Top 20 Best Civs and Leaders in Civilization 6 [Civ 6 Strategy]

ALL CIVS in Civilization 6: America, Arabia, the Aztecs, Brazil, China, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Greece (Pericles/Gorgo), India, Japan, Kongo, Norway, Rome, Russia, Scythia, Spain, and the Sumer! Who is your favorite Civ in Civilization 6? Which leader suits your strategy best?
Civilization 6 Spain Gameplay/ / Let's Play Series:
• Civilization 6 [Civ 6 ...
Civilization 6 Japan Gameplay / Let’s Play Series:
• Civilization 6 Gamepla...
Civilization 6 Germany Gameplay / Let’s Play Series:
• Civilization 6 Gamepla...
Civilization 6 America Gameplay / Let’s Play Series:
• Civilization 6 Gamepla...
Civilization 6 Steam description:
"Sid Meier’s Civilization VI, winner of 15 E3 awards including Best PC Game and Best Strategy Game, is the next entry in the popular Civilization franchise, which has sold in over 34 million units worldwide, including more than 8 million units of Civilization V.
Originally created by legendary game designer Sid Meier, Civilization is a turn-based strategy game in which you attempt to build an empire to stand the test of time. Become Ruler of the World by establishing and leading a civilization from the Stone Age to the Information Age. Wage war, conduct diplomacy, advance your culture, and go head-to-head with history’s greatest leaders as you attempt to build the greatest civilization the world has ever known.
Civilization VI offers new ways to engage with your world: cities now physically expand across the map, active research in technology and culture unlocks new potential, and competing leaders will pursue their own agendas based on their historical traits as you race for one of five ways to achieve victory in the game.
EXPANSIVE EMPIRES:
See the marvels of your empire spread across the map like never before. Each city spans multiple tiles so you can custom build your cities to take full advantage of the local terrain.
ACTIVE RESEARCH:
Unlock boosts that speed your civilization’s progress through history. To advance more quickly, use your units to actively explore, develop your environment, and discover new cultures.
DYNAMIC DIPLOMACY:
Interactions with other civilizations change over the course of the game, from primitive first interactions where conflict is a fact of life, to late game alliances and negotiations.
COMBINED ARMS:
Expanding on the “one unit per tile” design, support units can now be embedded with other units, like anti-tank support with infantry, or a warrior with settlers. Similar units can also be combined to form powerful “Corps” units.
ENHANCED MULTIPLAYER:
In addition to traditional multiplayer modes, cooperate and compete with your friends in a wide variety of situations all designed to be easily completed in a single session.
A CIV FOR ALL PLAYERS:
Civilization VI provides veteran players new ways to build and tune their civilization for the greatest chance of success. New tutorial systems introduce new players to the underlying concepts so they can easily get started."
Civilization 6 on Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/289...
Civilization 6 Leader Strategy Breakdowns:
• Civilization 6: Gamepl...
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My channel focuses on strategy games and indies. Every let's play/gameplay video will include an on camera intro and outro to hopefully provide additional information on the topic of that video!

[@NailGunZero]

Remember people, disagreeing with this list is a good thing cause that means that the devs managed to avoid tiers. (Looking at you Poland)

[@Furi_S_Poi]

I never saw Norway before either.

[@happifty2534]

It was also released the day before the game, so he just had test footage and civ 5 based assumptions

[@joefrantzen4726]

“Im not sure how viable Norway’s bonuses will be on a Pangea map” Harald: your navy seems a bit W E A K

[@thereallgaming5629]

An Arabia vs Spain holy war would be amazing to watch.

[@davidtaylor3098]

you could have a fatal fourway, Spain (Catholic) Vs England (Christian) Va Arabia (Muslim) Vs India (Hindu) But I am sure it would come down to Spain or Arabia in the end anyway fighting for the religious victory

[@lynks6257]

David Taylor But you know that catcholic is also christian?

[@thereallgaming5629]

Lynks62 I think he meant protestant

[@davidtaylor3098]

Yes sorry I meant the Spannish/English Religion rivalry back in Henry VIII/ Elizabeth I times. When Henry divorced his wifes and broke away from Spain/Rome.

[@rockitgamer]

It wasn't so amazing IRL sadly.

[@et3747]

"At 13 we have Satan-GHANDI Ghandi" I'm dead

[@nikkotek6033]

et 37 me too

[@TheRifOL]

Nikkotek Gamer g

[@rambonambo3510]

I dont get it. I'm sorry

[@christopherthompson2388]

Ghandi Nukes Everyone. Its his hidden agenda

[@knutzenjohan]

LordEmperorTachanka z

[@Tyler-vj1sc]

Trajan just judges me all damn game! “Huh? TOO SCARED OF EXPANSION”

[@tobiasfriedchicken]

Trajan: Settle a city every other turn or its war

[@majora320]

In my most recent game I pissed Trajan off by blocking his expansion, that and I wiped Spain off the map.

[@hychaelzaidi6328]

Same and I declared war on him

[@gamingimmortals6371]

Tyler 27 I always play as Trajan should be number one

[@imperialcities5144]

😂

[@dansouthlondon9873]

The differences in the comments' lists and Drews just shows how fantastic Firaxis have done to vary these civilizations enough.

