Civ 5 Tier List, or Civilization V, is one of the most popular strategy games on the planet, where you lead a civilization from the dawn of humanity into the future. One of the key parts of the game is choosing which civilization, or “Civ,” you want to play. Every civilization has its strengths, weaknesses, unique units, and abilities, making some better suited to certain strategies than others.
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But with so many options, how do you know which civilization is the best? Well, that’s where a Civ 5 Tier List comes in! A tier list ranks civilizations based on their overall effectiveness in the game. In this blog post, we’ll break down the top civilizations for players of all skill levels, explaining why each Civ is strong, where they might struggle, and how you can use them to win.
Understanding the Civ 5 Tier List System
Before we jump into the rankings, let’s just quickly explain what a “tier list” is. In a nutshell:
- S-Tier: These civilizations are the best of the best. They have powerful unique units, awesome abilities, and can be flexible enough to adapt to nearly any situation in the game.
- A-Tier: These civilizations are still pretty strong but may not be as flexible or as overpowered as those in S-Tier.
- B-Tier: These civilizations are good but do not shine unless given into the right hands, with obvious flaws or weaknesses that make the process of mastering them just too hard.
- C-Tier and down: These Civs still can be fun to play around with, but most may require more effort, which means they will usually get defeated or have even less potent abilities compared to others.
Well, let’s break up the Civ 5 Tier List, starting off the top!
S-Tier Civilizations (Top Tier)
These Civs are sometimes thought of as the best to choose in Civ 5. They have strength in virtually every area: military might, economy, culture, and science.
1. Poland (Casimir III)
Unique Ability: Solidarity
Poland’s unique ability allows them to gain a free Social Policy every time they advance to a new era, giving them a major advantage in culture and social policies. This makes it easier for Poland to access powerful bonuses earlier than other civilizations.
Why Poland is S-Tier:
Policia can adopt Social Policies fast, to everyone’s surprise, giving it a great opportunity for self-design towards its desired needs. They can easily score great in science, culture, and even the military, meaning they are very versatile. The free Social Policies Poland receives also give them quite a lot of flexibility and power, especially early game.
2. The Aztecs (Montezuma)
Unique Ability: Sacrifice the Weak
Every unit they kill gives them culture and faith. This can help them quickly build a culture and religion, thus giving them more bonuses to boost their military and infrastructure.
Why the Aztecs are S-Tier:
The Aztecs are very good at early-game warfare. Killing enemy units not only gives you a boost in culture and faith but also helps you grow your military strength faster. Their unique unit, the Jaguar, is very powerful and can move through forests and jungles easily, making them a great early-game fighting force. The Aztecs are perfect for aggressive players who want to dominate through war and culture.
3. The Netherlands (Wilhelmina)
Unique Ability: Gablet
The Netherlands can construct unique polders (special improvements) that provide additional food, production, and gold to their cities. They also get a bonus when trading with other civilizations.
Why the Netherlands is S-Tier:
The Netherlands is good at enriching its economy and culture. Their polders improve the yield of their cities, while their trade routes become profitable and give them a massive lead. Wilhelmina also has access to the powerful unique unit of the Dutch East India Company, which will help them generate gold and culture. The Dutch have an excellent economic backbone that may take them to success under various playstyles.
A-Tier Civilizations (Very Strong Choices)
These are extremely strong and can be used well with a proper strategy. However, they do not necessarily boast the raw power of an S-Tier Civ.
4. Greece (Alexander)
Unique Ability: Hellenistic Fusion
Greece gains more influence over city-states, and their influence decays much slower, allowing them to hold onto city-states for longer periods.
Why Greece is A-Tier:
Greece is very good for diplomatic victories and city-state relationships. The ability to dominate city-states can give you a huge bonus to culture, science, and military power. This makes Greece an excellent choice for players who want to play a more diplomatic and peaceful game. However, the lack of a powerful military unit or ability in Greece can be limiting if war breaks out.
5. The Maya (Pacal II)
Unique Ability: Great Ball Court
The Mayans get a bonus on their civilization’s science output by the number of cities they own. The more you control, the better off your science will be.
Why the Maya are A-Tier:
The Maya are good for a science victory because of their unique ability, which makes them a great source of science, especially if they can have more cities. Their unique building, the Ball Court, gives culture and happiness bonuses as well. Maya is very good for players who would want to create a very strong scientific foundation and beat everyone else in terms of technology.
6. Arabia (Harun al-Rashid)
Unique Ability: The Second Coming
Arabia receives a bonus of gold from trade routes and has a unique unit that is very powerful during the early game.
Why Arabia is A-Tier:
Arabia is the best nation to create a powerful economy with trade routes and wealth. Their unique ability makes it easy to create a huge economy in the early game, which can be used to fund scientific and military efforts. The unique unit of Arabia, Camel Archer, is very strong against mounted units and is formidable in war. Therefore, this nation is good for players who like focusing on both the economy and the military.
B-Tier Civilizations (Good, but not as versatile)
These civilizations are good but have specific weaknesses or require more skill to make the most of their capabilities.
7. Egypt (Ramesses II)
Unique Ability: Monument Builders
Egypt builds wonders faster than every other civilization, which puts them in a very good place to win the race and construct strong wonders.
Why Egypt is B-Tier:
Egypt is a good civilization for a wonder-centric play style, getting your wonders built up quickly so you can benefit from them. But they are kind of weak if you aren’t building wonders or getting the ones you want; Egypt lags behind all other civilizations if you are not playing the right way. A bit more niche but strong in the right hands.
8. Spain (Isabella)
Unique Ability: Treasures of the World
Spain gets additional gold off their trade routes and can establish colonies on foreign continents more easily and that gives them a unique benefit.
Why Spain is B-Tier:
Spain can play very strong in the early game and mid-game, but they tend to fall apart unless the player has a lot of gold or military power. A nice early advantage is when they can settle on a new continent, but it doesn’t scale as well as some of the other top-tier Civs.
9. Japan (Oda Nobunaga)
Unique Ability: Bushido
Japanese units fight harder at low health, making them extremely deadly in battle.
Why Japan is B-Tier:
Japan has a good military Civ, but its strength comes when fighting wars, and it suffers if diplomacy or science is more of an emphasis. Japan’s Bushido ability gives their units great staying power in battle, but they suffer in other parts of the game.
C-Tier Civilizations (Weaker or harder to play)
These civilizations are generally weaker and require more advanced strategies to succeed.
10. Brazil (Pedro II)
Unique Ability: Carnival
Brazil gets a bonus from the Golden Ages; its culture and production are improved when they are in the Golden Age.
Why Brazil is C-Tier:
Brazil is all for culture and tourism, but it might have some struggles with it early on without the Golden Age boost. They are suitable for players who prefer to have a longer game, quite relaxing, but will often find themselves lagging early in the game.
Conclusion
Choosing the best civilization in Civilization V is very much up to your playstyle and the kind of victory you’re trying to achieve. Some civilizations are great for war and domination, while others do better in diplomacy, culture, or science. The Civ 5 Tier List should give you a good overview of the best civilizations to play based on your strategy whether you’re just starting or you’re an experienced player.
Remember, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. Some people will find great success with a B-Tier or even a C-Tier civilization because they can master their strengths. The important thing is to understand the unique abilities and strengths of each civilization and play to those advantages. So, pick your favorite Civ and start your journey to world domination today.
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