I'm really confused by the picks of my opponents. I'm also not sure that I can work through the missing civs in the form I did the first bunch before I make my pick, I'll try my best.
As for the picks of my opponents:
Noble+Gaspar: Byzantine
Ok, I admit, I do get this pick. I've detailed my stance on Byzantine in my civ rating-post and as I mentioned there, one thing that is an issue for Byzantine are opponents that try to hinder them early on before they get Cataphracts. As I also mentioned I don't think that is an issue with this map, as it should be big enough. In fact, it should be just the right size that Knights is around the time you might consider an attack. If they are my neighbor, I have to make sure to be prepared. Not to defend against an attack, but to make me such an unappealing target that they do look somewhere else. If not, it might easily us both being out of the running.
That said, while I do see it's strength I still believe Byz is overvalued in the community. Well, not overvalued ... valued for its definite assets but I believe which Civilization you play has much less influence overall, so I would have expected to see leader-picks first. That leads directly in our 2nd pick:
Rusten+Hitru: Aztec
While Noble and Gaspar choose a civ that I did rank rather good (and might underestimate), this pick I have a really hard time to understand. Why not pick a leader first, when you can get whatever you want right now? Why instead pick Aztec? The UU will not see much play on this map-size (and isn't all that great to begin with), the UB is nice just for the cost-reduction, but I'd say there are enough better ones out there + you could just now pick FIN/ORG or EXP/ORG and on the way back take Aztec. I doubt it would have been gone by then. They might get their desired combination with ORG still - or maybe they have several and can be certain one will be left. But even then... Maybe it was the starting tech combo. Myst / Hunting doesn't exist often and the others aren't that hot either. If you want that combo, Aztec might be indeed your best choice. Though with Byz first pick I could see HRE instead.
Well, I think for both teams I can reasonably well put together why they made the choice they made. Now I have to concentrate on my own choice. But first I need to finally get some sleep.
As for the picks of my opponents:
Noble+Gaspar: Byzantine
Ok, I admit, I do get this pick. I've detailed my stance on Byzantine in my civ rating-post and as I mentioned there, one thing that is an issue for Byzantine are opponents that try to hinder them early on before they get Cataphracts. As I also mentioned I don't think that is an issue with this map, as it should be big enough. In fact, it should be just the right size that Knights is around the time you might consider an attack. If they are my neighbor, I have to make sure to be prepared. Not to defend against an attack, but to make me such an unappealing target that they do look somewhere else. If not, it might easily us both being out of the running.
That said, while I do see it's strength I still believe Byz is overvalued in the community. Well, not overvalued ... valued for its definite assets but I believe which Civilization you play has much less influence overall, so I would have expected to see leader-picks first. That leads directly in our 2nd pick:
Rusten+Hitru: Aztec
While Noble and Gaspar choose a civ that I did rank rather good (and might underestimate), this pick I have a really hard time to understand. Why not pick a leader first, when you can get whatever you want right now? Why instead pick Aztec? The UU will not see much play on this map-size (and isn't all that great to begin with), the UB is nice just for the cost-reduction, but I'd say there are enough better ones out there + you could just now pick FIN/ORG or EXP/ORG and on the way back take Aztec. I doubt it would have been gone by then. They might get their desired combination with ORG still - or maybe they have several and can be certain one will be left. But even then... Maybe it was the starting tech combo. Myst / Hunting doesn't exist often and the others aren't that hot either. If you want that combo, Aztec might be indeed your best choice. Though with Byz first pick I could see HRE instead.
Well, I think for both teams I can reasonably well put together why they made the choice they made. Now I have to concentrate on my own choice. But first I need to finally get some sleep.