Power Rankings: Episode 39 – S1

Release Date:

March 30, 2020

Narrated by:

PowerRankers

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Viewing: Vertical

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Msurdej

1 / 0

1: Msurdej

Khamug KhanateWell the dominoes have begun to fall. The Khamug Khanate is eliminated at 33rd place, a momentous occasion. Not only is this the first civ eliminated in the Endgame, but its also the first civ eliminated to get #1 on the Power Rankings. Yes, way back in Part 4, the Khanate was the #1 civ to be. In the early game, Jamukha expanded far and wide, creating a vast empire that won the hearts of the PRs. Then he did...nothing. For parts Jamukha did little if anything, squandering their gains and allowing peacekeepers to run through their lands. When the Qin finally did attack, while initially going the Khamugs way, the Qin managed to gain the upper hand, forcing the Khamugs to lose a lot of power going into the Endgame.And once in Endgame, Jamukha had little time to breathe, as Shikoku led a lightning assault on them in the first part. An assault that ends here, with the Khamugs dead, and the first #1 civ eliminated in CBRX Season 1.F

1: Msurdej

CBR In-Game Screenshot of Random Strategy

2: Random Strategy

Evenks

Capital: lost. Ouch. But good news, the Evenks managed to run away and settle a second city! It's still just a small village at only pop 2, making the Evenks by far the weakest civ on the cylinder but ... oh wait, that one is also getting attacked. With nothing but a singular great general protecting it, it looks like it too will soon fall and the Evenks will be the 2nd civ out in Endgame. At least they outlived their neighbours the Khamugs. They might even have given minimal help in that elimination too! But yeah, the only hope for Evenk survival is a peace deal and very soon.

3: Cloudberg

New Zealand

Today we press F for...

Wait a second, I’m getting a telegram from the sub. What’s this? Kiwis have been seen in the southern reaches of Tierra del Fuego, holding onto a newly-constructed outpost? Goddamn, Seddon’s not dead! In fact, he narrowly escaped death by fleeing Wellington with a settler, rebuilding a city shortly after his last one fell. He then made peace with Uruguay and hunkered down, figuring he can at least try to outlive the Evenks, who have maybe two turns left to live if they’re lucky.

4: Shaggy

INDIA

You ever squeeze a water balloon until it pops? Well India is basically that right now. The loss of Allahabad and the apparent unwillingness to settle an existing settler have left India as a city state surrounded by 5 civs (yep, even Palmyra after an odd city swap). They may take back Allahabad with the swordsmen around the city, but the trireme reinforcements sitting outside Bago won’t let that happen for long. Honestly, I’ve always liked India the least of the Subcontinent Trio and I’ve been happily impressed by Nepal’s ability to actually claim a foothold in the mountains here. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll be seeing any more Indian nukes in Endgame.

5: LonelyRS

Apache

Having acres of open land to settle only helps you if you live to see it. It’s a simple concept to grasp, but for Geronimo it’s proven hard to actualize, as the full might of both the Metis and the Iroquois had pulverized his civ in what may prove to be one of the most complete conquests of a nation to date. His capital is all but guaranteed to fall, and if the Iroquois can conquer their usual meleephobia Shis-Inday ought to join it. By the time the next part concludes – or, hell, even by the halfway point – he’ll be down to the desert city of Ka’Igwu and whatever other half-rate cities he manages to pump out while his empire collapses all around him. By the end of the part after that, odds are he’ll be nothing more than a memory. All this is to belabor one point made very clear to even a casual reader of the last part; namely, that the Apache are screwed. Outside of a peace deal with both their enemies in the next, oh, two turns or so, there’s no scenario in which they don’t become a mere rump state at best. Not up against these sorts of armies. So prime your f keys, pour one out, and think back to the great dullness that was the Aztecs. After all, pretty soon that’s where the Apache are going to be.