[@vlisto3712]

Ikr. There are no civs that I think are weak.

[@maxb4365]

Ik I'm a bit late but, Gandhi, Norway, even arguably america

[@DolemiteGK]

@@maxb4365 America has +5 combat on home continent. That's a bonus that always helps

[@jdog7797]

Good point, it would be pretty damn bland if everyone agreed with him.

[@nilswedman9818]

Georgia

[@vulpessodalitas5599]

*B U L L Y F O R Y O U* -Thicc Boi Teddy Roosevelt 4000BC

[@somebloke3869]

Big nose John Curtain 4000bc. I only got the game a few days ago and couldn't resist trying out my own nation.

[@JohnDoe-gk4db]

You should look at the Aztecs again. They can snowball very quickly with successful domination campaign.

[@benhayhurst6913]

Their attack bonus for having luxury resources really gets out of hand if you let them have 6+ cities near the stuff

[@tacomeister4130]

There is a way to use macedon to get massive science boosts the the special encampment building. The spiffing brit did a video in it, check him out

[@minaajoku1169]

Taco miester I would if he stopped making same couple jokes every minute

[@fred5594]

@@tacomeister4130 I love Macedon. Why don't they get the attention they deserve.

[@uk_cpu573]

yeah just put it on abundant resources and then mass settle, get a ton of builders, improve the resources and spam eagle warriors. Edit: Actually only get a few builders, and then spam the warriors to abuse a city state with captures.

[@wm3483]

with Russia, you'll practically get a religion first

[@alexanderperkins1183]

ya, they seem fun to troll with in multiplayer

[@LordNikku]

Played them trying to do domination. Killed Spain off first and then won religious very quickly

[@typenull-qb1yb]

Tried Domination (Science for fallback) Won culture

[@MadMajora]

Germany is absolutely my favorite Civ to play as in this game, always gonna be #1 in my heart

[@AGiantPie]

Beep beep war carts. Sumeria is op.

[@fromundaman]

AGiantPie right?! Seeing sumeria as last told me everything I needed to know about this list.

[@xXDarkxIdealsXx]

Well the problem with War-Carts is that they are only viable in ancient and early classical era. The ONLY way that War Carts are real useful is if you do an ancient/early-classical era rampage. So in that vein they are definitely great at getting a headstart on domination victory; however barely any civ has trouble surviving to late game; and civ's like Scythia can EASILY make up for the OP'ness of the War Cart (two Saka Horse Archers or two Horsemen easily outdoes a single war-cart, and since you automatically get two for each one you train...) The Ziggurats are a tad lackluster imo, as they are situational and the science bonus isn't all it's cracked up to be till you get the 2nd +1 added late-game; but they are one of the few science boosting improvements so they're still useful. Honestly, i think the ONE thing that keeps Sumeria from being great is their leader ability; sharing pillaging and exp gain is pointless for a domination oriented civ...even if you manage to wipe out 2 civ's before the late classical era you're still going to end up pissing off all the other civ's later on via warmonger penalties as a domination victory attempter. So nobody is really going to be your buddy very easily for you to gain those ally bonuses.

[@Umnikros]

The Ziggurat is a fairly useless tile improvement, I almost never use it in a game, however, warcrarts, on the other hand, are insane. I found myself being able to easily take the capital of my nearest neighbor on immortal (haven't tried on deity yet), they have no upkeep since they are available from the start of the game and they have 5 combat strength less then horseman which really isn't that much. On the other hand, their special ability is not properly worded. You do not have to be allied with another civ to use experience boost (not sure about pillaging rewards tho). How it works is you get experience if you are 5 tiles away from another unit ally or not. Which means you can place a unit near a city-state units who are fighting barbs or near two civilizations at war and you will get the experience, that means you will get tons of promotions throughout the game. Just this ability makes them easily one of the best civilizations in game for domination victory (just after Schytia imo).

[@stephenscrub2114]

TheScaleless From my Sumeria game, I can confirm. I even used War carts in the Medieval era alongside crossbowmen to conquer Scythia.

[@AGiantPie]

Yeah but you have to research multiple techs to get them and they cost more hammers than war carts. Turn 1 I can click war cart and have your empire annexed by turn 15.

[@alanfrost75]

Man I love this list. I honestly was thinking there was something wrong with me because I LOVE playing Rome, but every list I found on the internet before clicking on your video had them ranked like shit. But to me they seemed awesome. Thank you for restoring my sanity :)

[@Yell0wCheese]

I find it so funny that Drew called out sumer as the worst civ yet they are the second best civ for Diety and the absolute best in multiplayer because of those insane war-carts

[@youkey1090]

yep

[@mrmccringe4562]

I've played a few games against sumer people as Australia (yes i know its DLC) and i find it easy to warrior/swordsman spam them into oblivion

[@juanvazquez5836]

Diety? is that some sort of ideology based on diet?

[@ethanpoytress4363]

You're doing a great job bro, love your channel.

[@user-vh8bm9mu4u]

Thank you, this helped me decide on my first game. I also added Gilgamesh and Gandhi as AI because you said they would be fun to play against. Fun is the goal!

