Power Rankings: Episode 16 – S5

Release Date:

May 25, 2026

Narrated by:

Power-Rankers

Abstract

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

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Rapa Nui

1 / 0

1: Rapa Nui

Archimedes :

I wish I could say more about Rapa Nui, but they remain so inconsequential to this game to have nearly nothing to say about them. They have refused to build new settlers, refused to go to war, refused to settle the islands near them, and refused to do anything of note. Rapa Nui had their moment in the sun as a meme at best, and fodder at worst, but now they stand about as still as the Moai that decorate their island.

The best that Rapa Nui can do in this game is feed their city to a civ that could use it. With the Great Lighthouse situated tantalizingly in their capital, whoever nabs Anakena will be the undisputed master of the seas. They also hold Puata Rupuna; a religion that, if conquered by a civ that does not have a religion, will have its ownership transferred to the conqueror, unlocking cheap missionaries and additional faith and production from citadels. A tidy prize indeed.

And, we are actively seeing a civ take a crack at conquering Rapa Nui. Though Cebu only has Caravels at the moment, a 16 strength naval unit with deep sea accessibility, it remains as a portent that Rapa Nui could be drawing ire from its closer, more well armed neighbours. Caral, Teotihuacan, Bunuba, New South Wales and Chono could all relatively easily take out Rapa Nui’s final breath, with NSW and Chono potentially benefitting off of grabbing the religion for themselves. Both Caral and Chono both have the militaries and positioning to do this most easily, but the advent of South Pacific settlements and deep water crossing means that one wayward breath could finally extinguish Rapa Nui from this game. Whether that will be next episode, or 5 episodes in the future is the question, but the clock is ticking ever and ever closer to the final minute, and I expect Rapa Nui won’t be long for this world.

1: Rapa Nui

Archimedes :

2: Ma’in

Archimedes :

Time and time again, Ma’in has weathered the storm of invasions from Phoenicia, Ethiopia, Sumer and others. Unfortunately for Ma’in, they’ve recently drawn the ire of the sleepy Seychelles, imposing and navally stocked with plenty of ships that can sail their way into Ma’ins waters. Will this be the time that Qarnawu falls? I honestly doubt it.

Ma’in is in a very precarious position, with Seychelles ships bearing down on Inabba’ with a fury. Carracks and Galleases spell doom for the city, and can easily enough maneuver into the Red Sea to begin to approach Ma’ins capital. But with Phoenicia holding onto Manhiyat, there isn’t actually a way for Seychelles to maneuver their ships in a way to assault the capital. And even if they were able to negotiate open borders, the hilliness of the region and the capital being located one tile away from the coast means that there is limited availability for Seychelles to assault the city by sea, and no way for them to slam Carracks into it. They do happen to have land units as well, with a collection of pikemen, crossbowmen, and trebuchets available to march in by land, but the two tile approach adds an added layer of difficulty.

I think there is a world where Seychelles could ultimately take the city, as trebuchets do pack a punch, but with inaccessible land and plenty of city defense, this war looks to be long and drawn out at best. Seychelles can do it, or Phoenicia can finish the job when they next declare war, but I expect Ma’in will be sticking around for at least a couple more episodes.

3: Pegu

Archimedes :

We are currently looking at a broken husk of a civ, harassed on all sides by enemies, and with no hopes and no dreams in this game. Pegu, by virtue of their proximity to both Lanfang and Bangladesh, has been put into a fortress of their own design. But, with the Gate of the Sun still in their hands, they remain a juicy jewel of a prize for any civ that may dare to claim the city of Dagon. Will it be powerful Bangladesh that claims that prize? Stalwart Yunnan who have tried time and time again? Or plucky Lanfang, with only a one tile wide gap to assail the city?

Pegu, ultimately, still has a little bit of benefit, despite being relegated to essentially a city state. The Gate of the Sun, which grants +3 food and +1 gold on Lake Tiles, may seem like a decent enough wonder, until you remember that it also grants +15% growth in all cities. Pegu also gains +5% science and +5% faith from all foreign civilizations trading with them, keeping them slightly better paced despite their one city status at present. These two bonuses are slightly keeping them in the game, despite essentially being out of contention for any legitimate top spot.

Time will tell who gets to gobble up such a powerful bonus, both Yunnan and Bangladesh will have a hard time forcing their way through the mountain fortress at this point in the game, and with Lanfang knocking at Yunnan's door and Mysore knocking and Bangladeshs, we may see another civ end up gaining borders with Dagon to try to take a shot. One thing is for sure though : We will be watching South East Asia with a close eye, and whichever empire ends up striking the killing blow will be one that gets a few solid bumps up the power ranking ballot.

4: Ponca

Archimedes :

Ponca looks to be on the absolute brink, with enemies from nearly all sides swarming in to take a piece of this Great Plains civ. Anishinaabe has marched on their lands with a fury, using the first unlocked Musketmen in this game to great effect. And Susquehannock has snuck in from the east, snapping up the Karankawa gifted city and continuing their march to the current Ponca capital of Hubdon. Does Ponca have a chance at all in this game or are they the most likely 60th eliminated civ on the docket?

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your stance, Wain-xude stands as a reminder that Ponca will be sticking around for quite a while. Though Ponca has had their military reduced to almost nothing, their production put into shambles, and their hopes and opportunities quashed, the veritable fortress of Wain-xude stands as a reminder of Ponca’s earlier tussle with the Pomo, and a reminder for readers that the city is nigh assaultable. With 5 mountain tiles protecting nearly every avenue of attack, and two hill tiles blocking the opportunity for ranged attacks on the city, Wain-xude will need beefy melee units to properly assail it, or the advent of artillery with their indirect fire. Ponca likely will fall to the likes of Linesmen or Riflemen in the future, as long as their city strength doesn’t rise much further than their current level, but I think Anishinaabe will waste a lot of time and effort trying to assail the city.

One nice fact about this two front war is the opportunity for Ponca to take advantage of their unique ability. Viewers have noted that the settling rules in the game have been relaxed, opening up the opportunity for cities to be settled with only a 2 tile gap between them. Ponca, with the ability to settle new cities within enemy borders for 10 turns after a peace is declared, may end up being able to sneak a few cities here and there within both Anishinaabe and Susquehannock lands. As one of the more notable abilities in this game, Ponca would certainly leave their mark if they were able to do this, as they otherwise seem likely to go out without a bang.

5: Wassoulou

Msurdej:

Well the good news is that the war with the Aures is over! The bad news is that they had to give up the city of Kankan to do it, they're at war with ten different civs, and they are quickly swirling the toilet to join Ryukyu in the sub. The silver lining? Well...their biggest threat right now is...Portugal? I don't know, we're still looking for a good silver lining.

6: Karankawa

Semi:

Another episode, another defeat for Karankawa. In all honesty, I’m of two minds on this civ. On the one hand, they really stink. They own only three cities on the entire cylinder, have lost a war to Ponca, and are still at war with Susquehannock, who now own a strategically important Coco, allowing for an actual invasion force to march into Karankawan home territory. Oh, and Teotihuacan could always come calling.

On the other hand, Ebahamo is behind Greenlandic ice and mountains and could last a very, very long time.

7: Maravi

JDT:

There I go, volunteering punishment

Self inflicted pain, sickness over used

Will I let it ride? (Here I stay)

Here I stay, time to time

It must be what you put me through (Yeah, time to time)

It must be what you put me through

8: Xavante

Archimedes :

Once again we find ourselves with a Xavante vs Potiguara war, and once again we see a war front that has absolutely stalemated, with no side holding a particular advantage and the expected outcome to be nil. Xavante, despite their rock on attitude, has failed to do anything more than be an inconvenience to their neighbours. And honestly? Props to them. It’s more than anyone on the power ranking team expected from them, as they had initially been slated as the first likely death in this game. But tenacity and drive have pushed Xavante to continue in this game, despite any obvious advantages they seem to lack.

