Power Rankings: Episode 14 – S5

Release Date:

May 05, 2026

Narrated by:

Power-Rankers

Abstract

Power Rankings! The rankings…of power! Dun dun dunnnn!

Viewing: Vertical

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Rapa Nui

1 / 0

1: Rapa Nui

Orange:

Rapa Nui aren’t the absolute worst civ, that’d be Pegu, but Rapa Nui are definitely way way way easier to knock out. Just, gotta wait for Caral to go after them with new boats. It’ll happen soon, just a matter of when.

Also they are technically above two civs based on the stats sheet (overall better stats than Pegu, better tech than Ma’in despite worse production and number of cities), and they are at war with both of them. Really trying to show off how dangerous they are by attacking anyone who’s worse than them.

2: Pegu

JDT:

Yeah I got nothing. I’m not Archimedes or Nope. I can’t make 2 paragraphs out of thin air for a civ who has done nothing all week. Literally nothing has changed for them. They still suck with no prospects whatsoever.

3: Ma’in

Orange:

I’m on team Phoenicia, I want Ma’in to die by their hands so bad.

4: Wassoulou

Msurdej:

Wassoulou goes up a rank, but it's a combination of having a bigger army than last episode, and Ma'in doing worse. But their position remains the same: Aures closing in, and not much they can do about it.

5: Maravi

Shaggy:

Tete falls but Sena remains in Maravi’s control after a swift peace deal with Herero. This loss was already mostly priced in by the Power Ranking team, though, so no corresponding drop in the rankings. Slowly but surely Maravi’s lands will be nibbled away by their neighbors with Luba angling to be next in line at the buffet. Manthimba is relatively defensible from the north and Maravi’s strategy will be to set up a grindfest to prevent Luba’s advance. As far as I can tell, there isn’t a major risk of being citadeled to the gills by Luban great generals, making the grindfest strategy all the more enticing.

6: Karankawa

Shaggy:

The complete failure of Ponca and Susquehannock to do a lick of damage to Karankawa’s core cities means that they will continue to just kind of be here for the time being. All the better to make jokes about graphical quirks in the modset.

7: Xavante

Orange:

Right now it’s just Guaycuru, but Xavante is slowly circling the drain now. In nearly every test they died immediately, and this has definitely been one of the best runs they’ve had. Yet they clearly can’t run from their fate, and they are heading towards it, slowly, but surely.

8: Ponca

Archimedes :

Any Ponca supporters reading this might want to avert their eyes, because things are looking downright scary for their long term prospects in this game. As Anishinaabe points their pike tips squarely at their capital of Nanza, I expect we’ll be seeing a drawn out but eventual downfall of Ponca’s last remaining chances in this game. This war declaration comes perfectly timed, with so many of Ponca’s units currently milling about in Karankawa lands, and though no damage has officially been dealt by Anishinaabe units, I fear the worst looking at these slides.

Ponca on paper looks quite awful as well. With only 4 cities to their name, and a grand total of 102 production split between them, Ponca’s ability to pump out reinforcements is tenuous at best. Their science is lacking too, with only 112 effective science noted on the stats page, and 24 technologies to their name. Though accounting for their Unique Ability, in which every worked farm within a city's borders contributing a bit of science when growing a new population, has bolstered this number a bit, letting Ponca at least try to maintain a science base with the few cities that they have. They’re currently working on Education even, a technology that would allow them to boost their scientific output quite significantly with their high population cities. It may just be a question of if this is too little too late, as Anishinaabe bears down powerfully on their lands.

Not to take too much credit away from Ponca, they have been making at least a few smart moves in this game. Unfortunate settling pressure from their neighbours has crammed them into a small, central space, and an early war declaration from Pomo put them on the back foot from the outset. But, picking on Karankawa to the south, they have managed to try to climb out of their statistical hole through nearly the only route possible. With their own units bearing down on Karankawa lands, there was a chance they could have taken those cities for themselves and built up a relatively respectful empire in the Great Plains of North America. Well wishes in the face of such insurmountable odds, I reckon.

Ultimately, the fate of this war with Anishinaabe will decide the fate of Ponca moving forward in this game. There is of course a chance that Anishinaabe fumbles this war, as they did just moments ago with Pomo. But there has been times when Anishinaabe has waged war competently, and times where Ponca has in of themselves fumbled the bag. I reckon we’re about to see at least Ponca’s capital become flipped, but it may take an episode or two to do so. A long, drawn out, and bloody death.

9: Papal States

Jasmine (LynnWinn):

Aurès left not much left for the Battlepope to go off of, with only most of a leg to stand on. They don’t have options for expansion, they’re at risk of losing their collar to France, & not even insulated from danger. No matter what plan they stitch together, they are out of the running for this game, & have become a rump state. It was an okay Italy run.

10: Ternate

Reformer:

Last ep, Ternate gave up Dodinga to Caral, after spending immense amounts of manpower to hold the city against Bunuba. And now…Bunuba has taken the city from Caral, nullifying Ternate’s strange scheme in the end. Truly humiliating. However, there is an answer. Bunuba is currently fighting for their life against NSW. That means now is Ternate’s chance to be opportunistic and make sure Dodinga does not remain a possession of Bunuba. Might want to wait a few turns for the Bunuban units to run off, but then you’re in the clear to enact yet another scheme.

11: Sumer

ItsTruckMonth:

Sumer survives yet another war with almighty Pakistan, having bailed out right as Kish was beginning to take damage.

Not really much else to say here lol. They’re mid at best, waiting to be surrounded by actually competent civs. Just kind of waiting for the Seychelles or Pakistan or Circassia to finally give them their due and send them to that big hot Sumerian wife in the sky.

12: Yunnan

ItsTruckMonth:

Another day, another attempt by Yunnan to kill off what remains of Pegu.

Will they finish the job this time? Probably not, but hey, at least they’re trying to get something done before the certain deaths to their north and south decide that Indochina is prime real estate.

13: Wallachia

Semi:

HEAR YE HEAR YE:

WALLACHIA IS NO LONGER BANKRUPT.

That being said, this much loss of science is still a problem. I’ll point you to Shang last season, who, though they managed to emerge from the 40 turns of resistance, had still lost so much to other powers nearby that they were out of contention. That’s almost certainly the case with Wallachia too, given Scythia’s existence. That being said they are proving to be a bit of a thorn to attack, having successfully fended off Circassia and the Hanseatic League when everyone had written off multiple cities as lost. I mean heck, Baalbek is looking really undefended this time of year given that it belongs to an Aures that has no way to reinforce it.