[@VNReader]

I love all the Civs in Civ VI and there isn't a single one I'd ever call bad. I loved playing as Mvemba a Nzinga. His ability to get neighbourhoods really early is amazing and his buffs to artifacts are really helpful too. I dominated a cultural victory with him just earlier.

[@Gungelis]

I think you underestimate the gains from trade routes. As Trajan I had 10 routes in the modern era, each bringing in 20-30 gold per turn, plus a little science, culture, and faith. I was extremely rich, and growing insanely fast with purchasing.

[@numberpirate]

You missed Victoria's best late game attribute, whenever taking over a city not on home continent you get a new melee unit. You start taking cities over and you end up with a ton of infantry. Once you get three cities, you become unstoppable.

[@ovrwrldkiler]

I was playing a game as America. I must admit, I underestimated how great their faster legacy bonus was. That ability turned out to be suppppper useful, giving great buffs to any and all yields that the governments could give. Tremendous.

[@b0n3zy]

Nice vid again, thanks! Having watched all the First Look CIV videos, I decided to go with Arabia on my first game. Watching this now, I am glad to see your ranking is similar. Only disagreement I have is that I consider Norway to be a real powerhouse to play on all other maps from a Pangea. They can wipe out all the coastal civs really early on in the game...

[@N0lukc]

I personally love Persia because with the early empire Civic, theater square, and commercial hub you can easily be the most rich and culturally advanced civ in the game. I also like the yeilds and bonuses from surprise wars, having extra movement points and because of how easily you can mobilize an army angaisnt any threatening civ in the game.

[@wernhervonkerman2382]

Yes, it's my fav civ

[@apooil]

Fax

[@alamri1121]

germany no. 12? it's easily one of the top 3.

[@tristanshell9233]

I would say it’s 2 next to Russia

[@Scarletraven87]

Imao. I don't even play Civ 6 and while watching the video I was thinking "this could easily snowball, it seems low placed to me".

[@germanfan6481]

1 it is number obe the hansa is the most powerfuldistrict and very cheap, it makes you able to build things faster than other people earlier and to not need to expand

[@lenin4ever368]

@@tristanshell9233 Rrrussia is da best my comrad!!!

[@minutemen_in_t-605]

Maybe for you, my top 3 is: 1. Australia 2. Mali 3. China

[@CuriousMind477]

Just started as America and I can definitely say that the persistent combat bonus helps a ton, especially early game.

[@animefriend101]

I've found the Congo to be quite powerful when geared to the culture/tourism. Start with 5 great work slots that add bonuses on top of the great work. Make like 5 scouts and send them out then just build defensively and with culture focus you can win before the medieval era.

[@kershayax]

It's sad that there aren't many civs with science bonuses. I miss my Korea :(

[@TKG654]

choose China or Japan

[@karlovisttimes8271]

well heres korea

[@juanvazquez5836]

they added korea already

[@mexicobutwithansinsteadofa2236]

@@juanvazquez5836 They posted this comment before that

[@davidking6242]

Why replace the Zulu with kongo. shaka is iconic in the civ series

[@nickc4063]

they will probably make Shaka into a dlc

[@robertgronewold3326]

Shaka was DLC in the last game, and he's in every single game, so he'll come about later no doubt.

[@stebobibo]

They already have a lot of warmongering civs and they also wanted to introduce a new African civ.

[@davidking6242]

Nick C I hope so

[@BobHerzog1962]

Shaka was part of an expansion in Civ5 not a DLC. But yes we likley will see other Civs and leaders along the line. Esspecially now that they offered us the possibility of multiple leaders per Civ.

[@obviousassassin3593]

I like Egypt, the ability to get up Stonehenge early and the wonders pantheon makes it easy to generate enough faith for a religious victory, and you could easily turn around for a culture victory with the sphinx structures, and the steady stream of gold doesn't hurt either.

[@zaccos5488]

Schythia must come like first or atleast top 5 ! Love there horses!

[@wolfizee6516]

"At number 13 we have Satan- Ghandi, i mean Ghandi" - Drew Durnil

[@ka6scope99]

I feel like germany should be higher (but im just starting and just rushing hansas real quick and then running it on lower difficulties cuz im a pleb)

[@mustoneh]

Nice list. Not that many things I disagree but there are few. I think you undervalued Aztec builder capture ability quite a bit. Just declare war to city state early on and farm those builders. You can then spam all districts your population allows fast and all improvements fast like extra farms for housing. Another one is Rome. Those free monuments will make your civic tree advance very fast even without inspiration bonuses and bath has double housing compared to aqueducts on river cities. (4 vs 2)

[@JS-kf9ee]

I got Germany on random and oh boy their hanza + commercial hub combo is so strong! I conquered most of the continent early on and only conducted trade inside the empire for food and production, but with many cities with tiles and districts gold incomes it was raining gold even without foreign trade

[@SirHob4444]

You really underestimate the skills of France for a cultural victory...

[@kam4331]

THANK YOU

[@jamesmiller5900]

No-one likes France. They should always have a -10 combat buff called (cowards)

[@jasonrichardsondvi177]

@@jamesmiller5900 I would do some research other than WW2, France is a very capable military power throughout world history

[@inyomoufizaWabbit]

Only simpletons believe France are cowards. France is the light.

