Zardnaar said:
I've had some stupidly powerful games with Babylon and Alphabet/Pottery are often easy to aquire(up to emperor level). The UU is ok and great if you don't have iron. Ever seen a Babylonian empire with around 200 units (cheap UU helps), free unit support and 400gpt+ in the late middle ages? Or using culture bomb tactics where captured cities are more or less instantly pacified. An early middle ages GA triggered via the UU can give you a massive lead towards several key wonders if you want or complete a massive amount of infrastructure leading towards an aggressive expansionistic middle ages as your core only has military units to build as you've completed marketplaces, cathedrals,universities, etc. They're a slightly slow starting civ (no worse than any other non industrial/agri civ) that is often in the lead with science, has the most advanced units and the support to build them, and can aggressively switch governments at the drop of the hat.
I think they're a top tier civ though not because they're a great civ as such but better than the rest of the 2nd tier civs. At worse they're in the top half out of 31 civs. Interesting topic but should we move this to the Babylon review?
Done.
And as you see, that is a pre-C3C review without real update.
And that again is the crux: Some Civs were widely percieved as very strong in pre-C3C days (Babylon, Egypt, Persia). However, they are far from that in C3C. Either the trait was toned down, or other Civs can do the job better.
Persia is still a good Civ due to the UU; but Egypt and Babylon are third tiers in my book. The ygained nothing in C3C except for the defensive bombard.
But, in C3C exactly those things the Babs suck at (fast exploration and contacts with moving contact trading to PP, Alphabet for Curraghs, corruption fighting with the new model) became the really crucial ones...
Still, the level matters. Up to maybe Emperor, you can keep up in research early without trading, without growing like mad, and without the commerce bonus from SEA and COM.
On the higher levels, this is futile. With such a Civ, your best bet is a minimum run on Writing...but you need Alpha for that. And no, Alpha isn't easy to come buy, since you need Alpha to make contacts

(Curraghs!).
Maybe Babylon is really the only Civ that can be considered a 1st tier on the easy levels, a 2nd tier on the mid, and a third tier on the hard ones.
You mention triggering the GA early medieval - of course, that is the best time for a GA. But, wouldn't you agree that those Civs with a medieval UU can do that job better

?
I am simply not convinced anything you list as strength of Babs couldn't be done substantially better with Sumeria or Celts or simply owning the ToA.
The core problem is:
Babylon is a fine Civ if you dictate the game. You can build lots of structures to secure your lead.
But Babylon is a horrible Civ if you need to catch up (and that is something you have to do already at DG right from the start). No trading opportunies. No killer UU. No Commerce in general. Slow expansion.