Xavante may seem to be doing quite poorly when you look at their stats, but when you consider their current breadth stands at a measly three cities, they don’t actually look too bad. Their low army score still happens to cover a wide expanse of their lands, their highly populous cities are pumping out decent production numbers, and they still have room to grow with an excess of 25 happiness. But they hang at the brink with a nearly net 0 food surplus, and their effective science is skimpy at only 116, meaning that Potiguara, their currency active war front, will continue to pull further and further ahead in tech than them. With other high science civs circling the Xavante lands like sharks, Yanomami Caral and Guaycuru constantly breathing down their necks, we’re likely to still see Xavante as the rump of South America.

While they are still managing to do the best that they can, especially by attacking their most likely target, Xavante really has no route to any form of South American dominance. Gifting away a city to Caral was a nail in the coffin, but there are surely more nails to be added. Perhaps there is a chance for them to turn things around, as Xavante happens to be researching Physics and could use trebuchets on some undefended cities, but likely these two will keep duking it out until they are absorbed by one of the real contenders of the Continent. Xavante is a far cry away from X3’s Kayapo, and though they’ve exceeded expectations so far, I fear they won’t be exceeding them much longer.

9: Yunnan

Archimedes :

Yunnan seems to be in a peculiar position in this game, with a capital that rivals the Ket in terms of city strength, but an otherwise floundering empire. They have failed to make any military progress on the tantalizing target that is Pegu, and are now beset by the military might of Tang. With Lanfang and Tang squabbling over scraps by sea, and Tang marching their armies on 63 City Strength capital of Kunming, does Yunnan have a route back into this game? Or are they destined forever to be a rump state in South East Asia?

Their stats unfortunately paint a dire picture of what’s to come. With only 5 cities to their name, abysmal army and production scores, and with cities that are actively starving, Yunnan certainly looks like an empire in decline. Their effective science is in rough shape, despite their active technologies still being decent enough. With Civil Service allowing them to field pikemen, and Chivalry on the way to field Knights, they remain able to keep toe to toe with Tang and Lanfang at least on land, but evidently lack the oomph to break through Pegu lines and nab the tantalizing prize of Dagon with the Gate of the Sun wonder, one that provides +15% growth to all of your cities. On sea of course is a different story, as Guiyang falls repeatedly this episode and both Chuxiong and Qujing both hand in the balance as potential next targets for Tang and their scary Galleons, boasting a terrifying 28 combat strength compared to the 24 and 27 strength cities. Yunnan surely is quaking in their boots.

And that of course leads to us looking at Yunnan’s uniques. With an Airport and a Great War Infantry replacement, Yunnan only has their UA to lean on at the moment. And though their Capital defense strength boasts a powerful ability, granting +25% of all connected cities strength to the capital, the ability is more tenuous than you may think. The moment Yunnan begins to lose cities within their empire, their capital will begin to tick down in defense, and if Tang were to sneak in with a horseman or other quick unit and pillage the road leading from Kunming to Chuxiong, we could see their monumental city strength plummet. Though 63 rivals the likes of Ket on this cylinder, we may actually see Yunnan's one benefit fall sooner rather than later, as Tang continues to bear down on their capital and Yunnan continues to sweep up from the tip of South East Asia.

I had higher hopes for Yunnan before I started writing this little excerpt about their performance. On paper, and with the cursory glance of their cities in the episode, they look bad but still manageable on paper. But digging under the hood and looking at the specifics of their abilities revealed a civilization on a knife's edge of truly collapsing in this game. Their cities are more than conquerable, their enemies are numerous, and they have little to no advantage to hold them up in this game. I honestly could see them falling before the likes of civs like Ponca, Karankawa, and Xavante, depending on how everything settles out in the end. Hopefully they can survive for as long as possible, as the vultures seem to be circling sooner rather than later.

10: Papal States

Archimedes :

Look to the Mediterranean Sea and you’ll find the preeminent naval civ in the region. A civ that has the most cities out of any on these pristine coasts, and with ships that sail the waves without a care in the world. With a longstanding naval tradition and a love of exploring the open waters, this civ is the master of all things wet and wild.

That, of course, being Aures.

Papal States, on the other hand, looks stagnant, slow, and essentially out of this game. The Pope has managed to hold onto only four cities along the Mediterranean, matching that of Hyksos and standing at only half of Aures. And for a civ that’s along the coast for all of their cities, they’ve done a rather poor job of harnessing the waters. They have yet to pick up Compass, something that Aures ended up doing nearly 50 turns ago, and are still sitting around with Triremes to their name. Their cities also seem very food poor for being on the coast, but with competing empires closing in on their waters and their fish stocks, the fishing grounds to support tall cities just aren’t within the Papal States grasp.

As civs with more food, more production, more science and more military all press closer and closer in, Papal states can at least smile at the razing of the Wallachian city of Bucharest. A thorn in the side of Julius for a hundred turns, Bucharest closed Papal in from accessing the core of Europe, and left them blocked in Italy to be torn at by Aures. With the city gone, and the space available, Papal States could nab one final city settle in the region, mainly for shits and giggles, before succumbing to another Aures or French invasion. As with one of the lowest population and science on the cylinder as a whole, I feel that the Papal states won’t last through the next war they get into. Their lands are tricky to navigate for sure, with hills and mountains and thin sea channels to embark across, but the Papal States are slowly but surely losing out on whatever tech parity they can dare to maintain. Soon Aures will pick up Galleons or some other strong naval unit, and blast away whatever remaining hope that the Papal States have in this game.

11: Ternate

Semi:

Ternate has another quiet episode, at least until the last ten slides. In all honesty, though, I don’t expect the two-front war to go anywhere. Ternate seems to have an advantage on the Marianas front against Japan, and this is a small part of Caral’s empire. If anything, Ternate might recapture Dodona, the city they gave away to Caral a couple of episodes ago.

I want to shout out Ternate’s surprisingly good performance so far - sure, they’ve never seemed like a real threat, but they’re a good Indonesian turtle in a location where we thought they’d be last place. Not bad, Babullah!

12: Sumer

Orange:

Sumer peaces out of Ma’in realizing they couldn’t do anything, yet again. Honestly their probably best chance for expansion is to try against Phoenicia, though it’s not like Phoenicia is a pushover for Sumer. They are to everyone else, just not for Sumer.

13: Green Ukraine

Reformer:

Yeah uhh. Rouran and Itelmen ascendant, Japan recovering nicely. Green Ukraine, more like Stuck Ukraine. Waiting-For-Death Ukraine. Green-Because-Rotting Ukraine. Okay I’m done.

14: Xaragua

Archimedes :

If there was ever a civ played by a human, with their 4 city culture victory well on the way, it would be Xaragua. But in a game all about massive, world spanning conquest, Xaragua looks to be in a tenuous position, especially with their neighbours growing stronger and stronger. With Teotihuacan nabbing Galleons with the acquisition of Exploration, and Yanomami working on it themselves, Xaragua is really coming into a precarious position in this game. Will they be able to defend themselves against the potential onslaught from their mainland neighbours? With just how sleepy they seem to be, I doubt not.