[@peraltajulian]

@@jamesmiller5900can you just shut up ?

[@AlexanderRM2010]

My top three before playing (so I have zero basis other than watching a ton of gameplay)... 1. China. I suspect flexible tile management will offer great advantages in Civ 6 and China's builders significantly reduce the cost of changing tile improvements. All non-unit civ-unique abilities span the entire game (I know builders can only hurry early-game wonders, but the bonuses from those wonders apply throughout the game.) 2. Rome. The roads man, the roads. New movement rules are going to drive me nuts and building a network with trades seems annoyingly micro. I need to be able to fly around the map. 3. Arabia. Drew convinced me. I like them mainly to avoid the hassle of establishing a religion in the early game which, like roads, seems too involved. Religion should spring forth without much preemptory involvement or investment from the Government, *then* the Government fosters the spread of the religion for it's own devices. Arabia will allow me to focus on the early game priorities of exploration and growth. Wildcard civ are the Aztecs. I'm going to corner a few barbarian camps early game and milk them for builder slaves all game long...

[@zachthegleeful]

Unfortunately the Aztecs ability only converts enemy civilization units.

[@theblindcritic5876]

I really, really disagree with a lot of your - and Drew's - points. 1. First off, I've actually played as China in my first game and I have to say, the builder bonus is actually very mediocre. On its own, it would be awesome but, unfortunately, around the medieval era, you get a policy which allows builders to get two extra builds, which means other civs can now get 5 builds easily (compared to 6 for China). Due to the instantaneous nature of builds, this makes any builder related bonuses useless as they aren't really needed much. The Great Wall isn't particularly useful because the bonuses are quite mediocre (unless you're playing on Deity and need a strong defense). As for the woners, you get a 15% boost which often onlu amount to 2-3 turns, which is probably the best thing about the civ but, again, since it's restricted to just two eras, I'd rather go with Egypt or France (bonus for 3 eras and 5% more than China, also intrinsic so doesn't need to waste builder charges). 2. Arabia: sure, Last Prophet is useful but if you're the last civ to get the religion, you get all the worst beliefs left. Don't know if Araba should be at the top, given that crucial detail, as rushing for a great prophet to get the good beliefs neuters your biggest advantage. The again, religious victories are the easiest at lower levels - the AI barely even puts up a fight after the industrial era - so you might still have an easy go at the victory, with the terrible beliefs and all. 3. Drew has also greatly underestimated Kongo, I think. They are terrificaly good for culture as they get points for writers, artists and musicians (which is large snce it's three different great people) and because the way this game has been set up, unfortunately, the terrain is more or less inconsequential when it comes to production. You'll definitely have high production cities with more hills and mines than other cities but since the industrial zone and its buildings give flat bonuses regardless of terrain for the most part, your 'bad' cities will also have production with 10 hammers of your best (a difference of 40 hammers to 50) and all your cities are capped around 50-60 production from what I saw. As such, the extra production and food from great works, which you already get boosts for, will give you large boosts toward production if you plan so that you get a large number of great work slots in cities.) I haven't played them yet but my experience with China tells me those great work bonuses might really come in handy.

[@AlexanderRM2010]

theblindcritic thanks for your insight.

[@spacergazer5505]

Raymond Alexander Arabia deserves to be at top

[@xXDarkxIdealsXx]

You wanna know why China is useless? Three words...SELLING BUILDERS BACK. See the secret is, buidlers can be sold/salvaged etc.. for the exact same price (50% of what you would have payed for them if you bought them instead of producing them) REGARDLESS of whether they have one charge left or all 3 (4 for china i should say). So all you need to do is make two builders, use four out of the six build charges you have; and then sell them both back; which allows you to buy ANOTHER full builder with 3 more build charges...for FREE (because you earned exactly what it costs to buy a new one from selling the two old ones with 1 charge left) This gives you a total of SEVEN build charges for the cost of two builders; whereas China would only give you 8, making it not as useful anymore. I mean you could do the same thing as China of course, use six builds, sell them, then buy another to get a total of 10 build charges for the cost of 2 builders; but if you play, say Gorgo or Pericles you can use the +2 build charges civic card in the extra wildcard slot and that makes up for the entire bonus. Plus, early game wonders aren't all that useful so their 2nd bonus is situational as well. The ONE time i thought to myself "i wish i had china's wonder abilities" was when i found a great little spot on the coast playing as Japan with the Dead Sea natural wonder on it (any unit that fortify till healed's adjacent to the dead sea FULLY heals in one turn!) but since it's surrounded by desert there's basically no production (nice food though, had some oasis nearby and two copper mines with nice gold yields) and i was really wanting to build the Petra wonder for its +2 food, +2 Gold, +1 Production on ALL desert tiles within the city it's built in (which was like 6-7 tiles! That's like +12-14 gold, +12-14 food, and +6-7 production per turn!) and since i had shitty production it would take like 70 turns to build it as Japan. That was the ONLY time i wished i had China's wonder ability...

[@wheelyjon]

Amazing set up really the smart black backdrop and the exquisite lighting and you want a relation is confident and professional really great video

[@AD-en5dq]

Drew Durnil i just found your channel and it made me buy civ 6 asp now with this video I hope there is more great content to come but i would like to know in your civ 5 full bot game do they add more civs as they go?