As I’m writing this, I’m becoming more and more convinced that 48 was probably too low for them. Sure, they have only 20 techs researched, but their 133 science is actually better than Herero. And I’d take Wallachia in a war against the Pope, too. But we’ll see. Maybe Scythia comes calling and reminds us why Wallachia is a bad civ after all.

14: Xaragua

Orange:

Better than other civs with 4 cities, but still no shot.

15: Zazzau

Reformer:

Ahhhh shit. The surprise attack has backfired. Big time. Zazzau has lost the city they snagged in the initial offensive, and has now gone on to lose an original city, making the war an unequivocal net negative. Even before, I was skeptical of Zazzau’s chances of ever being relevant again, but this war going sideways means those chances have been undoubtedly dashed. No more hope remains.

16: Vyatka

NopeCopter:

Vyatka manages to recover slightly after their disastrous past few episodes, finally securing peace with Scythia and maintaining enough of an army to punish the overeager Bjarmians. Make no mistake, though: Vyatka is a corpse. At best, they’re a Xavante-style stubborn rump state with enough of a military to stall out a major power before their demise. They’ve lost their capital, and about half their cities alongside it, and now they’re sandwiched between the ascendant Scythia and the unbreakable wall that is the Ket. They’re weak, they’re actively going broke, and at this point even the Kipchaks could fend them off. The reversal of fortunes between Vyatka and Scythia will need to be studied, but hey! At least they still have one more set of far-northern cities to scavenge and try to restore some of their honor.

17: Phoenicia

Reformer:

Phoenicia is still busy with their punching bag we’ve named Ma’in. It’s a good time, I am sure. I just hope they get something tangible out of this, rather than just blowing off steam. Personally, I’m still waiting for the comeback. It’s coming, I promise :)

18: Green Ukraine

Semi:

A very odd week for Green Ukraine. Their stats improved somewhat as the Japanese invasion petered out (and suddenly, it seems they’ll be busy with Itelmen), to a level where they’re now comparable with the Kipchaks. There is still that matter of the Rouran invasion, though…eh, Nikolaevskoe hasn’t fallen yet, I’m sure nothing has happened on that front that might mean GU could lose both conquered Itelmen cities to Rouran, right? Wait what do you MEAN Avacha is completely undefended, with the army that just took Chakazhuzh descending on it?

In reality, though, it’s objectively impressive that Nikolaevskoe has managed to hold on for this long, and it (combined with the stats jump) is why we’ve moved GU up.

CBR In-Game Screenshot of Hanseatic League

19: Hanseatic League

Cloudy:

Hansa is stuck in an endless loop of looking like they might finally get the upper hand over Estonia, and then losing Rostock. In fact, Rostock is now by far the most flipped city so far in season 5, having changed hands a total of 17 times so far. Right now, it’s controlled by Estonia, but another flip by Kalmar and a well-timed peace treaty could lock it out of Hansa’s control forever, given the unlikelihood that Hansa could beat Kalmar in a fight. So, taken all together, Hansa’s steady slide down the ranks must continue.

20: Kipchaks

Shaggy:

The Kipchaks have beefed up quite a bit as it seems that their investments in their mercenary training programs are paying dividends. Soldiers that have gone to fight, patrol, and station around the cylinder are now returning home to carpet their homeland with their newfound strength. The Ket presence is weighing heavier than ever while Bactria and Qara-Khitai have both somewhat found their footing to once again be border threats, so the timing of these reinforcements couldn’t be better. Vyatka has collapsed entirely, presenting a rare expansion opportunity if they can get their units over the mountains without abandoning their core. They do need to get their science up a bit to keep pace, but they aren’t out of the game yet.

21: Portugal

Reformer:

Portugal shows up their Nau to the class this week. Very cool Portugal, thank you. Come back next time with something new to show, will you?

22: Bactria

Semi:

A few episodes ago, I wrote down somewhere that Qara-Khitai, Bactria, and the Kipchaks were the Three Stooges of this season. None of them seemed to be doing well, and they were all stuck in the eastern China/Central Asia desert-mountain terrain that really doesn’t tend to work well for building empires.

Well, Bactria and the Kipchaks are still pretty bad. Neither power has done anything, and I still don’t think a war between them would go anywhere. The Sarepta fiasco (where Bactria couldn’t manage to take the isolated Phoenician city on the Caspian Sea) illustrated that for me in broad daylight. So now these guys are just food for whichever of Qara-Khitai and Pakistan gets off their ass and invades first.

23: Hyksos

Socks (LynnWinn):

I could ask for sleeping beauty to wake up, but honestly dying in your sleep is most people’s preferred way to go. (Not all as Jasmine points out frequently), This civilization has been one of the infamously “doomed” civilizations since testing started. They generally don’t do very well & it is a shame, but they also haven’t done anything interesting to deserve much sympathy, so I’m fine with them dying so cooling powers have a chance at the spotlight.

24: Bjarmians

Leman:

Awkward episode for Bjarmia. The snapped up Provoo, settled up two cities, and then dropped a city to the bloated corpse of Vyatka. I think, overall, that’s pretty embarrassing but not like, the worst thing that could happen to them, you know? They’re up two cities this episode, net, and still in a decent enough position. Vyatka still fundamentally sucks, Kalmar is super over extended, and Estonia is … fine. If Bjarmia manages to sort of slow down, regroup, beef up its stats with its great religion and uniques, I think there is real comeback potential here. Or maybe I’m coping because I like them.

25: Potiguara

Semi:

I’m not gonna lie, I’m taking a victory lap with this one. I’ve had Potiguara in the low 20s/high 30s for a while now, and have dropped them accordingly over the last couple of weeks. I didn’t see their way out back then, and I sure as heck don’t see it now. They’ve managed to lose a war to the only two civs on the continent that were worse than them (Xavante and Guaycuru), losing not only the exclave but a legitimate core city in Catu. Combine that with a precipitous 7 rank drop in the stats (above only Onondaga). Their science is still okay, but it’s below the Luba Line, and six cities is tied with such luminaries as Amina and Jurgen Wullenwever. So don’t expect these guys to go climbing back up the rankings. I don’t think they’ll die anytime soon, as Potiguara’s neighbors are roughly equal in strength to them, but they won’t escape the Brazilian box.

26: Estonia

Leman:

This was a strong episode for Estonia, who decided to show us that actually they do kind of matter. They grabbed an isolated Vassa from Kalmar and also seem to be actually holding Rostock this time! Stats for this civ are still a little on the weak side, but I’m not really hating this position Estonia is in. As long as they can keep their gains, consolidate, and go again, we might be building something. Not something great, but something.