To be clear though, Xaragua is no slouch when it comes to technologies. They have 226 effective science in their own right, and have managed to pick up 34 technologies, 4 shy of the science powerhouses Tlingit and New South Wales. In addition, they have managed to steal Navigation from one of their neighbours, allowing Xaragua to defend their lands with their own Galleons. With Navigation currently being researched, and Frigates on the horizon, Xaragua will at least be somewhat of a challenge to take down, at least in a first strike. Unfortunately for them though, their Caribbean location provides little in the way of production, and their four city empire boasts a measly 105 total production. Any extended war they get into is likely to go poorly for Xaragua, as they lack the raw production output to churn out replacement units that would get wiped out in a first strike.

Xaragua remains a juicy target for many eyeing the jewels of the Caribbean. With 5 World Wonders to be had, and an assortment of high population high science cities, Teotihuacan in particular would be keen to snap up as many cities here as possible to secure a solid foothold between both North and South American contenders. For now though, with appropriately powerful technologies and units to defend themselves, Xaragua are looking to not quite be out of the race yet. And who knows, perhaps they could try an offensive of their own and nab a few cities off of Yanomami, as long as they can play their cards right.

15: Wallachia

Archimedes :

Unfortunately for Vlad III Tepes, Wallachia has existed in this game primarily as a meme, being most notable for their pitiful religion and their extensive bankruptcy. With a city being gifted away and razed to the ground, and many citadels marking lines into their territory, Wallachia cannot catch a break, taking kick after kick to the gut in whichever episode they feature in. And though they can put up a fight when it really counts, such as their eternal defense of Campulung on the Black Sea, they have proved time and time again that they just don’t quite have the heart for this game.

Wallachia actually has a decent kit of uniques for a Battle Royale if you look at them. Free pillaging from Melee and Gun units, bursts of production from razing, a Unique Longsword that heals on pillaged tiles and a Unique Temple that reduces enemy combat strength, Wallachia could have been a force to be reckoned with. But, as they petered out early in this game and put themselves into a self imposed debt cycle, they lacked the momentum to properly pillage their enemies, or even assault and capture neighbouring cities. With Scythia in particular now a behemoth of the region, and both France and Hanseatic League in awkward positions to assault, Wallachia finds themselves unable to utilize most of their kit, except for the wonderfully defensive Fortified Church.

Take a look under the hood, and Wallachia looks equally unutilized. Middling army scores match with their middling production, and their 9 cities cannot save them from one of the worst effective science scores in the game. They are even tied with Pegu as the civs with the lowest number of techs researched, a paltry 24 compared to Tlingit and New South Wales’ 38. They cannot even boast about the happiness of their citizens, as they sit at -6 unhappiness at the moment, fitting for the rule of Vlad the Impaler.

I feel that as funny as Wallachia was during this game, with their bankruptcy hijinks and their overall scary disposition, it’s about time for them to be consumed by their neighbours. Scythia stands poised to sweep in through Wallachia’s lands and take the lot, while Circassia may finally, at some point, actually grab Campulung and Bran to unite the Black Sea. Until their final demise, I expect to see a slow and plodding rest of their game, as Wallachia continues to kind of just sit there and remain hard to actually conquer. That’s about as much use they can provide at this point.

CBR In-Game Screenshot of Hanseatic League

16: Hanseatic League

Orange:

Hansa shoots themself in the face. That’s like, about all I can say about it. Damn Jurgen, why’d you not build an army?

17: Vyatka

Msurdej:

A shadow of their former selves, Vyatka is at least trying to regain some of their former glory. They were unsuccessful in taking a win against the Bjarmians this week, merely flipping Glassisvellir and losing most of their navy in the area. But with the city of Umpi settled and defenseless, and Estonia waiting in the wings, Myshkin has a chance to truly capture some cities of the Bjarmians. All they have to do is keep flying under the radar of forces like Scythia, The Ket or even the Kipchaks actually trying in their war. A long shot sure, but it's the only shot they got right now.

18: Phoenicia

Archimedes :

Now let me tell you a tale of a seafaring civ

They were once so grand and now they surely wont live

With a pep to their step, they sure stumbled and fell

And now their legacy lives on in the depth of hell

They did call them a GOAT but I never really knew

I think most saw the land they took and didn’t think it through

With the Purple and the Gold, they don’t shine no more

Hey, ho, Phoenicia is toast

Their uniques are obsolete, and their game is a bore

Hey, ho, Phoenicia is toast

Though Sarepta still stands, Pakistan will make them sore

Hey, ho, Phoenicia is toast

With 9 cities to their name they might still have a chance

But those cities are shit, took from Ma’in with a glance

Their science is so bad, it makes Bactria look good

At least they just grabbed Education, as they should

But with no Compasses and with no Galleass

Their a naval civ with none of that, their boats are frankly ass

With those Bireme ships, they are completely outclassed

Hey, ho, Phoenicia is toast

They’ve got swords and bows, armies quite half-assed

Hey, ho, Phoenicia is toast

If Circassia attacked it would be over fast

Hey, ho, Phoenicia is toast

But to be quite honest they’re not the worst around

They have Sumer and Ma’in they could both still hound

Plus the Papal States look to be an easy prey

With the boats they hold they could make them go away

So not all is lost for this civ of ill repute

Perhaps we could see a Phoenicia 2 reboot

Please do something sir, all your neighbours look quite bad

Hey, ho, is Phoenicia toast?

You had heart and soul, your drive used to be quite rad

Hey, ho, is Phoenicia toast?

Though Circassia and Aures make you look quite sad

Hey, ho, yeah Phoenicia is toast

19: Zazzau

NopeCopter:

Well, ultimately Zazzau’s bold last-ditch war on Ethiopia didn’t quite pan out - they gained the mostly-useless Adama in exchange for the much more valuable Fatika. This is, unfortunately, pretty much a death knell for their chances at climbing back to relevance unless an incredible opportunity arises - they’re not nearly strong enough to stand up against the Aures, their ability to threaten Ethiopia in future wars has gone down the drain, and they’re never breaking through Luba. Their stats are mediocre across the board, and that’s not what you want in this position. Maybe they could pick off Maketi, the isolated Hyksos city? But then, that’s just another useless desert city, and it gives them an even bigger border with the Aures…

The one piece of good news coming up is that Zazzau is about to unlock their Unique Unit. The Yan Lifida is a Knight replacement with a lower penalty against Cities, bonus Great General points from kills, and increased XP gain near Great Generals - it’s not going to turn the tides of battle for them or anything, but it might come in handy in a pinch, at least.

20: Kipchaks

Orange:

The Kipchaks are still at war with Vyatka in a war that likely isn’t going to be going anywhere. But what I find interesting is that Vyatka’s the weaker one here now. The Kipchaks, who have previously lost cities to Vyatka and have been a bit of a punching bag for ages, yet now they are on the upper foot, technically. I mean this war won’t go anywhere, but wow that sure is something.

21: Potiguara

Archimedes :

I personally feel bad for Potiguara in this situation, as someone who was rooting for them in the beginning. Watching them slowly but surely beaten down by Xavante and Guaycuru has been a long, drawn out process, but one that is ultimately showing that Guaycuru will likely come out on top. Even though their unique spearmen should beat back the horsemen sweeping across their lands, it’s just too little too late at this point. But, I’m still hopeful that these plucky shrimp eaters can turn it around, just all in due time.

Despite these recent losses, Potiguara still remains decently all right in the stats department. Though they only have 6 cities to their name, their science still remains decent, with 31 techs researched and 251 effective science, putting them in the same bracket as France, Ethiopia, and even Scotland. Production is lacking at the moment, due likely to the mostly flat land that they inhabit, but they’ve been able to pump out enough units to hold the line against Xavante, in their endless stalemate. Their technology path has been interesting, as they’ve carved their way through the middle of the tech tree and are currently researching Soverignty, a technology full of wonders and buildings. Potiguara could benefit from focusing a little more on the top or the bottom of the tree, to pick up any semblance of more modern land or sea based military units, but for now they have focused on stats and the opportunity of wonders, hoping I supposed for a peace treaty and a chance to sim their core empire.