[@kordarron3501]

That music that kicked in around number ten is glorious

[@SplendidFellow]

Orange Leader That's the modern music for Mongolia

[@noahpalmer709]

@@SplendidFellow Japan

[@gamer14832]

gilgamesh is literally the most broken civ in the game because the war cart is so good.

[@tinaroberts6367]

Nubia is my favorite hands down. The unique archer unit is amazing in early game. Bonuses to archer production and promotions throughout the ages. The pyramids to increase production for districts. Mines get extra production and gold. The Nubian queen is my lil pot of gold. Gold for the win.

[@oddmahttesara773]

my favorite civ, most be between japan, china, russia and germany seems like fun playing civs based on defence

[@hdckighfkvhvgmk]

I hope you make an updated list for new civs like austrailia (austrailia is really op)

[@Antonio-lt1sp]

Hi Drew, I think it is a good time to update the list with the new leaders added to Civ6...

[@steviecomebacks5541]

Just started playing Civ for the first time (Switch). This video was really helpful. Though I will say when I went to war with a city-state I was branded a warmonger and a few other nations declared war on me so they did seem to care

[@luisamarkin9943]

yea thats just the wonky ai if you can get lucky Gilgamesh can solve it by using his ability to not get warmonger penilitys from alies

[@samw5876]

I actually really like the special ability of Mongolia in Civilization Revolution because you could actually capture Barbarian villages I would say it's useful because you don't have to make settlers instantly to expand your Empire

[@KydroxHD]

but... but... Beep Beep war cart ;-;

[@xXDarkxIdealsXx]

i love war carts as much as the next guy (#beepbeep >;8]' ) but you gotta admit, they are only viable in ancient and early classical era; so the only viable method of using them is to blind rush neighboring civ's with a war cart swarm in the ancient era to take them out as soon as possible; which definitely allows you to have almost an entire standard size map continent by the medieval era with ease, but you end up kinda neglecting anything else really so you fall behind in technology, civics, and religion etc.. so you can't defend against missionaries, can't build Medieval units like knight, crossbowman, pikeman etc.. for quite a while and will thus be vulnerable when your beep-carts are up against America with a host of 50 power knights rushing at you in turn 90, and can't get third tier governments like Monarchy so are at a disadvantage in civic card slots (although if you snag Oligarchy by then you'd be alright i suppose) I think the main problem with Sumeria is their main ability is near useless. Sharing pillage rewards and battle exp with allies? How many frickin allies are you gonna have as a domination victory oriented civ that is based on warmongering as much as possible as early as possible? If you can't wipe out every civ on your continent before the medieval era your warmonger penalties will be so high that NOBODY would be your friend to share pillage/exp lol. Then there's the fact that the Ziggurat is kinda "meh", it makes up for the lack of science if you're churning war carts out like the wind, but it's situational and only gives +1 science and only on rivers. idk, on one hand i LOVE Sumeria, but on the other i kinda understand it being lower on the list. I do think it should've been like 14-15ish instead of 20 though.

[@RenlangRen]

@thescaleless, you arguments against the warcarts in the medival era and latter is a off because they upgrade into knights. You wil have twice the cities, population, and therefore a stronger economy and science with Sumeria, not a weaker one. If you have not killed off your competition on your continent by the medival era you are doing something wrong with Sumeria.

[@josemontoya7278]

KydroxHD beep freaking beep man, war carts are just too good man

[@NeroVuk]

Jose Montoya that game plan sort of fails when you have the Aztec or someone next you early on if you're playing higher difficulty levels

[@justintheshell]

@thescaleless For me, the biggest perk when playing Sumeria is the tribal village you get for clearing out a barbarian outpost. They spawn quite frequently early game, and the city states are not that good at dealing with them at that point. Warcarts are not the best for taking out a fortified spearman, though, so what I do instead is to send 3 envoys to a city state with a few warriors and archers, rake up the small cost of hiring their military (around 225 gold early game, cheaper than rush-buying an archer) and I get to keep them for 45 turns. I am able to take out at least 5-6 barbarian settlements , get those units promoted ... and then launch an opportunistic attack on an unsuspecting civ where I am usually able to capture at best all of their cities and at least just one city. The bonuses you get from those extra 5-6 tribal villages that nobody else can touch since they dont have the perk make the cost of hiring the city states' military to attack another civ really worth it

[@Youbeentagged]

Trajan is the best for me, all cities founded get a monument prebuilt, and trade routes

[@almightyswizz]

Drew, I feel like your the most credible person when it comes to this, I trust you.

[@CuriousMind477]

I started out as America and I can say that I completely agree with how well rounded they are. Just that constant +5 Combat Strength on their home continent is a huge boost as long as your not playing islands.

[@molagballin_]

I think Monty should be a lot higher up there. The thing about civs with very strong early game is they can snowball very easily if you can dominate all your neighbours in the first 100 or so turns. In the ancient era there are no penalties for warmongering, and you can get a lot of free workers and free cities by crushing 1 or 2 of your neighbours early. That said, I think Scythia is my favourite. Units just won't die

[@Northstar2000]

Nosferatu Zodd I agree with you

[@hjaltebkgaardandersen9093]

Not to mention that later producing builders will be much cheaper than building districts (with the district rush ability one builder essentially becomes contruct a district in five turns with a builder). Lux improved in your own lands are on steriods and give amenities to 6 cities instead of 4 and the first copy boosts all your unit's strength (melee, ranged, bombard and religious str). Aztecs have so much potential for wide empires, also after the era of eagle warriors.