6: Msurdej

NepalPrithvi Narayan you son of a gun. Just as all the world counted Nepal as basically dead, they began to pull out the stops. Settling a pair of cities in this part, Nepal has surged ahead of the lagging Indira. But there’s still a lot of fire to go through. With all of their neighbors still attacking them, Nepal is going to need to sue for peace soon, or else run the very real risk that they follow Jamukha out the door.

7: Msurdej

MadagascarOh boy, it's Madagascar. Failing to settle on the coast of Africa this week, madagascar has probably lost any chance of being relevant in a good way. But there’s still plenty of chance for them to mess with people. With only a small area to make a carpet, Ranavalona might have her troops start invading Zimbabwe’s coast. Or just sit around and do nothing. Knowing Madagascar, it’s probably the latter.

8: Msurdej

CantonComing up next in the rumps, it’s the easily more likeable Canton. Nestled between the shadows of the Taungoo and the Qin, Ching Shih is doing her best to lead her people to greatness. She’s joined the “We Hate Nepal Club”, and is trying to capture Gorkha from the north. But her position is tenuous. If her neighbors decide to remove her, she’ll be hard pressed to stop them.

9: Gragg

Parthia

Endgame has been truly disastrous for Parthia. They’ve lost 2 cities the past two episodes and are already boxed in. That’s why their rank dropped… oh, they rose 2 last week and 1 this week… Well, just goes to show how Endgame is balanced against small civs. Simply dying a little slower than civs like the Khamugs, Evenks, India, etc. have kept its rank afloat. Don’t be fooled though, Parthia is not doing good by any metric. They’ll get down a third early next episode though. Let’s hope they don’t give this one away.

10: Msurdej

Yup’ikComing off their highest rank last week (their Yup’eak if you will), Apaanugpak finds himself at his second highest rank. This is mostly due to isolation, as his stats are mediocre. But that might change soon. The Haida are on the warpath, advancing up the West Coast in war canoes. The Shikoku are solidifying their holdings in Northeastern Asia. It’s only a matter of time before one of these civs reach the Yup’ik cities and take them down a peg or three.

11: Techno

NAZCAIs Nazca the new Kuikuro? Perhaps - their role right now is much the same as the Kuikuro pre-Endgame. They seem intent on establishing themselves as an unconquerable buffer state between Venezuela and Uruguay, as despite a Venezuelan DOW, their two cities look unconquerable for the time being and they have a third settler lined up to expand their lands to the east.

12: Cloudberg

Venice

Venice continues its ranking rollercoaster ride, gaining five ranks this episode despite being the target of multiple declarations of war, and probably the weakest civ in Europe to boot. Of course, despite being the weakest civ in Europe, they’re also the European civ with the most production, clocking in at 11th place in this key demographic. So what the hell do we do with Venice? Will they use their production to build an army and defend their lands, or will they just roll over and die? Most power rankers, I think, would say the former, but the fact that they’ve risen so much suggests that you should trust the rankers’ actions more than their words.

13: Msurdej

Nubia In the deserts of Africa, nubia keeps being a cheeky little bugger. Not only did they repel the attacks from the Benin, but also have launched a moderately successful (So far) attack on Zimbabwe. All while being attacked by Palmyra in the north. While they’re certainly in the midst of a lot, Nubia is doing their darndest to survive, and doing a much better job of it than some civs (*coughIndiacough*)

14: Cloudberg

Benin

Benin falls five places this episode after failing to settle any new cities and losing one of their existing cities to Nubia, a civ that they should have been able to beat easily. Benin still has a lot of room to expand, but at the rate they’re going, other civs are going to get there first. Zimbabwe has already settled almost all of its available space, and they’ll surely be eyeing Benin’s corner of the continent soon if Ewuare doesn’t get his ass in gear soon.