I still think things are dire for Potiguara, but there are a few chances they stick around longer in this game. Though Xavante and Guaycuru have done a number on them in recent history, Pogiguara is still about equal with their neighbours, and could push through and nab a city or two with enough tenacity. Their shrimp ponds continue to pump out shrimp resources, which will make a tidy boon for Potiguara or the civ that conquer them. I certainly don’t have high hopes for their ultimate placement in this game, but I think Potiguara will likely manage to continue duking it out in the jungles and plains of Brazil, and when they are eliminated it will be a battle for the ages.

22: Portugal

Reformer:

A VERY sad day as Aures cockblocks Portugal by demanding for Kankan in the peace deal. Come on, we had a cool opportunity there! And instead, there’s just a city gift. How sad. How embarrassing. Truly a miserable affair for everyone involved. And it hammers in just how stuck Portugal is. Can’t even beat up Wassoulou anymore. Between Aures and, ugh, France. Oh and the ocean. Can’t forget the ocean. That’s the toughest one. No beating the ocean. Just ask Caligula. Except I guess he thought himself the victor in that conflict. Nevermind, don’t ask Caligula.

23: Bactria

Cloudy:

Bactria is just sitting there. I’m poking them like, DO SOMETHING!!

24: Bjarmians

ItsTruckMonth:

The Bjarmians find themselves the victims of a Vyatka-Estonia-Scotland jumping this episode. Now, if this were 5-6 episodes earlier, it might have been an absolute death sentence, but a lot can change in that time span. Scotland is only relevant via a disconnected city in northern Scandinavia, Estonia is a proven bum, and Vyatka’s been essentially lobotomized by Scythia.

Will the Bjarmians likely lose 2-3 cities? Probably. Is this a death knell for them? Probably not.

25: Hyksos

Archimedes :

Hyksos still remains as one of the more underwhelming civs on the bracket, most notable for their early founded religion and, well, nothing more. With no big wars and no exciting moves, Hyksos has continued to just putter away along the Nile, growing their cities and maintaining a decent standing army.

If you happen to look under the hood at Hyksos, things may begin to look worse than they might appear on the map. Hyksos does have a solid amount of science, with 294 effective science and 32 techs researched. Their army is decent, and their happiness is alright. But their production, largely due to their flatland and desert location, is paltry compared to their neighbours, at a stark 122. They also only have 7 cities, lower than average and not capable of pumping out units if theirs end up getting destroyed. Hyksos stands defensively now, with an army that looks scary enough, but likely would buckle under pressure in any invasion situation. And with their abilities all focused around conquering cities, Hyksos is looking about as plain and vanilla as you could imagine.

The biggest two threats in this game to Hyksos’ success are Ethiopia and Aures. With armies and production to back up their threats, an extended war with either of these civs would likely spell the end for Hyksos. Both civs have extensive borders to attack from, and production to back up their words and their deeds in a conflict, enough oomph to clear out the defending forces and stop Hyksos from building more. Circassia as well, on the other side of paltry Phoenicia, could manage an effective assault on Hyksos if they were to plow through Phoenicia first, but are more of a concern in the future. I feel that Hyksos should be counting their chickens now, as any errant war declaration could spell the end to their time in the CBRX, and both Aures and Ethiopia could benefit from gaining control of Pesedjet. Perhaps Hyksos would be so kind as to give their holy city to Zara Yaqob, a gentleman who would benefit so much from having control of his own religion.

26: Pomo

NopeCopter:

Against all odds, the Pomo have come out of their coalition war basically unscathed, continuing to mostly stem the bleeding against the Tlingit despite the tech disparity. So… why have they fallen three spots? Well, part of it is probably just noise, but it’s also worth noting that the Ponca, previously the best chance the Pomo had at clawing their way back to relevance, are currently being conquered by the Anishinaabe and Susquehannock. With this, they’re basically out of good targets. Being too strong to be conquered doesn’t mean much when you can never get any stronger yourself - eventually, you’ll be outscaled. It doesn’t help that the Tlingit are still bombarding Pomo’s shores with Galleons, either, since it’s further stifling their growth. The Pomo are by no means bad, but it’s hard to see a future where they don’t stagnate from here until their inevitable demise.

27: Estonia

Orange:

The Bjarmians have surprisingly good production and far too many cities for how shit they are, and well, maybe Estonia will be able to actually get some of those cities. They are gonna be competing with Vyatka for cities, but they do have the better position. They just have to use those superb wartime skills they have. Oh? They are notable for just giving away cities? Hmm, well surely that won’t happen here. Surely.

28: Luba

ItsTruckMonth:

def get_luba_relevance(luba_herero_war):

if luba_herero_war:

return “luba is relevant”

else:

return “luba aint relevant for shit”

29: Umhaill

JDT:

The Umhaill rise by 3 ranks thanks to 3 major factors. The first is a major increase in military strength, buoying all their stats up by 2 on the infoaddict ranking and giving greater chances to come back into the game. The second is the decline of several other mid tier powers, namely the Bjarmians, Pomo and Potiguara, with their poor situations and increasingly poor stats giving us far less confidence in them and therefore resulting in Umhaill, who is very fine for a mid tier, going up. The third is the fact that Scotland is fighting France, a war that will probably lead to nothing in the continent but forces Scotland to put far more focus on defending Aberdeen, their sole port on the mainland, than they otherwise would, alongside harming their military score. This thus gives a golden opportunity - an opportunity to wail on Scotland and execute the breakout that they have waited for for so long.

Of course, a war with Scotland would be a difficult affair even with the positional advantage. Scotland is better in every conceivable way, and their military won’t be that split. Plus, the AI is the AI, and even if they manage to gank Scotland, the issue comes as, what's next? They’ll have a hard time getting into the mainland with France still around and the mountainous terrain in Norway, and getting into North America is a pipe dream. Time will tell for our favourite pirate, and at the very least, Portugal and the Hansa are still ass.

30: Ethiopia

Msurdej:

Ethiopia may have come away with a city off of Zazzau, but the result is somewhat underwhelming. Ethiopia was once a prime contender for the top African spot, right up there with Aures. But they've declined in recent epiosdes, only now have they started to plateau in the middle of the pack. This war, against one of the weaker civs in Africa, should've catapulted them back into the game, or at least the top 20. But Zazzau was made of sterner stuff, and managed to come away only losing a city. Zara needs to plan their next move carefully, otherwise they may find themselves the next on the chopping block.

31: Kalmar Union

Cloudy:

Kalmar wasn’t mentioned in episode 16, so they lose two ranks as punishment. They could feast right now if they attacked Hansa, but barring that, they’re probably still Scotland food long-term.

32: Onondaga

Reformer:

Onondaga does a few things this week. Firstly, they settled a bunch of arctic snow cities. Yeah ok sure great move. Those cities will only drag you down. But maybe they’re for giving away in peace deals so they drag down some other civ. Who can know for sure! Alright. And the second thing. They’re really fighting tooth and nail to defeat that one isolated Karankawa city in Newfoundland. It’s truly a battle for the ages. Poets will sing Onondaga’s praises for this one. And certainly make no mention of Susquehannock. Susquehannock is no good, after all, and might even be sabotaging the campaign. Who knows with those guys!