27: Luba

JDT:

The Luba go up by 2 as they assault Maravi, an assault that looks a lot more positive on paper than in practice. While in theory Maravi is completely defenseless, this is X5 Africa and there is a giant lake between the primary front where this war will be fought at. And yes, Luba doesn’t have an Indian Ocean navy to pressure Maravi from the sea. Really, this more of an indictment on how far Potiguara fell and the fact they had a small bump in their military and production scores to bump them up a touch. Regardless, even if they can beat Maravi, what's next? They’re still squished between Herero and Aures, and Ethiopia has started to lock in a bit as well whilst having very difficult mountains to conquer. The Line remains unbroken, but can they break anyone else?

28: Umhaill

Leman:

Umhaill didn’t do much this week, and I don’t have any witty analysis for them either.

29: Onondaga

JDT:

The biggest thing that happened to Onondaga this episode was a very abortive attempt at seizing Ayr from Scotland, a failure of an attempt that may very well backfire on them with a newly settled 1 pop city open for Scotland to take. This aura loss, coupled with a 6 rank decline in stats due to the end of their golden age bringing production and growth back to earth, has resulted in the Onondaga going down by 3. They can still theoretically scrap well with the Susquehannock and Anishinaabe, with a bigger military, but their worse lands portends a truth - they will be left barren like Greenland if they don’t take decisive action soon. Something needs to give if they want to compete against their immediate rivals.

30: Pomo

Archimedes :

I definitely have mixed feelings about how Pomo has weathered the storm that was the coalition war against them. With both Tlingit and Teotihuacan being some of the top contenders for coolest civilizations within this game, the fact that Pomo has fended off their attacks so well gives me a feeling of despair deep within my core. But, it is undeniable to say that Pomo isn’t cool in their own right, with some of the highest levels of grit this game has so far seen. And Essie Parrish should be proud of what she’s accomplished leading this civilization so far, and what she still has the opportunity to achieve in this game.

Notably being the first civ to settle Polynesia, aside from Rapa Nui starting in Easter Island, Pomo settled Hawaii to its fullest extent, setting Pomo up as a predominant Pacific Power. But with Cebu sweeping in and taking not only all of Hawaii, but Baja California as well, Pomo definitely feels locked into the Coastal and Rocky Mountain ranges. Their fringes in the northern Great Plains remain harassed by Tlingit, a civilization with access to Longswordsmen, Crossbowmen, and Trebuchets. Though the mountains have provided Pomo with strong defensive capability and hard to navigate choke points, it’s only perhaps a matter of time until Tlingit either breaks through and begins taking cities in Washington and Oregon, or peaces out to let Pomo lick their wounds.

Pomo stands somewhat bereft of stats at the moment, but they aren’t in an unrecoverable position. With their Hawaiian colonies gone, their population is at some pretty dismal levels, as most of their cities are in hilly, mountainous, or desert filled terrain. Their science is looking sparse, and their treasury is looking sparse. They, however, should be gaining quite a decent number of benefits from their uniques at this moment, with their Unique Temple granting them additional faith, and their Unique Great Artist making wonderful unique Great Work baskets that grant additional stats to the capital. They have already stabilized from most of the war damage, gaining 10 stats since last episode, and they could still lock in and recover further, developing their lands and pushing their science to new heights. Their recent acquisition of Civil Services means their farms will begin to produce more food, and that Education is soon to be on the horizon.

As much as I’d love to see Teotihuacan sweep in from the south, or Tlingit to get a grip and actually make headways from the north, Pomo has proved that they have the grit to last until the very end of this game. Though they might not be able to truly ever fully recover, they’ve done an admirable job holding their position. Will they muster a force with their newly acquired Compass tech to take back their Hawaiian holdings? I know some on the team would love to see revenge be taken, and honestly? I might as well.

31: Kalmar Union

Shaggy:

Kalmar’s capture of Rostock marks their southernmost conquest yet. Should they be able to fortify and reinforce it, especially against the threat of Hansa’s new naval UU, the city should prove to be a useful beachhead for further inland invasions. Hell, they might be able to at least damage more of Estonia in this war! Still, no movement in the rankings for them this week. They are still the truest “will they or won’t they” civ and sit suitably in the middle of the pack until they can break into the European mainland further or have their borders eroded by Scotland or the Bjarmians.

32: Guaycuru

Archimedes :

We’ve seen a real turn around in outlook on Guaycuru, who have climbed up the statistics to a solid 28th place, above Pomo, Ethiopia, and Umhaill. They have shaken off their sleepy allegations by sweeping into Potiguara lands, cleaning up their borders and picking up two Potiguaran cities in victory. Though Chono still stands in the south, menacingly looking with intense, unmoving eyes, Guaycuru has the chance to really stabilize, make gains, and become a real contender in South America, at least for a moment.

However, their stats are still leaving something to be desired. With only 143 production spread out in their 11 cities, they’re actually quite unproductive for this state of the game. Their science is decent, but not particularly outstanding, having nabbed Education within the past two episodes and setting up Universities in their cities. They still have plenty of happiness, with 32 to spare for new conquests, but their army has dwindled and they are now at war with Xavante, a force that is more refreshed than the one they’ve just conquered. The choke point leading into Xavante lands is quite thin, meaning Xavante and Guaycuru may not come much to military blows, but Catu hangs in the balance as a potentially easy target for Xavante to nab, now that Guaycuru’s military strength has dwindled.

Guaycuru has at least shaken off some of the dust and proved they can do something in this game, which is more than can be said for the past 10 or so episodes. With their attention diverted though, they seem well open for Chono to finally make a decisive strike. Their Potiguaran claims could potentially help bolster them into relevance, but I fear that things might be too little too late, as South America has had a long time to develop proper regional powers.

33: Ethiopia

Cloudy:

Ethiopia jumps slightly back up into the top half, after rallying against Amina to retake their lost city of Adama and capture Fatika as well. It’s a turnaround from last episode, where it looked like Zazzau was on the upswing, but the road ahead for Zara Yaqob is still long and rocky, especially if he wants any chance of one day taking the crown of Africa from Aures, or even the silver medal from Herero, who also captured a city this episode without the enemy flipping any of theirs.

34: Circassia

Shaggy:

Circassia drops 3 ranks largely due to stats and vibes. We didn’t see much of them this week so there isn’t really much to say about them.

35: France

ItsTruckMonth:

Ah, so art does imitate life, as Robespierre attempts the famous crossing of the Alps to hop onto the Pope hatetrain. Not that it's going super well, but at least you got units across I guess?