15: Random Strategy

HaidaWith a third city settled and their biggest threat, the Metis, uncharacteristically not settling, Haida rises 3 ranks. They have overtaken Benin, Nubia and Nazca. The most exciting event at this point is the war against Yup'ik. The Yup'ik have only recently researched sailing (they didn't start with it) so do not have much of a navy yet. That is not good for a nation whose capital is a 1-tile island. Even worse for them: they have not unlocked walls yet. That means that Haidan war canoes should have an easy time fighting. Haida currently has about twice the Yup'ik military and 1.5 times as much production so should continue to be at an advantage as time passes on. The most difficult aspect of this war in fact looks like it is the geography, as the Aleutian islands appear to have been replaced by an Aleutian peninsula which is currently forcing Haida to make a slight detour. If Haida is indeed successful this war , then they will be in a great position to become the North Pacific Power (now that Shikoku no longer spawns here)

16: Doom

Prussia

Prussia somehow only loses one rank despite arguably the biggest blunder of endgame so far. After a stellar first episode which saw them settling well and their northern neighbours faltering, Prussia decided to follow up by trading away Berlin in an irrelevant war. As Palmyra has no one way of reinforcing the city, the Goths can waltz in at a moment's notice, giving them a foothold 3 times away from the Prussian capital. With the Kazakhs already closing in from the east Prussia can't afford anymore losses. Venice is their weakest neighbour but Prussia need to step up their game if they want to start taking cities

17: Gragg

Sami

After a painful start due to no fault of their own, Sami have gotten back into the game. They quickly caught up with the Vikings, even surpassing them in many stats. The next nearest neighbor, the Goths, have had a slow start and remain in three cities. Sami success is solely dependent on overcoming the Vikings.

18: Techno

VIKINGS

The Vikings maintain the same rank as last part, but their fortunes are no longer quite as bright. The Sami have caught up after their sluggish start, and after a failed war with them, the Vikings look stuck in Scandinavia. The Vikings have always been more of a naval power, but with the Manx proving to be far stronger this time around, the Vikings are poised to struggle to reach the same heights they had pre-Endgame. It certainly doesn't help that the Vikings have yet to build a navy.

19: LonelyRS

Manx

You have to hand it to Illiam — he could easily have just played like Madagascar has, turtling on his island without ever once entertaining thoughts of a mainland venture, wiling his time away with a future secured in its obscurity. But instead he’s come out of the gate swinging, making landfall on to Europe early and now establishing Venice without a doubt as the whipping boy of the region. He probably won’t take Burano, not when his fellows don’t have to fiddle around with embarkation and naval warfare to get their units to the front, but it’ll be a good effort regardless, and with areas like Denmark, Greenland, and Switzerland still unclaimed, the path to the same sort of regional power status he enjoyed early on in the last game is wide open. And if the Vikings stay this week, there’s a chance he might even be able to bargain for something more. So give it up for Illiam Dhone. He probably won’t win, and he likely won’t even crack the top ten, but he’s made Europe a hell of a lot more interesting. And for an audience as infatuated with bloodlust as this one, that’s playing to his lofty expectations.

20: Shaggy

GOTHS The Goths drop a rank this week, but to be honest I think it’s a negligible drop. The change is entirely based on Palmyra’s ability to find its footing and become a major rival in the region rather than any fault of the Goths (other than bumrushing through Europe I guess, but when was that ever going to happen). Credit where credit is due though, the Goths were very effective in their defense against Palmyra and they’re holding strong against the Kazakhs. Asaak may fall, but there look to be reinforcements coming from the capital to retake it, if not defend it outright. Not many civs right now could take that kind of beating and still seem like they’re growing strongly. I think they have a lot of options once they build up their production base and start looking towards their neighbors’ lands.

21: Random Strategy

Maratha

After an exciting first part, Maratha did less this second part and drop below Venezuela and Palmyra. They are currently trying to squeeze their army through a 1 tile gap to go attack Nepal 1 unit at a time, an endeavour that seems mostly futile now that Nepal has built walls. Instead, they should go back to fighting India, who currently lack walls (though they have just finished researching them so not for long). India also lacks the natural mountains defences that Nepal has, and of course only has 1 city, leading them to be far weaker. Alternatively, Maratha could research sailing and try settling Indonesia before Taungoo reaches it , just like they did in the original. The aim of the early game is, after all, to get as many cities as possible, and there aren't many left that can be obtained by war but plenty that can be obtained by settling.