33: Herero

JDT:

Yeah maybe I should’ve saved my Maravi writeup for the Herero. Atp I’m convinced they’re in a BDSM relationship with Luba with how often they’re doing nothing but bringing each other down through voluntary punishment. And it's over again already! This shit has made less progress than Rent A Girlfriend! They go up 2 primarily because Kalmar is kinda cheeks and they are in a very stable position in spite of their self sabotage.

…wait shit the Luba-Herero war ended 2 episodes ago I’m a giant idiot lmfao. That just goes to show how impotent Herero have been.

34: Guaycuru

JDT:

The Guaycuru peace out with the Xavante with literally nothing changing, a bit of a coup de grace given their depleted military. Their position is still the same. A mid civ surrounded by 2 awful neighbours and a imposing, difficult neighbour. More than enough time to continue scaling up if their stats say anything at all. Really, if there will be any power that will actually do things in South America, it will be them. What a strange arc really for a civ. From overhyped to actually decent.

35: Circassia

Archimedes :

I feel quite conflicted around the idea of Circassia, as they represent two sides of the empire building coin. On the one hand, Circassia started out in dire circumstances, with their army fragmented against the terrors that were Scythia and Vyatka, with only a few settlers to their name and poor prospects as part of their game. They took those chances, bided their time, and have really come around in this game with a swathe of territory settled, a core of well producing cities and a very respectable science output. Though they are still next to an intimidating Scythia, their nearby neighbours have dropped in quality, and Circassia has become the regional power of Western Asia.

On the other hand, oh man did Circassia fumble the Wallachian bag.

I mean just look at Campulung. A 19 strength city that stood on the Black Sea, as wave after wave of Knights and Composite Bowmen besieged it. Circassia failed to capitalize on the strength of their army, the split attention of Wallachia in the face of a coalition war, and the fact that they had 4 Black Sea settled cities to produce naval units from, compared to Wallachia’s 2. Circassia failing to make military progress, or at least not having the proper heart for bloodshed, is unfortunately a running theme for the civ, as they had made a similar move against Sumer earlier when surrounding their capital with composite bowmen, but failing to pull the trigger on an actual capture attempt. With Wallachia now off scot free and with no debt to worry about, Circassia will have a harder time dealing with them in the future, and finally claim the Black Sea all to themselves.

It’s unfair of course to say that Circassia cannot come back from a tragic white peace. They still outclass most of their neighbours, with Vyatka, Kipchaks, Bactria, Sumer and Phoenicia still all being valid enough targets. They do have enough grit to weather any storm, and a track history of at least declaring war against their neighbours. With Physics now researched and Machinery hopefully soon on the way, Circassia will have an advanced enough military to consider declaring war against anyone and have a fair chance to take a city or two for themselves. Time will tell though if Scythia recovers enough of their happiness to consider turning an eye to their south. We may see two strong civs on the borders of Europe and Asia duking it out, fighting for who may end up claiming the region for themselves.

36: France

Msurdej:

Robespierre finds himself at a crossroads. Many people hate him, so much so that they've declared war on him. The most notable of these are the beleaguered Hanseatic League, Aures coming in from the bottom, and from the top ropes: Scotland. While a quick jaunt across the border to nab Wisbu may sound enticing,especially with that shiny new army France has been building. But it could end up becoming a quagmire. Quagmires that the stronger foes of France might take advantage of. And if any more of France's neighbors join in, like Umhaill or even poor little Portugal, it could tip things out of Robespierre's hands.

37: Japan

Reformer:

Great news for Japan this ep! First of all, the obvious: they’ve made it out of the war with Itelmen. Yeah, yeah, that being positive news is humiliating. Blah blah. Move past it. Here’s the real big boon: Japan has recovered greatly, statistically speaking! They’ve made it back up to 18th in stats, and that’s with a comparatively low military, meaning that all their stats that matter are on par with 15th or something. It’s a pretty rapid recovery all things considered. And part of it is that Tlingit’s religion is arriving in Japan. Indeed, a bunch of Japan’s cities are following the religion, for a sizable boost to science and culture. That’ll definitely help, as Japan’s science was kinda middling before. Altogether, things are looking up for Japan. Sure, they’re near both Tang and Tlingit, the uncontested top 2, but hey, Japan can beat ‘em, right? Eventually? Yeah? Of course!

38: Cebu

NopeCopter:

Cebu had a quiet episode this time around, which is not good news considering their neighbors. Lanfang is getting tougher, Japan is recovering, Tang is an absolute monster seemingly interested in a Round 2, and Cebu is… attacking Rapa Nui with Caravels. Supposedly. Cebu could easily improve their position by just researching Galleons so they can actually project some power across Deep Ocean, but instead they’ve been fooling around with significantly less useful techs for some reason. They’ve finally built a Settler, but all the best city spots have been taken, and their opportunity for cheap and easy conquests is closing. Can Cebu turn this around? Well, of course they can, they’re Cebu. But *will* they? That remains to be seen.

39: Bangladesh

ItsTruckMonth:

The big ol’ Indian war we’ve all been waiting for finally drops, but instead of Mysore getting sandwiched like we all expected (or dreamed) of, it's instead a naval slog in the Andamans between a duo of Bangladesh and Lanfang vs Mysore.

So far, the war has largely been limited to the Bay of Bengal, as, quite literally, every navy has shredded the others, with Mysore standing just above the coalition in stats. Things are changing, however, as while Lanfang naval reinforcements have arrived, Mysore is beginning to surround the mainland city of Khulna.

All in all, Bangladesh may be looking like tonight’s biggest loser.

40: Qara-Khitai

Archimedes :

We’ve seen a very pivotal moment for Qara-Khitai in this game this episode, one that might change the outlook of the region forever. With one technology, Qara-Khitai have upped their chances of dominating the area by a significant margin.Though, when I say we’ve seen this pivotal moment, I mean that it happened off screen. In fact, there was no coverage of Qara’s power spike, which happened after their last appearance on slide 17, turn 207. What exactly is this huge power spike that we’ve missed out on, you might ask?

Ordo Cavalry.

With Qara-Khitai picking up Chivalry on Turn 212, the cylinder opens like a book for Yelu Dashi. The Ordo Cavalry is a unit that on paper looks fairly simple. They replace the knight, start off weaker, and gain more combat strength the further they get from their starting point. They also start with the Survivalism I promotion, a mainstay of the scout line. But dig a little deeper, and you begin to see just how nifty of a unit this is.

The Knight on its own is a 20 melee strength unit with 4 movement, and the Ordo Cavalry indeed starts off weaker, at only 18 melee strength. But for every tile moved in the x or y direction, the Ordo Cavalry gains one strength, becoming just as powerful as the Knight after moving just two tiles. With each and every tile moved on the x or y axis, the Ordo Cavalry goes up and up and up in strength, reaching 28 combat strength after 10 tiles, the same as the Cuirassier that eventually replaces it. After 24 tiles, the distance from Qara-Khitai’s capital Balasagun to Tang’s city of Chengdu on the coast, the Ordo Cavalry gets to an eye watering 42 combat strength, 2 more than Cavalry unlocked all the way at Military Science. This bonus normally starts from the city that the Ordo Cavalry is trained in, but still works for units upgraded from Horsemen, instead starting from the plot that they were upgraded from. And, because of the way the code works, the gain in strength is strongest when the unit is moving along cardinal directions, rather than an exact per tile boost when moving on the diagonal system of the Civ 5 hex grid.

Not only does the Ordo Cavalry benefit from this increase of strength, the Survivalism I trait also is a great boon. With an additional +25% defense, and +5 HP healed outside friendly territory, the Ordo Cavalry gains additional defensive strength to make up for their lack of the cavalry's normal terrain defense bonus. This additional survivability, combined with the scaling strength of their distance modifier, creates a tanky, hard hitting unit that can sweep through enemy lines and destroy units. Unfortunately, due to the way Civ 5 units are coded, the Ordo Cavalry cannot pick up Survivalism II or III with promotions, and is instead stuck with the normal Mounted Unit promotions.