[@Asalieri2]

I've had a game where it took me forever to find a neighboring settlement to siphon free builders from. You literally have to find a slave grinder city nice and early or you're fucked.

[@golden1ooo4]

It would be cool if there was an updated version of this list

[@Hunterrion]

Personally I'm in love with poland, I mean those winged hussar units dish out so much damage for when you can get them and the pushing back thing is amazing, also you can push other civ's borders back by building forts near them which is just epic, and the trade route bonus from their special building makes them really good.

[@luisamarkin9943]

they have winged husars not cossacks

[@Hunterrion]

@@luisamarkin9943 kinda wack response to a 2 year old comment, but you are correct. Edited the comment.

[@luisamarkin9943]

@@Hunterrion k

[@luisamarkin9943]

i just realized its 2 years old

[@Hunterrion]

@@luisamarkin9943 pffft

[@jsonron4146]

I envy you that you had explored the game so well. Time is a big tag of war issue for me.

[@grahamturner2640]

With Gathering Storm, England is geared towards a domination or science victory, as their civilization ability changed from the museum one to workshop of the world.

[@lordflashheart5984]

Gilgamesh is OP especially in multi player . You did not look at him at all imo

[@NursultanBekmuratov]

Shooter McGavin yea he must be in top3 if not top1 , warcarts are free and can be upgraded to knights

[@user-ft3jq5vi2l]

...neh. They can be easily countered by scythia or aztec. Also if they end up relatively isolated early game and can't immediately snowball they ain't gonna do much.

[@luisamarkin9943]

gillgabro is easy if you are new fun to play has good special unit the war cart as well as being ez with science victory

[@maizen1335]

I find that Russia is a pretty good Civ, and I'm glad with the spot it got on the list. One thing that's underestimated though is that because of the boost from Tundra tiles, you can really pump out wonders. In my game as him, I think I have almost every wonder available, and more great people than I know what to do with.

[@SexyDragoness]

I'm happy to see America rate well as they weren't particularly great in Civ 5. Can play as my own country and expect to bring something to the table. That said I love the ability of the Aztec, those free builders are nice.

[@Ashtarte3D]

Surprised to see China so low. My game with them we astoundingly well. The increase to builders and earlier wonder rushing got me off to a really good early lead and let me just run rampant the rest of the game. There is much to be said about early game leads.

[@MetronaJ]

OgreSamanosuke also note this: each great wall gives tourism as well...

[@Ashtarte3D]

Justin Baker I didn't actually know that. I thought it only gave the minor culture point when it's at least 2 hexes or longer. May have to play with that more.

[@user-ft3jq5vi2l]

Ah, yes. Scythia's OP military production. I seriously thought they weren't a threat to me once until I sent a missionary and saw like 15 horsemen aimed toward my cities. I still get war flashbacks.

[@fivesevolution3083]

I AINT NO FORTUNATE SONNNN

[@sirbob430]

My favorite has to be Montezuma for the science victory, because with the builders boosting districts, you can get a big advantage in the space race

[@deadsavage2732]

Idk why but I find it’s easy to get a domination victory with Australia but going as a theocracy and using faith to buy units combining that with the outback station to create more food and production and once you get to late and mid game you have a really even spread of everything

[@ChewysDynasty]

Sumeria should at least be top 3. War carts that you can build with tech or resource requirements allows you to smash anyone that starts too close to you. No other unit can match up in the ancient era until you get horsemen in the classical

[@wolfiitv6942]

The only problem that I see with Arabia is that you are going to be the LAST religion. I didn't get to play a prerelease but from playing Civ V, if you make the last religion, most of the beliefs are going to be gone. So even if you have cheaper religious buildings, you might not get any religious buildings. Just seems clunky the way the two interact. If you wait to use the one ability to the fullest, you might not be able to use the other ability.

[@benhayhurst6913]

The Aztecs attack bonus with each luxury resource is op when they build a good number of cities near the stuff

[@Dankonen]

With the new expansions Pedro rocketed to the top. The adjacency bonus stacks with pantheon beliefs. Now if you have the production belief, you can play epic and have buildings in 3 or 4 turns. Pedro is OP AF if you get the pantheon belief.

[@PIERCESTORM]

"At number 13 we have Satan"

[@PIERCESTORM]

Gandhi should be number 1, I've been nuked so many times by Gandhi in Civilization Revolution its unbelievable

[@maldino2917]

@@PIERCESTORM because he is given a strong ai

[@skyfire299]

@@maldino2917 not necessarily strong, just violent

[@Micro0644]

Me: Actually plays a serious game of Civ 6 -Picks Russia -Gets Domination Victory Me: B R U H

[@missytusara8274]

I did the opposite of that with Macedon, was going for a Domination Victory but accidentally got a Culture Victory instead 😂

[@CrazyDriver666]

Was thinking same about Sumeria, but saw a video when this civ was nearby... And it has a craaazy amount of promoted units. They all get XP from fights... they all get XP from other civ's fights if they close enough. Maybe a bug, but it is powerful.

