Civ 6 Tier List: Best Civilizations in Civilization 6

Strategy games have always been about choosing the most optimal strategy that yields the biggest win percentage and making the most optimal plays in order to capitalize on the perks and benefits of the team, nation, race, country, or civilization (depending on the game you’re playing) that the player has chosen. The Civilization game series is no different, and below we’ll round up the best civilizations to play with in Player vs Player game mode in Civ 6.

Tier List of Civilizations in Civilizations 6

Please note that we have opted to include each of the civilizations once in this list, depending on the leader that we feel is the strongest in terms of reaching your victory conditions in the most efficient way possible. The civilizations are placed in alphabetical order within their respective tiers.

S Tier

As in any tier list, S Tier is the strongest. New players can use them to learn about the game (like having practice wheels on your bicycle) and seasoned players can use them perfectly to their full potential because they have a great flexibility and adaptability:

• America (Bullmoose Teddy)
• Australia (John Curtin)
• Japan (Hojo Tokimune)
• Maori (Kupe)
• Portugal (João III)
• Russia (Peter)

Related: Civilization 6 – How to Make Gold

A Tier

This is less flexible than S Tier, so you will be more forced to play a certain playstyle, and some disadvantages may be more notable:

• Arabia (Saladin)
• Brazil (Pedro II)
• Egypt (Cleopatra)
• Gran Columbia (Simon Bolivar)
• Greece (Pericles)
• Korea (Seondeok)
• Hungary (Matthias Corvinus)
• Persia (Cyrus)
• Sumeria (Gilgamesh)

Related: Civilization 6: How to Get Amenities

B Tier

Less flexible than A Tier, but still fairly competitive:

• Babylon (Hammurabi)
• China (Qin Shi Huang)
• Ethiopia (Menelik II)
• Khmer (Jayavarman VII)
• Mali (Mansa Musa)
• Maya (Lady Six Sky)
• Phoenician (Dido)
• Spain (Phillip II)

C Tier

This is where the cutoff is for less experienced players and where things become challenging, as you must know exactly what you are doing:

• Aztec (Montezuma)
• Byzantium (Basil II)
• Dutch (Wilhelmina)
• Georgia (Tamar)
• Inca (Pachacuti)
• Nubia (Amanitore)
• Polish (Jadwiga)

D Tier

These are the civilizations where you literally must construct your plan before the match and know what you will be doing about two dozen turns ahead. Planning and allocation are crucial here, and you are at high risk of falling behind if just one mistake happens:

• Canada (Wilfrid Laurier)
• France (Catherine de Medici)
• Germany (Frederick Barbarossa)
• Indonesia (Gitarja)
• Ottoman (Suleiman)
• Rome (Trajan)
• Sweden (Kristina)
• Vietnam (Bà Triệu)

F Tier

Why would you do this to yourself on purpose? Don’t you have free will?

• Cree (Poundmaker)
• England (Victoria)
• Gaul (Ambiorix)
• India (Ghandi)
• Kongo (Mvemba a Nzinga)
• Macedon (Alexander)
• Mapuche (Lautaro)
• Mongolia (Genghis Khan)
• Norway (Harald Hardrada)
• Scotland (Robert the Bruce)
• Scythia (Tomyris)
• Zulu (Shaka)