Qara-Khitai, with their centralized location, abundance of happiness, plentiful gold to upgrade units, and high production, is now in a fantastic position to sweep across multiple different civs and conquer a vast plethora of cities. Though the Ordo Cavalry, like most mounted units, has a -33% combat strength against cities, the distance scaling of their strength makes up for this detriment, allowing them to hit cities with 20 strength after moving 8 tiles. Most of Qara-Khitai’s neighbours have cities about 8 tiles from the nearest Qara city, meaning as long as Qara-Khitai is fighting an offensive war, we’re likely to see units bordering on Cuirassier strength during whatever wars Yelu Dashi might wage. And, with Qara-Khitai’s UA providing an additional +1 happiness and culture and +2 gold to all cities in the empire each time Qara conquers a city from a unique empire, we’re likely to see one of the happiest and most gold rich empires of the Battle Royale thus far.

The question remains, however, which empire could Qara-Khitai potentially take a chunk out of in the near future. Their old rivals, the Kipchaks and Bactria, remain juicy targets as both civs are nearby, have weaker cities, and have generally been doing poorly during this game. Tang and Rouran to the East also present potential targets, as tougher civilizations with high production but currently sparser militaries than normal. A coalition war against either Rouran or Tang could prove a bountiful occasion to grab one or two cities, boosting the overall yields of the empire. With 52 Horsemen spotted in slide 17, Qara has plenty of horsepower available to be upgraded and swept across Tang and Rouran lands, and a quick peace after capturing a city or two could prove to be a low cost high reward opportunity. Bangladesh and Ket however, and Pakistan to an extent, are neighbours that would be less than ideal targets for any military activity. Pakistan boasts an impressive military unlike Bangladesh, but more importantly both boast defensive terrain that would slow an Ordo Cavalry push to a crawl, weakening the opportunistic push available at the moment. And Ket to the north, with their city strengths in the 50s and 60s, presents an immovable object that no amount of scaling strength can surpass. If Qara was to invade one of these three targets, I unfortunately think things would not go well for Yelu Dashi.

So, with plenty of gold in the bank for upgrades, plenty of production to pump out new units, and an already towering military score Qara-Khitai looks thirsty for blood, ready to crash like a wave against any poor civ they pick as their target. Though their science is poor at the moment, a key few city acquisitions could fix the situation easily, and Qara-Khitai’s 44 happiness presents a wide envelope for conquests. I truly hope that within the next few episodes, we get to see the absolute power that the Ordo Cavalry can boast, and that Qara-Khitai can reach the ranks of regional power before their unit begins to become outclassed.

41: Bunuba

Cloudy:

For the second time in four episodes, Bunuba just sneaks back into the top 20, but it’s an open question whether they’ll stay here. They settled some new cities in Polynesia, locking down their corner of the region during the mad scramble, and then of course they pulled their biggest coup-de-grace so far—they attacked Lanfang, against whom they previously lost, and bum rushed their former city of Gurang Ngadja, managing to at least flip it, if not capture it outright. If they can keep the city at the conclusion of the war, it will be extremely useful as a bulwark against future Lanfang invasions, at least if it’s properly fortified. And who knows—with the way Lanfang is suffering right now, maybe they can go farther. But I wouldn’t bet on it.

42: Scotland

Cloudy:

Despite going down a rank this week, probably due to random noise, Scotland is continuing to consolidate their position. They’re now in the top 15 in both military (first time since episode 10) and production (first time since episode 2) (also the first time they’ve ever been in the top 15 in two stats simultaneously), and to put that in perspective, they so vastly outrank any of their neighbors in all of these categories that their long term dominance over the North Atlantic is practically unquestioned. It’s only a matter of time before they strike at a neighbor and reveal whether that expectation is well-founded. For now, they’re merely attacking France, which is likely to end in a stalemate and is, in our view, probably a waste of time.

43: Caral

NopeCopter:

Despite the lightning-fast New South Welsh expansion into Polynesia, Caral has actually managed to maintain some semblance of power in the region due to their rock-solid colonies. And hey, now they’re fighting Ternate! That might go somewhere. It probably won’t, but it might. Beyond that, though, things have stayed pretty quiet for Caral - South America remains a stalemate, and Caral’s stats have taken a hefty slip in the rankings. New South Wales, the Chono, and the Yanomami now outproduce Caral in Science, which is supposed to be their forte thanks to their religion. It’s not that Caral’s doomed or anything, but the reasons to be optimistic about their chances are ever-so-slowly fading, resulting in a slight dip in the rankings.

44: Susquehannock

Cloudy:

Susquehannock is back into the teens for the first time since episode 5, thanks to a successful incursion into Ponca, resulting in the capture of Coco and a new avenue to concentrate their forces to capture Coapite from Karankawa as well. This comes as the statistical gulf between Susquehannock and Onondaga has never been wider, with Old Sheehays rising to 15th place in the stats—Susquehannock has 50% more food than Onondaga; 26% more production; 126% more effective science; and 3 more technologies. Onondaga has more troops, but soon, even that will cease to matter. And when that day comes, eastern North America will be Susquehannock’s to lose.

45: Itelmen

Reformer:

Itelmen finishes off a fairly decisive war against Japan. Two cities taken, one originally Japanese, another originally GU’s. Admittedly, failing to take anything that isn’t disconnected from the Japanese core is a foul omen. All Itelmen could take was indefensible exclaves? You’re the same as Ket. Okay, okay, that’s mean. I take it back. You’re a little more impressive. Only a little. Your ascendance to the top 20 is clearly credited to getting Tlingit’s religion, so not even something you yourself. Just coasting off of someone else’s success. Honestly there’s not a lot to be happy about here. Itelmen is a fraud, but not in the sense we usually throw the word around in here. Rather, Itelmen is a fraud, in that Itelmen frauded their way from nothing to the upper echelons. Okay, I guess it’s a little impressive when I put it like that. But it’s certainly not respectable, nor is it honorable! No kudos from me.

46: Yanomami

Semi:

Wow, I’m really getting a lot of the ‘nothing happened this week’ civs, huh. To be fair, though, we did get a shot of Yanomami’s core, our first one in quite a few episodes. And…it looks pretty good. Sure, they have (tied with Pakistan) the fewest cities of the top tier, but all of those cities are extremely populous. And this is reflected in their EfSci - up at fourth place, behind only Tlingit, Mysore, …and Teotihuacan. That therein lies the problem. The Cholula War was an unmitigated success for Yanomami, with a clean grab of the Panama canal. But after that, they don’t really have another easy target. Teo is outscaling them, Xaragua are doing surprisingly well in terms of naval technology, and Caral wars have consistently gone nowhere. I guess Xavante is probably the target? But of all civs, the Snapping Turtle of the Amazon would not be my ideal target. Nonetheless, these exceptional stats are nothing to scoff at, so Kopenawa retains his top 15 spot.

47: Lanfang

Semi:

Lanfang had a bit of a weird episode - in their moment of weakness, they were hit from both sides by Bunuba and Mysore-via-Bangladesh. And they came out of it hurting. No core cities were threatened, but Gurang.ngadja, one of the prizes of the first Lanfang-Bunuba war, was recaptured by the Australians, and Rew in the Andamans has flipped *checks info sheet* SIX TIMES, down to a one-population husk. That being said, Lanfang definitely has light at the end of the tunnel. Their newly upgraded navy finally made its way westward and is poised to coalesce on both Andaman cities - though as that war has demonstrated, fleet size can change very quickly. And the Bunuban front has seemingly stalled, with upgraded Lanfang units on the way to flip the Battle of Bali.