Outside of their reverse-crusade, France has some good stuff going for them, having one of the largest militaries in Europe, decent production and science output, and mediocre neighbors galore. I highly doubt any Italian campaign will be their breakout, but that day may be soon…

36: Herero

JDT: The Erroro manage to stumble their way upwards by 2 ranks in light of them taking a singular city from Maravi before peacing out despite having at least one more undefended city open for the taking. It’s honestly quite a bit of a bag fumble, when they really could’ve used anything they could get their hands on. But so be it I suppose. Fundamentally, not much changed. They’ve got a big fat goose egg on infoaddict changes, and their positioning is still not great if you don’t think they can penetrate Luba. But hey, a city’s a city I suppose.

37: Bunuba

ItsTruckMonth:

Bunuba finds itself in yet another war with its Aussie antagonist, but now things look far bleaker than ever.

For starters, the stats difference is pretty damn massive, as NSW has roughly double both the military might and productive output of Bunuba, and just slightly edges them out in techs. Speaking of techs, NSW has researched compass, meaning they got them brand new, shiny carracks, while Bunuba is still stuck with dinghies.

This is your game 7 Jandamarra time to lock in.

38: Qara-Khitai

Archimedes :

I’ve grown rather fond of this civilization, situated in some of the rockiest terrain you can find on the cylinder. With their odd-ball start, backstabbing and stagnating, and then their slow and steady climb into relevance, Qara-Khitai has cemented themselves as a worthy contender within this game. And with a Unique Ability that scales well in a battle royale game, they really have a shot at doing well in the long run. But, with competitors squeezing in on all sides, and strong, militarized forces breathing down their necks, do they have a route to last until the end? I certainly hope they do.

Their Unique Ability of course is Battle of Qatwan, in which all cities in their empire gain +1 happiness and culture, and +2 gold for every city in their empire with a different original owner. Already nabbing their precariously settled city from Mysore, their 11 cities are granting a total of 44 extra stats, helping bolster themselves in land that is somewhat bereft of raw statistics. Their happiness is a key marker of that, sitting at a glowing 41 excess. If Battle Royales were won with happiness, they’d be one of the top in the running, but unfortunately it only provides a high ceiling for conquest, in which nabbing some more cities from Mysore or from neighbouring Kipchaks or Bactria could be very viable options.

Unfortunately for Qara-Khitai though, their population has been suffering. With low food prospects in their primarily desert and mountain settlements, their population is some of the lowest on the cylinder, and both their science output and production output has suffered for it. If they could push through to more fertile lands, they’d have the chance to pick up some real population heavy cities from their neighbours, but unfortunately for them, all of Ket, Rouran, Pakistan, Mysore and Tang stand as strong, heavily militarized neighbours that can fend off wanton aggression. Though difficult obstacles for sure, they are not insurmountable, especially if a coalition war was declared. Qara-Khitai is also yet to research Chivalry, which would unlock their Unique Knight replacement, a unit that starts off weaker but gains more combat strength the further it gets from its point of origin, and starts with Survivalism 1.

Perhaps hope in Qara-Khitai has been placed too soon, with most rankers thinking that the low 20s an appropriate area to place them. Though they stand in defensible terrain, their neighbours have really begun to gear up in this game, with Rouran in particular really coming around to a recovered, powerful position. However, I have hope for Qara to succeed, and whatever battles they may find themselves in the future, I’ll be standing on the sidelines, waving my Yelü Dashi flag with a fervor nigh matched by anyone else on the Power Ranker team.

39: Cebu

Orange:

Cebu slowly climbing once more as they make peace with Tang, though without taking Songzhou. At least once they get deep water travel their split apart empire will be a little less split. Astronomy, which they can go for now, gives them caravels and ocean moving embarked units, though they’ll have to wait a bit longer for non caravels. But hey, they’ve now shown that they can go toe to toe with one of the best civs on the cylinder, and that they still do not know what a settler is. Will they ever learn? Find out next time!

40: Itelmen

Socks (LynnWinn):

So! It seems like our favorite crow haters are trying to wake up in an invasion of the rising sun. Most likely they will take Hiroshima & keep it, & so far we haven’t seen any movement from Japan that would indicate them being able to take any territory from the Itelmen, so it does seem like the best decision they can make right now. In more good news, as mentioned by others, Tlingit, the main power that would be able to knock the Itelmen down a pegging or two has open borders with them, which is basically all they can ask for at this moment. If they keep friendly relations, the Itelmen will be able to at least have a chance to catch up with other civilizations beyond their immediate borders. Will they? Probably not, they’re probably screwed long term. We can always hope. :)

Selfishly, I want them to survive long enough to research computers so I can make Intelmen jokes, so Harchin, please survive until the Atomic Era.

41: Susquehannock

Archimedes :

With Susquehannock only really doing two things of note this episode, settling a small bit of Greenland and building Palisade Villages within their lands. And while the settlement in Greenland is of little note, these Unique Susquehannock improvements are actually nothing to scoff at. An alternative to the farm, the Palisade Village adds a production to the tile it is built on, gives any units stationed in the tile +40% defensive combat strength, and gains additional food just like the farm does from tech upgrades. A notable boost to both Susquehannock production and food scores, as they are doing just about average in both.

Science wise, Susquehannock is also puttering along, with an actually fairly low 168 effective science, and only 27 techs researched. It’s not the worst score we’ve seen in this game, but it’s definitely not the best, and it’s noticeably lower than Teotihuacan. It’s higher, however, than Onondaga, their closest rival in this game, and one that has taken a massive tumble in the stats this episode. Susquehannock is also managing to research Compass, an incredible boon for this Eastern Seaboard civilization, and a potential route into either finally contesting Teotihuacan, taking a shot at nabbing the Caribbean for themselves, or perhaps even sweeping through the Onondaga colonies in Northern Quebec and the coast of Greenland.

Susquehannock stands in a position where they aren’t quite good enough to say definitively they;ll be sticking around, but not in a spot where they’re completely out of this game. They still can prey on weaker neighbours, and could manage to nab a spot among the pantheon of North American contenders, but will need both grit, effort, and a bit of luck to do so. Hopefully Onondaga continues their slide into irrelevance, and Susquehannock can manage to nab their cities before Anishinaabe decides they actually want a piece.

