Trading Alphabet

[Izuul]

Re-reading BIC's post above another thing crops up. Getting Alpha this early didn't clash with expansion - I was building my second settler for my third city when I reached it. Had I gone for oracle at this time I would have had to delay this 3rd city.

Seems the more I consider it the more essential early Alphs seems. Attempts to rid me of this attachment greatly welcomed.

Anything lower than Immortal you generally want to tech Alpha yourself because the AI just takes forever to get it making trading for it less practical. Even on Immortal in a situation like a continents map where you have contact with less than 5-6 AI, teching Alpha can be the best move.

Deity opens up some options. Self-teching Alpha can still be a strong move in the right situation, but the majority of the time players opt to tech something else and trade for Alpha.