote but also not ready to upvote... Especially as it's Canada Day.

 

[JesseS]

Amanitore/Nubia [15]
Catherine/France [3]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [17]
Gandhi/India [19]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [18]
Gitarja/Indonesia [20](19+1) Indonesia has strong early faith generation for a pantheon(+2 faith from city centers next to lake/coast), the potential to build good coastal/lakeside holy sites, and no embark/disembark religious movement penalty. Obviously pretty trash on Pangaea, but good on continents and great on island plates/archipelago.
Gorgo/Greece [17]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [7]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [20]
Jadwiga/Poland [21]
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lautaro/Mapuche [17]
Mansa Musa/Mali [21]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [14]
Pachacuti/Inca [13]
Pedro/Brazil [21]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [28]
Philip/Spain [15]
Qin Shi Huang/China [10]
Saladin/Arabia [23]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [2]
Tamar/Georgia [21]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [9] (12-3) A tundra start without direct faith bonuses is rough. I doubt that an extra 5 turns of warning before an attack is really going to help you much. They have a decent culture game but if anything, their mounties mean that faith generation is less important for Canada than most civs going for a culture victory.

 

[fredrikslicer]

Amanitore/Nubia [15]
Catherine/France [0] 3 - 3 Eliminated Relevance for religion is a bit weak. Her wonder/chateu bonuses are definatley nice but comes in a bit late
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [17]
Gandhi/India [19]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [18]
Gitarja/Indonesia [20]
Gorgo/Greece [17]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [7]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [20]
Jadwiga/Poland [21]
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lautaro/Mapuche [17]
Mansa Musa/Mali [21]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [14]
Pachacuti/Inca [13]
Pedro/Brazil [21]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [28]
Philip/Spain [15]
Qin Shi Huang/China [10]
Saladin/Arabia [24] 23 + 1 Garunteed religion is nice
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [2]
Tamar/Georgia [21]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [9]

 

[Drivingrevilo]

Amanitore has been cut, again.

 

[fredrikslicer]

Amanitore has been cut, again.

Sorry, fixed it

 

[enKage]

Amanitore/Nubia [12] 15-3 Nothing really helps here. nubian pyramid is too conditional to realy matter and getting district discount from it is very RNG unlike Hungary, Japan, Russia.
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [17]
Gandhi/India [19]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [18]
Gitarja/Indonesia [20]
Gorgo/Greece [17]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [7]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [20]
Jadwiga/Poland [21]
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lautaro/Mapuche [18] 17+1 Religious AI civs are very often in golden era, so +10 really helps. Miountain bias + easy early culture from UI, even boosted by presence of holy sites
Mansa Musa/Mali [21]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [14]
Pachacuti/Inca [13]
Pedro/Brazil [21]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [28]
Philip/Spain [15]
Qin Shi Huang/China [10]
Saladin/Arabia [24]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [2]
Tamar/Georgia [21]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [9]

 

[Hogimus]

Amanitore/Nubia [12]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [17]
Gandhi/India [19]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [18]
Gitarja/Indonesia [20]
Gorgo/Greece [17]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [7]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [20]
Jadwiga/Poland [21]
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lautaro/Mapuche [18]
Mansa Musa/Mali [21]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [14]
Pachacuti/Inca [13]
Pedro/Brazil [21]
Pericles/Greece [16]
Peter/Russia [28]
Philip/Spain [15]
Qin Shi Huang/China[7] [10-3] Besides being able to rush religious wonders, which would set you back in other ways, don’t see much religious appeal for them.
Saladin/Arabia [24]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [2]
Tamar/Georgia [21]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [10] (9+1) “I doubt that an extra 5 turns of warning before an attack is really going to help you much” @JesseS , just FYI, the AI never declares war on Canada. They don’t use casus belli, and that’s the only way you can declare war on Canada. That means Canada can spread religion to anyone without fear of ever being declared war and losing faith units. That combined with the new Work Ethic for building faith buildings and wonders makes Canada a pretty good religious Civ. Also, Tundra is the best of the 3 adjacency pantheons for getting high faith. Tundra can have woods, mountains and natural wonders for pushing that number up. Russia is better at it than Canada, obviously, but Canada is still pretty good.