22: Shaggy

MOOPS The Moops are looking pretty damn solid right now. A slow Venice and some quality production bonuses to start the game off have combined to give us an imposing Moopish Iberia and France. No foothold in Africa yet, but there is still space as Benin hasn’t been rushing any settlers across the Sahara. But frankly, I kind of want to see what the Moops can do in Europe first. Also, their drop out of the top 10 is more or less just the reshuffling as more civs get cities down and start emerging as more stable or dominant in their region (looking at you Venezuela and Palmyra).

23: Doom

Metis

Metis loses 3 ranks this episode as the Iroquois remain ascendant. The Iroquois have significantly better stats than the Metis, more specifically the Iroquois have the number 1 military in the cylinder and could potentially steal the remaining Apache cities, isolating the Metis further. Simply put, Riel needs more time to build up before he can be a serious contender to the Iroqouis. While this is a promising start it may not be enough.

24: LonelyRS

Venezuela

Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war! Venezuela has declared war on the Nazca, outnumbering their foe by a factor of two and some change, in what would be one of the most exciting bouts on the cylinder… were this not South America, land of jungles and early game stagnation begetting late game domination. If Uruguay couldn’t take a single Kuikuro city for centuries, there’s little reason to believe that Venezuela will do any better against a stronger foe. But, then again, Chavez has made it quite easy to believe he can triumph in a region where the greatest enemies are the trees. Cahuachi’s armed forces are almost entirely naval, and Chauchilla is manned by a skeleton crew, while Venezuela is bringing city-destroying catapults to the front. Factor in that his army’s already begun to bridge the gap between the two civs, and Hugo Chavez might not get a better opportunity until artillery are invented. Of course, it’s not like he needs Nazcan clay to be relevant, not when the fall of the Apache and Uruguayan forward settling has treated them to a decent chunk of both Americas to call their own. But if he wants to stand a chance against the monster to his south, this war is critical. Either he’ll die an Ethiopia, or live to see himself become the Boers. The floor’s high for Venezuela as is, but the ceiling might just be even higher than any of us can imagine.

25: Shaggy

SHIKOKU

Hoo boy, this is going to make some people mad. Despite emerging victorious in the Asian Trio of Hell: Part 2: Electric Boogaloo: The Re-Killing, it looks like Shikoku has DROPPED 4 ranks. I’m not going to lie, we definitely had Shikoku overranked in the last part. Not because of some expectation that they would lose to their rivals, but more, I think, because we overvalued what those lands would be worth and undervalued the potential for the Kazakhs and Qin to start creeping east and north, respectively. That being said, top 10 is still definitely the place for Shikoku. Their initial border rivals are either eliminated or neutralized, they have continued to be very competitive technologically in the region, and with their new city captures they are pretty high up on the city count list. And its only part 2 of Endgame. From here on out, it’ll be more of an uphill climb for Shikoku, but with some clever strategery and maybe a bit of help from the south (looking at you Taungoo), they definitely have a good shot at being the dominant north Asian power.

26: Cloudberg

Qin

Qin drops a single rank, largely holding steady in the bottom half of the top 10 as the power rankers start to wonder whether they’ll start expanding to match their massive military. Qin didn’t found any new cities this part and are sitting on three, the same as their much weaker neighbor Canton, which also just settled Hong Kong right next to their borders. Will this slap in Ying Zheng’s face wake him up and cause him to go on a bloodthirsty rampage? If it doesn’t, East Asia might be Shikoku’s to lose.

27: Shaggy

URUGUAY

The game of cat and mouse continues all the way down to Tierra del Fuego, but Lavalleja doesn’t seem to be concerned with spending much to finish Seddon off. With more to worry about to the north, Uruguay can’t spend too long chasing New Zealand to the end of the world. Venezuela is building up a hell of an army and Nazca look to be sending a settler along Uruguay’s borders. I expect South America to heat up even more in the coming parts if that settler gets plopped on a tile that Lavalleja had his eye on. The climb back to prime Guay status continues this week as they rise 2 ranks.

