The Viper and Hera did Tierlists for Arabia before but now thanks to KotD3 we actually have solid data on what civs all of the world’s best players consider to be strong.
(Draft rate = seen in draft, meaning either picked or banned).
S-Tier (96%+ draft rate):
Aztecs (98%)
A-Tier (80-95% draft rate):
Vikings (92%)
Chinese (91%)
Franks (91%)
Mayans (86%)
Khmer (84%)
Lithuanians (81%)
B-Tier: (50-79% draft rate):
Celts (77%)
Mongols (63%)
Britons (50%)
Huns (50%)
C-Tier (20-49% draft rate):
Malians (44%)
Goth (42%)
Slavs (42%)
Inca (31%)
Cumans (20%)
Saracens (20%)
D-Tier (3-19% draft rate):
Berber (17%)
Vietnamese (17%)
Indians (17%)
Byzantines (11%)
Japanese (11%)
Burmese (8%)
Spanish (8%)
Magyars (8%)
Teutons (6%)
Portuguese (5%)
Persians (3%)
F-Tier (only drafted once):
Italians (2%)
Malay (2%)
Tatars (2%)
Turks (2%)
Bulgarians (2%)
Pretty much unplayable (0% draft rate):
Koreans
I do see a lot of civs being ranked as expected but also some surprises.
Note: the tournament is still ongoing, but I still don’t think Koreans will be picked
Interestingly, as the tournament got to the later stages the top civs got drafted even more (and the surprise picks even less).
Let’s say it’s the ultimate kotd3 arabia tier list^^ Because that map is more open than other arabia versions you see fewer archers civs, otherwise draft rates for civs like britons, vietnamese and ethiopians would be way higher. Also I find equating banning and picking in the draft a bit problematic. I know there isn’t really a way around it for this purpose but I guess it inflates some numbers like goths and aztecs were more often banned than picked iirc. Not that aztecs wouldn’t be in a top spot but still some people don’t like to play against them while not necessarily going for the pick themselves.
But there are many archers civs were played in this map, (Britons, Mayans, Chinese…), and most of the playing in the tournament was archers rush even with infantry civs like (Vikings, Celts).
And after the last update, Arabia in the ladder became the same in KOTD3
You connot count on this too much, it does not mean if they didn’t pick a civ its mean it is bad, most of the civs were picked in the tournament, but i agree with you that many civs have the advantages on open maps
I do think they were banned for different reasons though.
Aztecs -> because they are actually really strong.
Goth -> because the their new super aggressive playstyle on Arabia has not been meta for long and some players that have not practice with or against it might not feel comfortable going up against them…
Well, draft rate by pros shows which civs are preferred by pros, but it is not directly linked to the actual strength of civ, and which civ is the best is subject to change by players.
For example, Viper said that portuguese are actually broken in his twitch chat. This can be hyperbole, but I think Portuguese can be actually good civ for players like Viper, its eco is lackluster but have wide tech tree and now have gold discount in everything. Top players usually prefer civ which has wide tech tree and many strategies are available.
D-tier civ such as Magyars are picked by some players in BO5 such as Vinchester and Straydog, and they won aganist top-civ (Chinese, Franks).
I personally amazed by the performance of Berbers, it has 3-1 in KOTD3 even though they are always chosen by lower seed players.
Malay got consistently nerfed recently, what you expect from them… And their later uptime with more boom is just too passive for an agressive map, thats it basically. Plus they have the worst cavalry in the game and their eco bonus is not even comparable to vikings that reach feudal age earlier with a better vill advantage so to say.
The only net buff they got was the change of Karambit warrior cost back to its original food cost but the gold cost is still that of the nerfed version from RoR.
25f10g->30f15g->25f15g
But even with old up times they would not be seen just because they are too passive with their weak scouts.
The link you gave says 80%… But with 80%faster research speed, that would result in 45% shorter research time. Basic math… It is 66% the link is so bad it isnt even consistent in one sentence.
Well Malay excel at other maps: more closed ones like Hideout or ones where they can use their fish trap bonus (especially in Teamgames).
So I actually think it’s fine that they are underutilized on Arabia.
according to this video here viper clicked up at around 9 minutes and 17 seconds.
he reached feudal around 10 minutes 35 seconds.
which is even back then 78 seconds. so the 66% nerf is at least two years old. not recent.
also this one is even older and confirms the same.
What sudden change of heart… I stop arguing here just because you cant accept that the 66% is the current bonus and now you need to look for something different ? Yeah I remember it was just a change of text and the 66% was there before, so what. Malay lost a lot of their glory by consistent nerfs that did not only happen in DE but already before.