 

[monikernemo]

Amanitore/Nubia [12]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [17]
Gandhi/India [19]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [18]
Gitarja/Indonesia [20]
Gorgo/Greece [17]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [7]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [21]
Jadwiga/Poland [21]
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kupe/Maori [14] (The main faith generating mechanism for Kupe are not Holy Sites but Maraes. Besides, Kupe can always swim to a coastal Natural Wonder.)
Lautaro/Mapuche [18]
Mansa Musa/Mali [21]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [14]
Pachacuti/Inca [13]
Pedro/Brazil [21]
Pericles/Greece [13] (16 - 3) The only two good religious city states to win RV are Vatican and Yerevan. Jerusalem, not so much. So would argue that Pericles ease of winning religious victory is highly dependent on CS spawn.
Peter/Russia [28]
Philip/Spain [15]
Qin Shi Huang/China[8] (7+1)
Hate to upvote for the third time. Maybe I will upvote someone next.
The new update for religion buffs China to some extent. Sacred Places helps Qin to keep up in terms of science and culture. Divine Inspiration is the go-to followers belief for China.
I don't think the wonders path is that unreliable. There are other civs here that should go before China.
Saladin/Arabia [24]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [2]
Tamar/Georgia [21]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [10]

 

[JesseS]

My bad, here's where the votes should stand now:

Amanitore/Nubia [12]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [17]
Gandhi/India [19]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [18]
Gitarja/Indonesia [20]
Gorgo/Greece [17]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [7]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [20]
Jadwiga/Poland [21]
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lautaro/Mapuche [18]
Mansa Musa/Mali [21]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [14]
Pachacuti/Inca [13]
Pedro/Brazil [21]
Pericles/Greece [13]
Peter/Russia [28]
Philip/Spain [15]
Qin Shi Huang/China[8]
Saladin/Arabia [24]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [2]
Tamar/Georgia [21]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [10]

 

[bengalryan9]

@JesseS looks good, just edit that post and re-add Wilfrid.

NOTE: We had a couple of posts get deleted due to illegal votes, but Jesse's list is up to date now.

 

[bbbt]

Amanitore/Nubia [9] 12-3 - I'm not actually clear what advantage Nubia has for religious victory, besides being able to finish a holy site slightly faster than average.
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [17]
Gandhi/India [19]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [19] 18 + 1 - Didn't think about it until I read Zigzagzigal's Mongolia guide, but they are possibly the strongest civ for religious combat from the UA. It's actually stronger for religious combat than regular combat, since something like a +6 from a delegation gets lost on declaration of war.
Gitarja/Indonesia [20]
Gorgo/Greece [17]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [7]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [20]
Jadwiga/Poland [21]
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lautaro/Mapuche [18]
Mansa Musa/Mali [21]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [14]
Pachacuti/Inca [13]
Pedro/Brazil [21]
Pericles/Greece [13]
Peter/Russia [28]
Philip/Spain [15]
Qin Shi Huang/China[8]
Saladin/Arabia [24]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [2]
Tamar/Georgia [21]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [10]

Edit: Updated Nubia with correct deduction amount

 

[monikernemo]

@bbbt should be - 3 instead of - 1

 

[Drivingrevilo]