28: Shaggy

AUSTRALIA

Alas, Australia, top 5 was not where you end up when you construct Machu Picchu on what appears to be the ONLY mountain in their borders and also spend production making the Great Wall of Australia, which will I guess protect Canberra’s and Sydney’s babies from dingoes. Great going, Hawke, you still have crazy stats and a continent to yourself.

29: Gragg

Taungoo

Taungoo are shaping up to be the dark horse of Endgame. Certainly not an underdog but the difficult terrain and powerful neighbors have lowered expectations for them. So far they have been one of the more aggressive civs with not much to show for it. The previously mentioned terrain is to blame for that. They have finally made landfall on the Indian subcontinent though. If they can grow that landfall to 2 or 3 good cities they will be a major player again. If not, I’m concerned about their ability to break into mainland Asia at all.

30: Random Strategy

Palmyra

And the big winner of this part is Palmyra! They were gifted, not one, but two cities entirely for free!Berlin by Prussia and Merv by Parthia! Zenobia truly is a masterful negotiator this round. With these generous donations, they are now 4th in city count and 2nd in production. What's more, their neighbours are looking particularly weak: Parthia has lost half its cities to peace deals and is looking rather squashed. The Goths are slightly less squashed but still fairly surrounded. Nubia is stuck in the desert fighting Benin. Meanwhile Venice is about to lose Crete to Palmyra's navy - and they might lose even more... Yes: things are looking very good for Palmyra right now. The biggest worry right now is actually Zimbabwe, who have discovered optics and who could therefore theoretically settle in Arabia before Palmyra gets round to it. But if Zimbabwe prefers to not go that far out, then it's free land for Palmyra to grab up whenever they want. All in all, things are looking really good for Palmyra.

31: Techno

ZIMBABWEZimbabwe soars back into third place through an aggressive settling spree. With 8 cities under their belt, they're tied for first in this important early-game statistic. They've also successfully blocked Madagascar from most mainland positions, all but ensuring their dominant spot on the continent that seemed less certain after the Beninese conquests in Part 37. Their position is not without fault, though, as Nubia seems eager to block their expansion before Zimbabwe has time to get its new cities busy building units.

32: LonelyRS

Iroquois

Normally, here, I’d put the reason for the Iroquois’ fall. The issue right now is that there really isn’t one. After all, the Iroquois did spend last part declaring war on a declining neighbor, denying their larger neighbor a chance to claim the region, and generally being as effortlessly well-run as they were last time around. The only reason they’ve fallen at all is because the Kazakhs have just gotten off to an ever-so-slightly better start out of the gate, but, this early in the game, the difference between first and second only really dictates whose slide it is that gets to show up in the part. What matters isn’t your ranking compared to the world, it’s your ranking compared to your region. And in that regard, the Iroquois are just as show-stoppingly powerful as ever. With the Apache crippled, the Yup’ik vulnerable, and the Haida underwhelming, the Iroquois have only one real challenger, and the Metis are more a pretender to the throne than anything. The Kazakhs have had all the advantages early on in the game, yes. But it’d be foolish to count the Iroquois out after a one-spot slip due to forces beyond their control. So don’t be surprised if these guys are back in the driver’s seat for good in a part. Given how they played last run, the odds of this being the sole interruption of their Endgame hegemony are more likely than you think.

33: Gragg

Kazakhs

Shoot off the fireworks! The OG rank 1 has returned! Two episodes in and they already can’t fit in one screenshot. Their neighbors in the Goths, Parthia, Evenks, and Khamugs have all had bad parts. While it initially seemed Shikoku would be a threat, their stats are simply bad. Even if Shikoku does turn things around, they are far enough away that the Kazakhs have free reign of an enormous portion of Asia.