Why are Sicilians and Romans so high winrate overall when a lot of pros say they’re not good civs
maybe because pro players are only handful of them? like maybe 20-30 players at most while rest of the game have over 30k+ players?
I remember Sicilians almost always got 45th priority in civ drafts of World Desert Championship 2. Also Viper’s Sicilians donjon rush is masterpiece in Red Bull Wololo: El Reinado.
Because the meta is different at high Elo and mid Elo.
Sicilians have a very weak early game, due to lacking a real dark/feudal age eco bonus (only +100s) or a real military bonus (only 25% bonus damge reduction).
This civ is good if they have time to build up your eco. Mid Elo players let you do it, high level players donnot (feudal age fights start much earlier, more confidence in attacking with few units and denying the right spots).
Pros say Romans are good, always put them in A tier or B tier.
2 Likes
In low elo the donjon + serjeant rush seems to be very successfull even without using the “youpudding” timings (which we sometimes saw even on pro level - but not as successfull).
Both towers/donjons and infantry usually do way better in low elo, so it’s not surprising that civs with certain bonusses to them can be very strong there.
Sicilians in particular don’t offer that much in high elo play. As pointed out to big parts due to the lack of a usable early eco bonus.
Most of the games played are between low elo players. 1900+ is just 1% of the ranked community and their games is less than 1% of overall.
What works at pro level, may suck at lower level.
What doesnt work at pro level, may work at lower level.
So statements of the pros are not applicable on all levels.
Sicilians lack initiative in many situations. The economic bonus constricts you to seek out hourse collar in several situations even when you wouldn’t normally do so (like when opening with archers). Moreover, the fact that the bonus was increased from 100% to 125% is completely irrelevant.
Practically the best thing they have is a few gimmicks in absolutely unique maps.
The Romans are a completely different story. They have an extremely strong economy, recognised at all levels, but the tech tree is limiting in some match ups; so they have to be careful who they play.