[@crni1000]

Aztec is greatly underestimated in my opinion. You get +1 bonus for each luxury improvement which can easily add up to >+10 strength in later part of the game . Add that to rushing building districts with +5 builders in later cities i would place them at the top of the list.

[@bossatron6086]

I think they need to add FDR as an American leader to have a special ability called the arsenal of democracy adding to production and opinion of other Civs as well new units like the marines were they get a fighting bonus after landing and fighting on coasta

[@skywarslord4680]

BOSSA TThe marine will have a bonus when attempting a amfibous attack

[@kusadasi8641]

i didnt know SATAN WAS A NECULIAR WAR

[@firefox3249]

"neculiar" **facepalm**

[@firefox3249]

Rick K Yes, how dare he!

[@fez5020]

when peter talks,it was like he hypnotize me with his gentleness

[@sheawakeman5422]

Rome is definitely my fav civ, I came second with him on my first try!

[@NightSwipe17]

lol "Sata - Gandhi! Meant Gandhi."

[@roleplayingcatnip2426]

I like France She's one of may favorite to play Neh

[@endlesssummers2391]

okay furry

[@hemmydall]

Having played China a lot, I would suggest they are higher on that list if you use Qin's strengths. Strong early game and a constant 10% bonus to science and culture through eureka's and inspirations adds up. Their builders and wonder building position for a strong late game if done right, or a great early game as well.

[@Fulcrum2009009]

I love Norway; getting naval units out early game before anyone else means broader expansion, and the ability to shut down other costal civilizations before they can expand. Plus, the barbarians are sweet.

[@Northstar2000]

What ?!?! Aztecs number 15? Aztecs are overpowered as fuck

[@markuskarlsson2001]

Gemeplay They are OP in the early game but if they don't take a city or two early they are gonna be behind

[@Asalieri2]

yeah the Aztecs get screwed if they don't quickly find a 'slave state' to steal workers from early game. They are very hit and miss.

[@shaywright6608]

Asalieri2 I heard that the Aztecs are over powered and that they always run the shit but what I realize as I play them is that they're just a hit or miss I'm sorry

[@uk_cpu573]

they're guaranteed broken with the right settings.

[@golacheron8374]

its funny how sumeria is ranked 20 but in reality its broken af when you play as it

[@tseikk159]

I guessed Arabia was going to be #1 before I even watchdd the video, and I completely agree with each point you make about them

[@RedCastle335]

I haven't been playing long, but I really like Germany. I got a full plains/hills spawn and just became a production monster.

[@markkeplinger7480]

At number 13, Sata- GHANDI, DEFINETLY GHANDI

[@denithar5893]

My favorite Civ is definitely Rome.

[@Curly_Horse]

Yes! 😍

[@tristanshell9233]

No offense, but I would say Rome is a good first civ to play as

[@hexadecimal5236]

Rome is my fave, send out settlers with your war band and you instantly have a free road into enemy territory.

[@fred5594]

My #2 #1 is Germany, #3 is Arabia.

[@denithar5893]

After a few years of experience I would have to change my mind. I am a huge Germany fan now but I still like rome

[@davidtaylor3098]

Drew you do a fantastic job mate!!! Does anyone know a forum were you can speak to multi players and arrange multiplayer games?

[@ajallen212]

gotta say the more i see of civ 6 the more it seems MUCH more geared towards war/conquest victories, still really wanna play it, even if its not my preferred playstyle.

[@MisanthropyFerret]

i got a cultural victory with Peter the great before 21 century without knowing it coming. Russia rocks

[@papagazebo7352]

And number one- Me: Australia! Arabia Me: Oh

[@snowyoasis5798]

My favorite has to be America just because it’s so easy to go for a culture victory plus the extra attack on your continent is so good early on against barbs so you can always get a pretty good start

[@catman7474]

Man I loved these videos

[@wanming149]

I'd swap America and China in your rankings, not joking.

[@Phenom98]

Ronza149 Yeah, the Eureka moment is really OP and it's a Civ that can rapidly snowball if you played your early eras right

[@lorenzopulmano4894]

yeah I was playing as China and in about the classical era, my military and technology began to snowball so rapidly that I had nukes while everyone was still on the verge of musket men.

[@manuelfontes4090]

China has the most powerful Work of art only they can create... "Love me long time" by Dizaster

[@edwardtan7283]

This happens after rise and fall due to the increased % eureka/inspiration and the effectiveness of triggering those. Triggering more eureka/inspirations means putting extra efforts in doing different things. Sometime not all of them are beneficial and it is obviously made the game harder to play with less experienced player. This video put Civ like America/England at top because those civ involve with less thinking while getting decent bonuses. China needs to play very carefully early game to dominate. Especially with the wonder rush/wall placement in early games, and the right use of cannon in mid game. They are all great boost, but it could become conditional depending on your starting position. In my opinion all civs can be great, but the bonus determines the play style and the different management you’ll need to proceed. China is definitely the more difficult civ to play.

