Which way do you play a domination game?

[Artifex1]

Do you just build 2-4 cities and start warring/puppeting?

or do you ICS and war later?

 

[S.K. Ren]

Here is my 5 step plan to domination victory with only one city.
Step 1: Horse/Swordsmen/Pikemen rush your continent
Step 2: Beeline Navigation
Step 3: Abuse AI inability to wage Naval Warfare
Step 4: ???
Step 5: Victory!

 

[CrimsonEdge]

Depends on the Civ. As Japan I rush swordsmen, kill off an opponent, finish the tech to Samurai, and then being to kill off the majority of my opponents.

The number of cities I have largely depends on the production capabilities of those cities. One through three is typical for me as I conquer my opponents and take those over.