42: Japan

JDT:

Japan goes down by 3 as they get ambushed at an inopportune moment by a surging Itelmen, Hiroshima completely wide open for the taking from them. Don’t get it twisted though - even if losing Hiroshima is a gigantic blow, cutting off Siberian expansion options, Japan is still in a very good position. They spent the past few episodes settling up Hawaii and IWO JIMA (pack it up boys), and have quite a bit of space to go. Their stats are all pretty fine and they’re still on 29 techs, a very respectable number that is. Their main core isn’t in any risk of danger from the Itelmen. But they have to thread steady. Because Cebu has a bigger army than them, and should they or Tang, or hell, maybe even Rouran or Lanfang, strike, very bad things can happen very quickly. Until then though, Hideyoshi hopes he can blow smoke on the faces of the rest of Asia and that this war with the Itelmen can disappear in a mere puff.

43: Bangladesh

Archimedes :

With 36 total happiness, some of the highest in the cylinder, Bangladesh stands out as one of the only truly happy empires in a sea of frowning faces, boasting an impressively high 36 happiness in total/ And, would you look at that, the people repay this kindness in turn. Bangladesh continues their longstanding tradition of good stats, despite now being below average in terms of total city count. Situated along the eastern side of the Indian subcontinent, with plenty of productive hills along the Himalayas and skirting into South East Asia, Bangladesh’s 314 production is nothing to scoff at. In addition to this, they have a very decent population, a bounty of crop yield, and an effective science that is on the high end of the spectrum. Truly, Bangladesh basks in the glory of their happy empire, despite only having ten cities to their name.

Of course, these ten cities that they have are quite hemmed in, with Mysore acting as a western wall of sorts, and Lanfang and Tang standing menacingly to the east. Though Pegu and Yunnan are within striking distance, and the Pegu city of Dagon representing a tantalizing prize of the Gate of the Sun, Bangladesh feels a bit locked in within the confines of their starting position. With little room to expand, and difficult enemies to face when they decide to beat the drums of war once more, the eventual hope of becoming the predominant Asian empire are perhaps tantalizingly out of reach for Bangladesh. By nabbing Education right at the end of the episode, and pushing for Chivalry to boot, we may see a highly scientific and highly aggressive Bangladesh beginning to swing their weight around in the coming episodes. But can they truly push through the neighbours that threaten to envelope them? Whenever they attempt to, I’m sure their people will be smiling all the same.

44: Scotland

Cloudy:

I don’t think anyone imagined that Scotland would get this high, but here we are. After scoring a fairly significant win over the Kalmar Union, Mary has turned around and responded to a declaration of war from No. 1 ranked Tlingit by unhesitatingly capturing Tlingit’s Greenland city, robbing the North American juggernaut of one of its defining accomplishments. Now Mary’s ships will have free passage to defend her own Greenland colony from the Onondaga, who are so far mounting an unsuccessful assault. Overall, the outcome has only further solidified Scotland’s hegemony over the far North Atlantic. And with Umhaill having fallen far, far behind, they might not face any true competition for quite a while. This could easily result in Scotland coming into the late game as the top dog in Europe.

45: Mysore

NopeCopter:

Mysore drops three spots this week in the face of an increasingly terrifying Pakistan that has the Power Rankers casting their doubts on whether they can ever break out. This is a bit confusing to me personally, not because I disagree, but because I thought this had been obvious for two thirds of the game. Southern India is such a difficult region to break out of, with defensive terrain on all sides, a shape that makes pushing out a lot more annoying than pushing in, and excellent terrain for civs to the north to build up strong, stable cores. At first it seemed like Mysore might be the one to finally break through this trap as Pakistan and Bangladesh were slow to settle, but even their early lead wasn’t nearly enough to make them look like they had a half-decent shot. Pakistan settled JUST enough of a core to make any invasion infeasible, and Bangladesh was plenty large to put up a fight in a region where a curbstomp seems like the only way to break free. The only direction that seems to have a chance at working is south, becoming a seafaring power. But even if Mysore were to do this, the Seychelles and Lanfang already have such well-established thalassocracies that Mysore couldn’t hope to touch them. To summarize: I think Mysore is still 5-10 spots too high. Their stats are great, but it doesn’t mean a thing if they can never actually use those stats to grow, and in a game full of great powers trapped behind walls, Mysore has been sealed in so hard you’d think someone offered them a cask of Amontillado. It would be wonderful to see Mysore find a way out of this jam, but as their stats slip away and Pakistan becomes an utter monster, it seems foolish to expect anything more than a sleepy little wall separating Pakistan and Bangladesh until the late game.

46: Caral

Cloudy:

Caral dispelled some fraud allegations this week, with a huge windfall in the form of a free city from Xavante—and a large city with a lot of land attached, too. It’s not the same as military conquest but it’s enough for a noticeable stats and ranking boost. Additionally, Caral’s fleet of carracks and galleasses is now large enough and widespread enough to rival anyone in the Pacific, perhaps up to and including New South Wales. With more settlers still headed west and plenty of islands left, Caral is dead set on carving out a place on the high seas, New South Wales be damned, as evidenced by Qhapaq’s sneaky settlement on Aotearoa.

47: Yanomami

Archimedes :

I personally feel quite conflicted doing a writeup for Yanomami. Not because they aren’t a cool civilization, and a cool culture outside of the game itself. No, my reasons are due to their proximity to Teotihuacan and Caral, some of my personal favourites in this game. And not only are they close in proximity, Yanomami are also the owners of a key strategic city in Central America : Cholula, the Panama Canal of this game. A city that was settled by beloved Teotihuacan, and taken after a long and arduous struggle. Does Yanomami deserve this city, and deserve the spot the power ranking team has given them? Or are they overrated compared to their actual strength?

Yanomami does of course boast some pretty impressive stats. Overall 11th compared to our other competitors, their production has actually soared to a solid 304, likely due to their rugged cities in the Colombian Highlands. This places them solidly in the second tier of producers, brushing next to other solid production achievers like Teotihuacan, Anishinaabe, Bangladesh and even Aures. In addition to high production, their population and crop yields are very nicely situated, with fertile jungles being chopped for even more fertile farms. Their science unfortunately isn’t quite as good, with a solid 30 researched techs but only 231 effective science. They have spread out quite well in the tech tree, nabbing lots of low cost technologies to keep an overall well rounded empire. With Education currently being researched, we can expect that science to jump quite substantially, perhaps even within the next episode.

Though their stats are good, especially for the number of cities they have, that city count number is one of their weaker statistics. With only 11 cities to their name, they’re a bit hemmed in at the moment, and are lacking in new areas to settle. Luckily for them, they have managed to nab Compass, a key technology for naval warfare, and are situated well along the northern South American coast, within perfect striking distance of Xaragua. With some of their own cities settled along the Caribbean island chain, a force of Galleasses and Carracks could have a decent shot of taking all of the Caribbean for themselves, if they put in the effort to do so. Otherwise, Xavante and Potiguara to the south stand as potential targets, but history has shown that these are difficult to assail targets. With Teotihuacan and Caral still bearing down as eminent powers in the region, we’re likely to see a conquest of Xaragua to be the Yanomami’s best bet to stay in relevancy.