So then why did Lanfang drop five spots? Well, it’s just as I mentioned on the slide - they’re no longer looking like the dominant Austronesian civ. They’re bogged down in wars against Mysore and Bunuba, two civs that were well below them in the PRs before this episode. And 14th isn’t out of the running, they’re just on the lower end of the ‘good’ section. It’s just that their stats are no longer befitting a top tier. Their once-trademark science has slipped to just 12th, meaning their pitiful 240 production is no longer enough to keep them in the top third of civs. So maybe Lanfang can escape these wars with some dignity intact and recover to fight again. But for now, they’re on collapse watch.

48: Chono

NopeCopter:

The Chono continue to be a civ that is in the game. Their stats are as solid as ever, with no particular standouts but no weak spots either, and they continue to have a couple cities in Polynesia. They have, shockingly, started flirting with the idea of relevance - apparently they’re plotting against Rapa Nui, and they’re researching Navigation for better boats. But they’ve got a long way to go before they actually hook up with relevance, much less make anything official. They should try to act before the Guaycuru get any other funny ideas, though.

49: Scythia

Semi:

Uhhh. You okay in there Ateas? We got a look at what’s gone on since the Second Vyatkan War and the answer is…not a lot. The massive happiness penalties from the captures of Nikulitsyn, Dymkovo, Kanjak Sangir, and Khylnov itself have crippled the Scythian economy and stats. For yet another episode, they’re below the -10 happiness that prevents city settlement and can cause some extremely bad negative effects. Their science is also unspectacular; at 279 it’s below Japan and only eight above Estonia. Estonia! Who just a couple short episodes ago I thought was done for purely because they neighbored the impossibly powerful Scythia. Meanwhile, as I noted in the episode, the same empire that carpeted up so quickly after the first Vyatkan war has struggled to rebuild in any meaningful capacity.

All that being said…who else is there? In Europe, the second-strongest contender is probably a Scotland who narrowly won a war against the Kalmar Union and just declared a terrible war against France. Other than that, it’s Circassia, who have consistently been the little brother to Scythia across all tests and this full game as well (looking at Bygurqal). So it’s merely a one-spot swap with the Seychelles this week, as no contender has risen to challenge the as-of-present King of Europe.

50: Seychelles

Msurdej:

France-Albert is waking up from their nap and starting off with a bang. The Ma'in are one of the weakest civs in the cylinder right now, and while Seychelles army is chock full of Carracks and Galleases. Inabba' is certainly on the table, but I am less optimistic about Qarnawu. Most of Seychelles's might is naval, meaning a trek all the way into the mountains might not be feasible for their army. If they fail to capture even Inabba; though, it might mean that the Seychelles have reached their peak.

51: Mysore

Archimedes :

With Twenty-Nine separate mentions in the last episode, Mysore definitely went through the ringer. A naval battle of epic proportions against Bangladesh and Lanfang had them squabbling over two separate islands in the Bay of Bengal, with essentially no grounds made or lost. Does this ultimately put the seed of doubt in the heart of Mysore’s fans, that they lack the drive or skill to actually break out of the Indian Subcontinent? Or is this just proof that Mysore will fight tooth and nail against whichever neighbours stand in their way, grinding down the armies of those that face them through any means necessary?

Mysore unfortunately picked a bad time to fight this war, as Lanfang had just recently picked up Compass and was able to field both Carracks and Galleasses of their own against the Mysore fleet. With a two on one battle, both Rew and Sadhuim have been ground to essentially a paste, former Pegu cities that stood at a respectable 5 and 8 population, now down to 1 and 1. One thing to note about this war was Mysore also attempting to nab Khulna off of Bangladesh on the mainland, splitting their armies against three separate cities. This classic diversion of attention ultimately spelled doom for Mysore’s chances in this war, leading to the state we see them in now, having made no military gains. Whether Rew and Sadhuim were even good military targets to begin with, being two tile islands in their own right, is a question that military historians will be asking themselves for years in the future.

Looking of course at the stats page, Mysore has taken quite the tumble numbers wise. Their stunning military score from previous episodes has been ground down to a very modest number now, on par with civs like Luba, Herero, Xaragua and Japan. Their production is still decent, but noticeably their food surplus is in the negative, likely due to their slightly wonky ability. Unlike what the text of their UA says, Mysore gets +50% food for 5 turns after the outbreak of war, rather than +50% culture and science. This little glitch in the code has let them drive their cities' populations quite tall, but with the 5 turns now over their cities are starving, driving their populations back down. Those high population cities however have allowed them a rather significant tech boost, with a 2nd place effective science of 465, and 35 total techs researched. With that much science, it’s surprising that Mysore did not have the technological advantage in their two pronged attack, but South to South East Asia has managed to stay quite on par with all the other technological leaders, and Mysore is just the top spot in a list of well positioned science nerds.

This war of course is still not over, and we’re likely to see Mysore, Bangladesh and Lanfang continue to duke it out in the next episode. With Mysore spent however, I believe Lanfang may have the chance to push through and take the cities they once held. If Mysore can find a peaceful middle ground with their neighbours, and declare enough long ranged diplomatic wars to keep their food boosted, they might be able to tech up to the point where their other Unique Bonuses take effect. With Cushoons and Taramandal Pet on their side to give them access to a wildly early Guided Missile, perhaps then Mysore can effectively break out of the Indian Subcontinent, and position themselves as an eminent top spot to rival Tang, Tlingit, and New South Wales. At the moment however, it appears that Mysore will never be able to break through the walls that Pakistan, Lanfang, and Bangladesh continue to be.

52: Teotihuacan

JDT:

So, the Teotihuacan fell by 2. Why, you wonder? There are two major factors. The first is the rise of Rouran and Anishinaabe. The two stalwarts of the high tiers finally take the leap, with the Anishinaabe’s evisceration of the Ponca bringing them great dividends and the Rouran’s stats starting to catch up to their girth. The second is their situation and relative lethargy. Once Pomo is gone, they don’t really have the endless opportunities for conquest some top tiers have, and some civs have just been scaling faster than Teo with more confidence in their fighting abilities rather than constant stalemates over the Rockies.

Nevertheless, Teo is still in a very good spot. They have just unlocked galleons, locking down the Caribbean for the foreseeable future and meaning they can easily sweep Xaragua in a war (well, even more easily). Their science is still top notch, with all their other stats not far behind.They still have weak fodder to feast on, even if it won’t give them a mighty positional advantage. The real issue is the non-fodder neighbours.

Yanomami is a brick wall that controls the Panama Canal. Caral is a bit irrelevant but can heavily harass their pacific holdings. Tlingit is still a monster, and Susquehannock and Anishinaabe are both surging up the stat sheet with their heavy activity. These foes are all difficult roadblocks for Teo to overcome. But hey, according to the totally unbiased source of Archimedes, they are the main character! They cannot possibly lose!

53: Pakistan

Semi:

A great episode for Pakistan, as the other two powers in the Indian subcontinent got into it without any clear winner, weakening both. Though progress against Phoenicia has slowed significantly (Fortress Sarepta has a great defensible location against any eastern approaches), Bactria and a second war against Sumer both seem like good options.

There is one thing of concern, though. Pakistan has remained a stats darling, behind only the Big Three of NSW, Tang, and Tlingit. But now, it’s because of their military, by far the largest on the cylinder. Their production has also risen up to seventh place, ahead of the likes of Teotihuacan and Aures. Somehow, it’s Pakistan’s science that is now lacking, down to nineteenth on the cylinder - below Susquehannock and Rouran!