[@tobiasfriedchicken]

@@lorenzopulmano4894 That happens all the time when I play Vs AI China. They always seem to have infantrymen when I just researched musketmen

[@stormium1566]

My first playthrough of civ VI i played as Rome. I didn't notice at first but I soon realized my science was so far ahead from everybody else in the game to where I had the colonial casis beli for all the other civ's. I also had nuclear bombs in 1500 AD. The whole game I was fighting pikemen horses and crossbows with infantry tanks and bombers. I played on prince which may be the cause but it seemed too easy.

[@orooooooo]

XstormageddonX Yeah Rome is crazy powerful

[@DickePerserkatze]

Happened to me too as Rome in my first game. I did the science victory and I was so far ahead. Teddy declared war on me with Crossbows and Knights and I already had Tanks and Mechanized Infantry :D But the game took me almost 12 hours to finish tough^^

[@stormium1566]

Darius I Whats funny is i wasnt even aiming for science victory or focusing on it. I actually Was going for domination victory to see how difficult it was. I considered science but i felt bad for all the other civs being so behind i decided to nuke them all an invade with like 5 units for each entire civ.

[@DickePerserkatze]

XstormageddonX The AI is really bad in this game :/

[@orooooooo]

Darius I Yeah it even feels worse than civ v at times

[@Genesis.1-1]

The last time I played Civ was Civ 4....a long while ago. I learned quickly that whenever Gandhi is in the game that war was coming regardless of what I did. I just picked up Civ 6, and you're right...Gandhi is satan. Thanks for the video, it's really helpful for me, being new to Civ 6. Subscribed!

[@thatonesqueakerkid4975]

My 1st Favorite civ is my Boy Trajan his legions can be a game changer and i am a huge trader and defender so he is perfect for me and my 2nd Favorite civ is my Smart pal Peter the Great his land expansion to me is the best thing to happen and the fact that he can get faith from tundra makes you want it

[@SolviKaaber]

Drew, you seriously put China in the bottom 10 and England in the top 10???

[@juliahenriques210]

He's thinking also about how the AI will perform, and not just how a player can use their bonuses. Maybe ai onlys will change his mind about some things when he manages to get them up and running.

[@Pacbandit13]

SolviKaaber its madness right

[@Ashtarte3D]

But it's stupid to judge based on what the AI can do because the AI is usually dumber than a bag of hammers. Players can use China to get a massive early game lead; easily rushing a few wonders and often getting the first religion going because of it (Stonehenge rush). The bonus effeciency of builders is so good, especially when you can throw them at those first two tiers of wonders.

[@juliahenriques210]

OgreSamanosuke Err... Do you watch this channel often? How the AI plays and how it impacts the game is a huge thing around here.

[@Ashtarte3D]

Julia Linne No I don't watch this channel it was recommended by KZbin but I stand by my statement. It's a list called "Top 20 Best Civs" and then devalues a very powerful civ because the AI, which is historically retarded, can't utilize it? That's just silly.

[@Yell0wCheese]

I still find it hilarious that drew added gilgamesh, which was broken like hell, at the bottom at the list

[@sullyvanbastien4526]

my favourite is Periclès ! Very nice to expand our economy very fast in early game

[@JanbluTheDerg]

I like playing as Korea (don't know if it's available only with Rise and Fall) because researching technology becomes so fast and so easy, as well as the Hwacha unit, I end up fighting the wars after I have the Hwacha (note also riflemen at that point) but I get it so fast that I'm winning wars because everyone else is way behind me in tech. I don't know for harder difficulties though.

[@atlasflame5815]

So your main reasoning for the top 5 civs is because they're very stacked with lots of bonuses, but why is China at the bottom despite also having many powerful bonuses comparable with the top 5? Bonus eureka/civics may seem small but it adds up over the course of the game if you consistently get them. I'd say there's so far the only real science civ in the game. They are almost guaranteed to get the early wonders with how they can use builders (each with 1 more charge) which is a huge advantage, great wall is optional but it's the best defense there is in the game. They can go for science victories and are obviously very hard to kill which is the worst nightmare of any warmongers.

[@lorenzopulmano4894]

yeah ikr? Tbh China is a really hard civ to master, but if you time everything right, you can become the most powerful civ. Many times I have snowballed in the classical era as China and get nukes while everyone else is still on the verge of musket men

[@AhmadSammy]

Top 20 civs for a game that has 19 civs..funny :)

[@simwan3298]

there ARE 20civs if you followed the civilization channel

[@varanthe8th609]

Ahmad Sammy "top 20 Civs and leaders"

[@AhmadSammy]

Technically there are 19 civilizations with 20 leaders

[@simwan3298]

yeah but 20 playable civs. greece under pericles is not the same as greece under gorgo. e.g. their capitals are different (Athens and Sparta)

[@AhmadSammy]

yeah but both of them are called "Greece": 1 civ with 2 leaders

[@superwilliamtherevolutiona5281]

The main reason I play with germany is because of the more districts bonus along with the hansa, I use both of those to my advantage when trying to score the majority of wonders and structures. Edit: plus I can make units faster with the extra production from what I've seen

[@ryansmith7515]

This is sparta!, gorgo is my favorite because of the easy culture+domination!