I think it’s fair to say that, despite my misgivings and biases, the Yanomami are indeed a powerful civilization within the area, and deserve their spot at the top. Though they haven’t focused on beelining anything, nor have they managed a large collection of cities, they have made do with the resources they do have to fashion a strong, competitive empire. Whether they can maneuver the political landscape of the area and perhaps make some gains with a coalition war, or strike out on their own and nibble at other areas, will have to be seen.

48: Rouran

Leman:

Roruan are slowly and steadily taking apart Green Ukraine. They picked up a frozen arctic city this week, and kept banging on another city’s doors (I can’t spell ‘em, look at the slide, you know the one I’m talking about.) That’s all fine and good and dandy, but they’re sliding a little this week. Not because Rouran is bad or anything. I think it’s because, well for me, it’s because of their science. Rouran is at 27 techs, a good 4 techs behind the civ one spot ahead of them. Their cities are small, and their growth is poor, so I don’t really expect too much of an economic boom to turn that around all that soon. And they’re squeezed between Tang and Ket, two massive powerhouses. I just need more out of Rouran before they break into the top 10.

49: Seychelles

ItsTruckMonth:

It’s been roughly 73 turns since the Seychelles have fought in a somewhat relevant war, but it looks like pacifism looks good on the island boys, as they remain juuuuuuuust out of reach of the top 10, and for good reason.

Stats-wise, they’re looking quite nice: sporting the 4th largest military on the cylinder and tied for the second most techs. Only iffy episode is their production being roughly middle-of-the-road.

As for opportunities? Pretty loaded given their neighbors consist of Sumer, Maravi, and Ma’in: all bottom 10 civs ripe for the picking.

But now that you have caracks, it's time to wrap up that vacation, Rene: you got skulls to crack.

50: Pakistan

Jasmine (LynnWinn):

Keeping my bias of Pakistan 3rd at bay, let’s keep it relatively mild. Pakistan has pretty solid stats with a lot more flexibility due to their one-two punch of their religion (Islam) & their UA that is highly inflating their population. As long as their religion has some level of competitiveness, even losing followers, they will be able to keep growing their population to absurd levels as they have. Barring an assault into their territory of historic levels of stagnation & decline, they are at least going to stay in a stable position for the time being. The long term threat that they could be destroyed by is nukes.

Pakistan’s episode this time was not its strongest, but long term they have many options for their survival & continued growth. A good war into modern day Iran & destroying Mysore eventually. Religious competition between Islam & Bangladesh’s Shaktism could lead to draining large amounts of population out of Mysore into Pakistan, which would actually be quite beneficial for some cities. Regardless, Pakistan is going to be a fun party to watch this ride around the cylinder, may they have the fate they deserve.

51: Anishinaabe

NopeCopter:

The Anishinaabe recover their reputation a little bit after that disastrous Pomo war by declaring a new war on the Ponca, the easiest meal in North America. Already they’ve seemingly stripped the Ponca of most of their military, so now it simply remains to be seen whether they can actually commit long enough to take some cities. Their stats are excellent as always, and some disillusionment on the battle prowess of the Tlingit has probably also improved the PRs’ perception of them. However, there is still that age-old question: what do they do after this? The Tlingit are still an existential threat in the long term, the Susquehannock are a rival that will be difficult to overcome, and the Onondaga have the advantage of terrain to slow down any war to a crawl. The Pomo would be an obvious target, but, well… we saw how that went. The Anishinaabe do have time to figure this out, but sharing a continent with perhaps the strongest civ in the game is never a good look.

52: Chono

NopeCopter:

The Chono continue to be a civ that is decidedly in this game. They cast a shadow over their neighbors, acting as a counterpoint to any discussion of Caral, New South Wales, or especially the Guaycuru. The only problem: they haven’t done a damn thing. In a just world, the Chono would have started to slip by now. The Guaycuru have woken up, Caral just got a free city and has started building up in Polynesia, and of course New South Wales needs no introduction. These should all completely screw the Chono. They haven’t done ANYTHING. And yet… their stats are so fundamentally good that it really doesn’t matter! They could conquer the Guaycuru at their leisure! They could easily fend off an Australian assault! At any moment, they could become a terror if they just convert that potential energy to kinetic. But they haven’t. They just let those holes in their empire sit there and grow. Their Science is great, their military is strong, and South America is slow enough that they don’t need to rush. But at least their neighbors are trying!

53: Teotihuacan

Archimedes :

When I look at the competitors in this game, I am for some reason drawn the most to the Americas. A cast of characters that bespeckle the eye, from the northern reaches of North America with the Tlingit to the southernmost point of Patagonia with the Chono. And of course, in the heart of this collection of brash, lovable, scrawny, and awe inspiring characters is Teotihuacan. Starting in what has been described as “one of the toughest locations to break out of” by the Power Ranker veterans, I have latched onto them as the Jewel of the Americas, set right in the center of the crown that sits atop the head that is the CBRX5. Can any shine so brilliantly as Teotihuacan? Can anyone's lustre outcompete that of the premiere mesoamerican civ that S5 has seen?

Their starting location is of course at the heart of modern day Mexico, just a bit to the north and east of where the Aztecs would found their mighty capital of Tenotchitlan. Situated next to the Cerro Gordo-Tonantépetl in the real world, Teotihuacan is surrounded on all sides in this game by rocky hills and mountainous areas. These Mexican highlands, 2,300 meters above sea level, are flanked by rich coastal waters, providing settlements within this mesoamerican basin with both high production capabilities and fertile waters to support high population cities. This region has been expanded slightly from previous seasons, allowing Teotihuacan to take advantage of the extra space allowed to them. With this, and the mod addition to settle coastal cities within 2 tiles of each other, Teotihuacan has built up a solid core indeed.

Teotihuacan would be nothing of course without their abilities. Their Unique Ability, Where Men Become Gods, encourages them to build wonders through a +2% production bonus when defeating enemy units. They were also granted an additional trade route on their first declaration of war. Their Unique Unit, the Canine Warrior, is a spearman that starts with Drill 2 in cities with a wonder present, and gains 100% combat strength against cities where they have already conquered a city before. Though this spearman is now obsolete, their Obsidian workshop is not. Replacing the Caravansary, it grants a copy of the unique Obsidian Luxury Resource, has a great work slot, and when that slot is filled, spawns a worker on completion of any trade routes to the city. Abilities that are generally not too powerful on their own, but paint a grand picture of the Civilization they belonged to, with their massive sprawling pyramids, and their multicultural boroughs where many skilled craftsmen worked to produce fabulous goods, obsidian included.