Amanitore/Nubia [9] I’m not hugely invested in keeping her in. But her RV strengths are as follows: 1.) extra production to districts and extra production from mines, both of which help you get your holy sites up (i.e. grab a great prophet) and get your religious buildings up (i.e. generate faith); 2.) spawns near desert, which allows good use of ‘Desert Folklore’ pantheon (unless Mali grabs it first) to get high adjacency holy sites; 3.) very reliable ‘Exodist of the Evangelist’ classical era golden age, because she receives early era score from Pitati Archers & Nubian Pyramids; 4.) and, most important in my view, she is very similar to Canada in that she is almost entirely safe from attack in the early game. Only three, maybe even two Pitati Archers are enough to hold off any attack, plus you get to build those archers extra quick, meaning you can focus entirely on religion if you choose.
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [17]
Gandhi/India [19]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [19]
Gitarja/Indonesia [20]
Gorgo/Greece [17]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [7]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [21] Can't argue with half price holy sites. And like Poland, he's not bound to specific terrain to get high adjacency on his holy sites: just plop them next to other districts.
Jadwiga/Poland [21]
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lautaro/Mapuche [18]
Mansa Musa/Mali [21]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [14]
Pachacuti/Inca [13]
Pedro/Brazil [21]
Pericles/Greece [13]
Peter/Russia [28]
Philip/Spain [15]
Qin Shi Huang/China [5] (8-3) I'm still not convinced. Whenever I play China, I'm all too aware that his LA is a race against time. "Gotta reach x civic before anyone else so that I can rush y wonder; but also gotta make z number of builders so that I can rush y wonder; but also gotta beeline z tech for ω wonder; but also gotta make settlers so I don't fall behind generally; but also gotta think about when I'm going to place my districts; but also gotta think about keeping up my defence"; etc. etc. And you're proposing that we introduce another frantic race into the equation by rushing a religion – even though Qin gets no bonuses to great prophet generation, no bonuses to holy site production, and no (inherent) bonuses to faith generation? Yeah, I'm not sold. And sure, you could sack off the early wonders, focus entirely on holy sites, get your religion, and then use the LA to rush Mahabodi Temple instead. But then you've only made use of, what, 5% of his LA's potential (1 wonder out of 17).
Saladin/Arabia [24]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [2]
Tamar/Georgia [21]
Tomyris/Scythia [16]
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [10]

 

[Dantesedge]

It's starting to get difficult to figure out who to downvote. They all have reasonable to amazing bonuses towards religious victory. I've learned a lot from this thread (never would have guessed Mongolia had such a strong religious game). So here goes...

Amanitore/Nubia [9]
Chandragupta/India [16]
Cleopatra/Egypt [17]
Gandhi/India [19]
Genghis Khan/Mongolia [19]
Gitarja/Indonesia [20]
Gorgo/Greece [17]
Harald Hardrada/Norway [7]
Hojo Tokimune/Japan [21]
Jadwiga/Poland [21]
Jayavarman/Khmer [18]
John Curtin/Australia [15]
Kupe/Maori [17]
Lautaro/Mapuche [18]
Mansa Musa/Mali [21]
Matthias Corvinus/Hungary [11] (14-3) Sped up Holy Sites are good but rivers have poor adjency (the Khmer suffer from this as well but Monasteries of the King help alleviate that). Control of religious city states is effective but it's not enough to overcome being the weakest left on this list for religion. Up to this point I would have defended him but I think it's time for Matthias to go.
Pachacuti/Inca [13]
Pedro/Brazil [21]
Pericles/Greece [13]
Peter/Russia [28]
Philip/Spain [15]
Qin Shi Huang/China [6] (5+1) I'll throw a bone to China before their inevitable demise on this thread. I've rushed Stonehenge and Mahabodi Temple while taking Divine Inspiration before. Along with other wonders I rush in the first two eras of the game, it sets up a good early faith income while I also focus on building Holy Sites. Not the best, but I think they are better than some left on this list.
Saladin/Arabia [24]
Simón Bolívar/Gran Colombia [2] His bonuses point towards warfare, but I don't want to knock him out because the +1 movement and ability to move after a promotion is effective with apostles.
Tamar/Georgia [21]
Tomyris/Scythia [16] Does Killer of Cyrus still effect her religious units? I haven't played her recently to notice. If they do, she is a strong religious player. If not, the Kurgan is all she has.
Wilfrid Laurier/Canada [10]