Civ 5 Maya Guide | The top-tier civ nobody talks about

[@thegardencity92]

Honorable mention to great admiral which can enter ocean tiles, allowing you to meet every civ much earlier in the game than would otherwise be allowed

[@zegyboo]

Maya is a god-tier civ for sure.
The +2 science from Pyramids gives the same early-game science boost as Babylon assuming you have a 4 city empire.
Then the faith boost from Pyramids is *almost* as good as Ethiopia or the Celts for getting first Pantheon. It's arguably better than the Celt bonus for grtting a religion, though the Celts will always beat you to that Pantheon (which often gives them a faith boost that will get them an earlier religion). One thing I love about the civs that have faith bonuses is that you can often take a non-faith pantheon and still get a religion, which can be a substantial bonus all game long in the right circumstances.
Then the great people generation is just gravy If you rush Theology then and get a fairly early scientist you'll actually have a bigger science boost than Babylon by the Medieval era (you have an Academy PLUS Pyramids), though Babylon will obviously get more scientists by the late game. Early Engineers and Prophets can also be major game-changers, and a General could be a life-saver if things look bad enough (or good enough if you need to expand).
The Atlatlist is ... ok. Their stats are actually identical to an Archer so you're not getting a stronger unit. It's 10% cheaper to build than archers, so you can get them out a little faster, and you can build them without researching Archery, but Archery is litterally the cheapest tier of technology, so it's not exactly game-changing.
My recommendations are the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus to get a little more from your great people, and the Leaning Tower to lean into those Great People and get even more of them. Someone else also mentioned taking a Great Admiral early to explore the world before researching Astronomy, I wouldn't say it's the strongest option but it's fairly unique (besides Polynesia).

[@nicholasbrodersen8491]

I just played a game as the Mayans. When I looked at the special building and special ability, I immediately saw it’s potential and made me wonder why more people don’t talk about them.

[@JumboPixel]

I guess it’s that they feel less relatable?

[@sisterluke]

Real reason? Inherent racism within our western cultures to play our own civilizations. Don't mean to knock the gamers or "experts" but yeah that's why "it's slipped from you in the beginning"

[@valzalel5203]

I like how Pacal looks like he's about the fall off his pyramid in the thumbnail 😅

[@JumboPixel]

LOL I thought the same thing - either that or he's fleeing it because it's about to explode.

[@valzalel5203]

@@JumboPixel either that or we scared pacal to death by materializing in front of him to ask for open borders 🤔

[@nemesis4852]

Atl-Atl (ist). The person using a device (the atlatl) for throwing a spear or dart that consists of a rod or board with a projection (such as a hook) at the rear end to hold the weapon in place until released

[@Customerbuilder]

Thanks for the Civ5 content. And, thanks for the extra UURLY!

[@JumboPixel]

😂

[@AvengerAtIlipa]

The biggest problem with the Maya imo is that Theology is a very expensive tech to beeline. Not even the Atlatlist is enough to completely protect you from early ai aggression on higher difficulties. If you want a free early Great Scientist, you might as well just play as Babylon.

[@NoahHalfSquid]

A civ's usefulness shouldn't be entirely based on their usefulness on higher ai difficulties though...

[@linminhtoo]

archers and composite bowmen can defend you just fine... granted construction is not on the way to theology, but if you have an aggressive AI next to you, it's worth getting construction first

[@moritzretter3976]

Maya is fun to play. I beat Deity culture victory with them. I used those eartly archers to conquer a city state right next to me and so i had amazing special resources the whole game. I only had to restart a couple times to not have too much jungle tiles. It's one of the few Civs that can catch up to the Deity tech advantage. I went tradition but ended up having 6 own cities and then I conquered Brazil to take his tourism and that was enough to win.

[@Mulch_Muncher.]

Such a well made vid for a game I barely got into! Definitely gonna give them a try

[@JumboPixel]

Awesome to hear!

[@nomdeplume9590]

Good vid, but a Great Engineer wll make it harder to get Great Scientists later on, same with a Great Merchant, so I would probably save those two for after Scientist, Prophet, Artist, Writer, and maybe a General or Admiral if you need one. Generally a low-priority thing. Also, Merchant is worse than Engineer, so take Merchant last.

[@davidlee723]

I like rushing borobodur with a GE. Gives you a decent headstart on religion. By midgame it's a nice 40-50 gpt with Tithe.

[@thepopulargirl1784]

Was waiting for this one. The mayans treat piety like it's rationalism.

[@pennyboardzZz]

I was looking for a Maya guide yesterday this is epic

[@Eintracht-uy3cz]

The 1st civ with which I beat Deity. They aren't just "very strong", they are easily one of the top 5 civs overall.

[@hexagonearther710]

defo gonna try em out, never knew they looked so fun

[@keyboardsmoosh]

😂 bro I searched how to play maya as a joke and then I came across ur vid jumbo, I was like what no way

[@divinegames8857]

the Mayan leader is hot

[@JumboPixel]

😂🤣

[@BloodRoseKitten]

This dude kept stealing my tech.... 4 times, so I declared war on him, destroyed him, and now everyone hates me.

[@blockachockyt1163]

TOP TIER!

[@joeessen1059]

2:16 EARLY

[@ktoztam]

Funny how those civs that are great for human player are often the weakest if played by a.i. Rome and Mayans are always the weakest, at least in those games I have played and I have played many.

[@JumboPixel]

Yeah, despite being quite a simple Civ I’ve seen the AI do weird things with Maya like taking a great admiral before a scientist or prophet 😅

[@HVLLOWS1999]

Do you have an Aztec guide? I never played as them.

[@zegyboo]

I don't remember ig he has a guide, but the Aztecs are a very strong civ. The actual strength is their unique building which gives a +% bonus on food. The thing that makes it so good is that it's based on TOTAL food, not EXCESS food.
A size 10 city producing 30 food will have 10 excess food. This means that the Aztecs would be getting +3 food for this city, not +1. They make for incredibly tall empires.
Having Lakes is nice as well, but is 100% not necessary.

[@Theslovakguy]

haaaaaayyyaaaaa MMAAAAYYAAAA

[@JumboPixel]

Woahhhhhh!

[@kingstonrichard4999]

would you ever do a moded playthrough

[@JumboPixel]

I’m a bit of a purist when it comes to modding, but yes I’m sure I will. Lots of interesting stuff out there to explore!

[@averagejohann8225]

Siam got 0% of the vote, oof

[@JumboPixel]

Unlucky alright!!

[@domeplsffs]

Order Idiology does NOT favor Tall - it favors wide empires. Get your stuff straight, dude. Pretty mediocre guide all in all.