Teotihuacan, despite being a civ that was barely featured this episode, is still one I hold quite dearly to my heart. Though the West Coast of the Americas this season is decorated with fascinating and powerful Civilizations, Teotihuacan stands out personally as one with a real grit and dog in this game. I look forward to watching them slowly spread their extent across the continents, taking down mighty Yanomami, and finally besting both Pomo and Xaragua. I welcome anyone who is reading this to join me in manifesting Teotihuacan’s success, as they maintain their statistics well through these episodes. And as they’re on the cusp of researching Astronomy, picking up both Compass and Education last episode, expect their science to flourish massively in the coming episodes with at least 5 of their cities being next to mountains. Or, perhaps a final master stroke of an invasion against Karankawa, with their newly unlocked Galleasses and Carracks.

54: Scythia

Shaggy:

Scythia learns the meaning of self-control and asks for the check from the Vyatkan waiter. Enough cities have been consumed for now and Ateas looks to replenish the now-legendary Scythian cavalry. Scythia has more than a few appetizing conquest targets remaining, whether they decide to take another bite out of Vyatka or opt for a different cuisine is up to the munchies du jour that Ateas comes down with sometime in the future. Personally, I’d love to see them move westward now that Vyatka has been reduced to a carcass. They drop one rank this week mostly due to the rise of another top 10 civ that’s been making waves among the other prestige civs this week.

55: Ket

Semi:

A pretty quiet episode from Ket sees them drop two places as Aures emerges surprisingly victorious and successful from the Papal war and Lanfang continues having a good empire and top-tier science output. And in all honesty, 6th feels like the right spot for Ket. They’re an extremely solid civ, and look to be a true Siberian juggernaut who’s really hard to conquer. Their cities boast some insane defense values (52 in Kellogg, 55 in Maduyka), and their 17 cities are tied for fourth on the cylinder. They’re also top 5 in production and well within what I’d describe as the second tier of the stats (from Pakistan to Scythia).

Their problem, as it has been for Every Siberian Civ Ever, is their science output. It’s a measly 175 - respectably mediocre, on the same level as Japan and Scotland, but nowhere near the other top tiers (e.g. Seychelles at 303 or Aures at 328). This isn’t helped by the fact that their 9.4 population/city keeps them ahead of only Ma’in, Vyatka, Rouran, and…Scotland & Umhaill? What are you two doing here? Anyway, that is, in my opinion, the true limiting factor to Ket. Their religion is still very good. Their strongest accessible neighbor is still Rouran, who they could still roll over pretty easily. If they can get that science and population out…Watch out, world.

56: Lanfang

Archimedes :

We’ve watched Lanfang slowly but surely climb up the ranks as episodes have gone on, both through their own active efforts of improving their empire and the fact that their immediate neighbours have been slowly losing control of their situations. Bunuba has been chipped away at, Yunnan is fully hampered, Bangladesh seems to be slipping a bit, and though Cebu feels monstrous they are not in a dominant position yet. Lanfang, stabilizing and growing stronger, has managed to become a real prospect for the region, with the viability to at least challenge the lofty positions of Tang and New South Wales.

Lanfang’s strongest trait at the moment is their science. With 311 effective science across their 16 cities, they have kept pace with the top science contenders, matching Seychelles Tang and Bunuba, and only one tech behind Tlingit and New South Wales. They have nabbed Education, bolstering their cities with universities, but have decided to pick up Chivalry and work on Banking instead of nabbing Compass like their contemporaries. A potential flaw for sure, as the area has been focusing heavily on militarizing their navies, but Lanfang has a potential out as they have mainland cities that can act as starting points for further invasions inland. Yunnan, Cebu, and Bangladesh all have cities that could be taken by Lanfang, though their militaries are at least decent enough to put up a fight.

Production unfortunately hasn’t been Lanfang’s strongest statistic. Though still very decent at 260, it lags behind some of their other stronger contemporaries, especially odd since their Unique Ability lets them build mines on flatland tiles, with or without forests and jungles. With nearly half of their land being coastal tiles, it’s not the biggest surprise, but that lack of production does hamper their ability to build and maintain a strong naval presence in the area. They would be able to skate by on a smaller navy of stronger and moe advanced units, if they weren’t on the fringes of one of the most technologically advanced regions in the cylinder. They do however seem to have the kind of go-getter attitude that does well in this kind of games, with multiple successful city captures under their belts, so though their production may not be the best compared to some of their neighbours, they at least have the strategic gumption to be able to use it effectively.

Lanfang overall doesn’t seem too much stronger than some of the major powers in the area, but they have the kind of grit and xDawg in their spirits that inspires faith in their performance. As other neighbours begin to stagnate under the weight of bloated cities and unmotivated leaders, Luo Fangbo seems dedicated to bring his civilization into the forefront. And with that kind of motivation, I expect that Lanfang will be sticking around the top spots for quite a while longer.

CBR In-Game Screenshot of New South Wales

57: New South Wales

Archimedes :

Finally unlocking Astronomy and the ability to traverse ocean tiles, New South Wales has had an incredible episode, sending an armada of settlers across the newly opened passageway to New Zealand and the polynesian islands to the north. With a grand total of 8 cities settled over the course of turns 185-190, New South Wales is now distinctly the dominant power of Polynesia, drawing a line that is threatening to cut off all of the Papua cities and civilizations from accessing the wider stretches of the Pacific. With such a monumental burst of potential, New South Wales has risen in the ranks to contest Tlingit as the top spot of all the civilizations on the cylinder, and for good reason.

Wait.

Sorry, my mistake, dear readers. New South Wales has actually gone DOWN in the rankings.

And that has been a contentious topic for sure within the Power Rankers team. 8 people on the team have ranked them in the 1st to 3rd spots, with an 11 and a 14 bringing the overall average down to the 4th ranked spot you see them in now. What does New South Wales have going for them at the moment? And what might be holding them back from a decisive majority from the whole of the ranking team?