…Oh wait, I’ve just heard that they’re working on Education right now. Well, expect to see that science number go up quite significantly next episode. Combine that with a war against Mysore and Pakistan could look to jump into the top 5 like Anishinaabe before them. For now, though, it’s a wait and see for Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s empire.

54: Rouran

Reformer:

Rouran still goated. They remain high in production and military, ready to strike at any neighbor. And this episode, because they appear to be greatly improving their science, we’ve decided to move them up significantly. Yes, 3 spots is significant in the upper echelons. I for one think it is deserved. Though, they do still feel unproven. The war against GU, while yes, it was while GU was still a noteworthy power, was very strangely played on Rouran’s side. Largely this is due to Rouran’s (understandable) obsession with mounted units. Unit composition can be a serious issue for the AI. Mounted units are awesome for unit vs unit, and also for running in to actually capture a city. But not for sieging! Notably the worst option for sieging! And it has to be said that all these UUs are still horseman UUs, so they are pretty much outdated now. But hey, that’s what that improving science is for. All those wigglers are soon going to grow up into full-fletched Knights! Nature truly is beautiful. Knights will be nice. Still not great. But at least they’ll be contemporaneous.

55: Aures

Archimedes :

Aures, Aures, Aures. How I always seem to get you Aures. And how I always, episode after episode, seem to undervalue you. I am not alone in thinking that Aures isn’t a top 5 contender in this game, with 6 of the 10 rankings this week featuring them within the 6 - 10 range. But there is a vocal group that still believe Aures is a top 3 contender, so we’ll have to dive into what has them so high up on the ladder.

Aures, first and foremost, is one of the most aggressive civs in this game, being at war for nearly the entire duration of the CBRX5. With army after army slamming into the borders of Wassoulou, Zazzau, the Papal States, Portugal, Phoenicia, and Ethiopia, Aures is clearly gunning to take over all of their surrounding neighbours. And to be clear, they have been quite successful at this. 7 of Aures’ 22 cities have been taken from other civs, with Kankan from Wassoulou actively burning to the ground. Wassoulou is nearly entirely encircled by Aures, and it is only a matter of time before Aures claims the rest of their land, a nearly sure thing at the rate the conquests of the past have turned out. With plenty of enemies and plenty of cities within attacking distance, Aures stands as one of the civs in this game with the most potential to take swathes of land, and certainly can account for some of the high feelings from the ranking team.

Looking at Aures’ stats however, we see a bit of a backslide. Their military is looking a bit worse for wear after so many conflicts, and their production is alright but not great for a civ with so many cities. Their science is certainly doing well enough at 321, keeping relative pace with contenders like Seychelles, Anishinaabe, Ket and Pakistan. Aures is also right at the brink of happiness, stabilized at a paltry 1, leaving little room for growth within their cities or new conquests to be grabbed. Aures has yet to have grabbed Machinery, the technology that unlocks Taverns, so their happiness has a bit of flexibility to come at least, but we could see a bit of time pass before Aures is able to get a new happiness bank that could allow them to conquer additional neighbours’ cities, not to say they won’t do so anyways.

Aures certainly has potential, but I don’t quite think they have it in them to be a top spot contender. Wassoulou still stands as easy prey for Aures to gobble up, but Portugal and the Papal States to their north stand as tricky-to-navigate naval empires that could stall out any potential invasion, despite the two civs being generally weaker. Zazzau and Ethiopia on the other hand are a little beefier, and potentially have terrain advantages that make actually conquering the two to be a hassle. If Aures needed to pick a neighbour, the father east Hyksos could be a juicy target, with a carpet of units that once beaten would be slow and arduous to replace. And, as Aures has no religion of their own, capturing Hyksos would mean becoming the owner of Presedjet, a bonus that would bring them happiness, culture, and additional diplomatic flexibility with the holy wars mod.

If Aures can either pick their targets well or brute force their way through a tricky opponent, they may actually stand to be considered a top three civ in this game. For now, though, I look on with a certain incredulity, keeping my expectations relatively low until they can prove they really are deserving of all the praise. If they decided to focus more on navy, and were able to truly conquer the Mediterranean or even launch an expedition across to South America, I may find myself forgoing my previous notions about Aures and joining the group that hails them as one of the civs with the greatest potential in this game.

56: Anishinaabe

Orange:

Anishinaabe is seeing further success against Ponca and that’s enough to put them into the top 5 it seems. It has been their best play, control of the center of the continent is gonna be huge for their future advancement. Next they could do a bit of buildup to go after Onondaga and try to push through the Great Lakes, go after Tlingit, go after Pomo’s east (please no), or even like further south to clean up Karankawa. They have a lot of options, real good stats, and really not much stopping them as long as Tlingit continues to flounder.

57: Ket

Reformer:

Pretty nondescript part for Ket. Gray and boring, much like the civ itself. Says here they declared war on Yunnan. Booyah baby. Stats-wise they’ve recovered from the drop they had last episode; temporary drops like that are fairly commonplace. Episode cutoff points are obviously arbitrary, and any number of things could lead a civ to temporarily have less apparent stats. Point being, you can’t really trust sudden changes in stats rank. Unless something very clearly happened to cause that sudden change. Anyway Ket is still an easy top10 power. I don’t know about putting them in fucking FOURTH, but that’s fine, that’s fine. That is fine. We’ll eventually get a good civ up here. It’s fine.

CBR In-Game Screenshot of New South Wales

58: New South Wales

ItsTruckMonth:

Other than having his raging hate of Jandamarra put out into the public by mysterious agents, MacArthur had quite a quiet episode. They retain their spot at #3 in the PR’s and for good reason, sporting the 2nd highest number of both cities and techs, and being top 5 in military manpower, effective science, and production.

They have all the makings of a favorite to win it all; the only question is if they can pull what has eluded many Aussie civs before: getting off Australia.

59: Tlingit

Reformer:

O, HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN. Tlingit’s reign at the top is TEMPORARILY DISRUPTED by the foolish Tang. Not to worry, they’ll be back. Tlingit’s science lead is still massive, and when you are unthreatened, high science creates a snowball. But there are legitimate concerns. Obviously. Let’s see. First problem is Tlingit’s seeming inability to beat a much weaker civ (Pomo)– though galleons might change the dynamic there. As long as Tlingit sends in more than one. In the meantime, Tlingit’s other neighbors are catching up. Anishinaabe is statistically a top 10 power in their own right. Itelmen has almost made it into the same club, currently at 12th in stats, in large part due to Tlingit’s own religion leaking into Itelmen cities. And that’s pretty much it for Tlingit’s neighbors. Goddamn, this is a tough neighborhood. And of course, we must note that even though this region very commonly produces top 5 powers, and even civs that proudly survive into Total War, they seldom actually break out. That is to say, North America is pretty tough to break out. Of course, it’s a little early to rank based on that. I, at least, don’t really account for that yet. Ultimately, seeing Tang’s production stats, I’m not surprised we put them first…

60: Tang

ItsTruckMonth:

MOVE ASIDE TLINGIT, TANG IS BACK ON TOP.

To celebrate, Taizong decides to punish Yunnan’s continuously pathetic attempts at finally putting Pegu out of their misery by telling Long Yun that he should really be the one on the chopping block. Thanks to said pathetic attempts at trying to finish Pegu, Yunnan’s forces have been worn quite thin, leaving Chuxiong and the capital of Kunming ripe for the taking, not to mention the gargantuan lead Tang has in stats (except for happiness, which how the fuck can a Yunnan citizen be happy with their performance lmao???)

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