New South Wales still sits at the top of the statistical rankings, with a mind numbing second place 399 production and an astronomical 375 effective science. This science, mind you, has gone down a bit due to all of their newly established 1 pop cities, so expect this number to climb quickly as New South Wales’ polynesian cities establish and grow. They also currently have by far the most cities out of any civilization on the cylinder, holding 24 to nearby Tang’s 20 total. And, technology wise, they have also picked up Nobility and Chivalry in quick succession, to combat Bunuba’s own fielded Knights on the sandy flatlands of the Outback. With Banking currently being researched, we’re watching a civ that is well within the Medieval Era at this point, and one that will begin to slowly but surely elapse their neighbours.

But with so many recently settled cities, their happiness is suffering. Sitting at a precarious -10 happiness, they have been mechanically barred from settling any new cities in Polynesia, as the game (at least in Brave New World) locks you from settling cities that would send you under -10 happiness. This does put a hamper on settling any of the newly opened city spots that are left in the broad polynesian region, and also puts a bit of a damper on their current war with Bunuba. With a -20% combat strength malus to all of their units, pushing offensively on land will become even more tricky, facing down Knights and the Great Wall on the opposing side. Navally however, New South Wales is fielding Carracks against Bunubas Triremes, a 10 to 18 strength combat difference that is brought down just a bit to 10 to 14 with the current happiness issues. This still could be enough to turn the tides, and New South Wales could once again threaten some of Bunuba’s coastal holdings.

There are of course long term considerations to New South Wales successes to consider. Time and time again, the team has discussed the prospects of breaking out of the Australian region, a problem that other Australian contenders have had issue with in the past. Bunuba still stands strong as a thorn in New South Wales's forehead, reduced in strength from the early game but still fighting bitterly until the end. Ternate could be a potential target in the future, as well as Caral’s holdings in Papua New Guinea, but mainland options seem at the moment few and far between. South and Central America all boast strong contenders for top spots in this game, acting as an eventual wall for eastern expansion, while Mysore, Lanfang, Tang, and arguably Cebu act as walls for the northwest mainland. One could maybe say that Pomo and Seychelles are valid targets for a beachhead with the advent of Astronomy and oceanfaring vessels, but that sits well into the realm of well wishes and speculation.

New South Wales has emerged as the dominant power of Oceania, one with stats that are nearly nigh insurmountable. And though a few detractors doubt they have the xDawg to actually fight through their neighbours, it is undeniable that they will at least stick around in this game, and take a dominant position in the Southern Pacific. As long as New South Wales can solve some of their happiness issues, perhaps by picking up Physics and then Machinery for Taverns, or the Exploration Policy tree’s Naval Tradition, their potential and momentum will continue to climb. And perhaps, if we’re lucky, we’ll see New South Wales manage a far flung ocean expedition to conquer someone like Maravi, Japan, or Sumer.

58: Aures

JDT:After several episodes of doubt regarding the Aures due to them stagnating all their stats to fight increasingly fruitless forever wars, the Aures manage to climb back to 3rd on the backs of them eviscerating the Papacy, securing Castel Gandolfo alongside the Corsican city of Avignon and their Greek city in a peace deal to fully lock down half of the Mediterranean. Sure, their Wassoulou war could be going better, and is probably ending as a stalemate barring city gifts, and their military is still pretty depleted from the endless deathwarring, but this display of power shows that they very much deserve to be put in the 1A tier with the statistical giants of Tang, NSW and Tlingit. Plus, even if it's probably the least impactful footholds possible, they have footholds in Europe now, and can potentially snowball that into a wipeout of Phoenicia or Wallachia, or even coming back to finish off the Papacy.

Of course, the issue with the Aures have never been their motor, it has always been their stats. But even they are looking up. Their production is now 3rd behind Tang, Tlingit and NSW, and their science is 4th behind only the aforementioned 3 and Chono. And their growth, while not top tier, is still top 15, more than good enough to serve as an engine. And once again, nobody around them can really properly stand up to them. Sure, Hyksos, France, Ethiopia and maybe Luba can hold them to a stalemate, but they’re so overwhelmingly powerful that they can eventually outscale them (ok maybe not France because they have to mount a giant naval invasion or eat all of Portugal first). The truth of the matter is simple - the cylinder is a play, and all its denizens merely actors at the behest of Dihya.

59: Tang

Semi:

Another week, another Tang top 2. Seriously. We talked so much last time about the Faroes’ run of dominance, but Tang have been in the top 2 since Episode 3. Why? Well, in addition to the now-infamous Tang Diplomatic Corps, they just are playing the game well. We always say that Civ is a game of snowballing, and Tang have utilized their early advantage well - having settled or conquered all of the fertile Chinese plain, they now stand with the number one food surplus, along with number three population and effective science, on the entire cylinder (behind NSW and Tlingit, of course).

There’s one other thing that I think is crucial - however they did it, Taizong has solved his happiness problem. Tang is now at +2, which while not high, is similar to #3 Aures’s +4 and better than #4 NSW’s -10, #5 Lanfang’s -5, and #6 Ket’s 0. And it’s better than they have been doing, given how much that single Green Ukraine peace deal propped up their economy. Combine that with still-very-good stats, and their pick of a myriad of mediocre neighbors, and you get a clear second-place civ behind only the Tlingit and their broken science and culture religion.

Nonetheless, I ought to talk about the elephant in the room: that pitiful war with Cebu. In my opinion, it really wasn’t all that bad. Cebu are probably the best civ at war this season (perhaps behind only Scythia), so no cities exchanged isn’t that much of an egg on the face. It’s also likely Cebu was utilizing their UA to pillage Shuri’s improvements and damage the Tang attack. Despite all of that, Tang still had the city into the yellow using only triremes while Cebu, with their UA in tow, could only push Songzhou into the green. So not a bad war for Tang.

And I think, if you had to ask me to root for one of the top 4, it would be Tang. Their early game exploits have been super fun (with their wars with Ryukyu being some great highlights), and they’ve played well since then to keep up with Tlingit on the stats front. Plus, it’s cool to see a Chinese dynasty do well after what happened to Han in X3. It would be even cooler if they went back to winning.

60: Tlingit

Leman:

Big Tling stays winning at the top! They continue crushing Pomo and they went to war with Scotland and they’re winning that too, obviously. Tlingit built a couple of really impactful wonders like Alhambra and the Statue of Liberty. Tlingits got so many cities and such huge stats, they’re clearly, finishing off Pomo now and we’re about to crush Anish -

What? They haven’t made any progress against Pomo? They dropped a city to Scotland? New South Wales and Tang have way more cities than them? The wonders they built are shit? Then why is Tlingit still ranked first??

I guess it turns out if you’re completely dominant in science, production, military, growth, and population, and still have more land to settle, it’s hard to knock you off this number one perch. Even if you fumble a little bit. Hopefully Tlingit will be sweeping through California in the next episode.

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