Victory in Civilization 6 often boils down to the powerful synergies you create between your leader and your policy cards. A smart combination can launch your empire forward, speeding up your path to any victory type you choose. I’m going to break down some of the most decisive leader and policy combos to help you unlock their game-changing potential and move beyond basic strategies.
We’ll get into the mechanics behind these pairings with clear, actionable examples for every era, making sure your next campaign is your most dominant one yet.
Domination Victory: The Unstoppable War Machine
If you believe the best way to govern is through conquest, these synergies will help you build a relentless war machine.
The Scythian Horde: Tomyris and the Feudal Contract
Tomyris of Scythia is built for early aggression. Her “Killer of Cyrus” ability gives your units +5 Combat Strength when attacking wounded units and heals them for 30 HP after a kill. This creates a snowball effect where every victory makes you stronger. Her unique Saka Horse Archer is already a fast, powerful light cavalry unit that doesn’t even require horses. But the real terror begins when you add the right policy cards.
The Synergistic Powerhouse:
The strategy is to overwhelm opponents with a flood of Saka Horse Archers and other light cavalry. The key policy card here is Maneuver, unlocked with the Military Tradition civic. It gives you +100% Production toward Ancient and Classical era light and heavy cavalry. For Tomyris, this means you can pump out Saka Horse Archers at an incredible rate.
Once you hit the Feudalism civic, you unlock the Feudal Contract policy card, which grants +2 Military policy slots. Your ideal government becomes Oligarchy for its +4 Combat Strength for all land units. In your military policy slots, you’ll want to run:
- Maneuver: To keep producing cavalry quickly.
- Chivalry: +100% Production toward Medieval, Renaissance, and Industrial era heavy cavalry, so your offensive power doesn’t fade.
- Conscription: Lowers unit maintenance by 1 Gold per turn, letting you field a huge army without bankrupting yourself.
Concrete Example in Action:
Picture it: in the early game, you’ve researched Archery and Horseback Riding. With the Maneuver policy active, your cities are producing Saka Horse Archers in just a few turns. You declare a surprise war on a neighbor. Your first wave of horse archers uses its high mobility to pick off enemy units and pillage tiles. Thanks to your healing ability, they stay on the front lines. Once you adopt Oligarchy, they get another +4 combat strength, making them even more lethal. This combination lets you snowball your military advantage and conquer cities before your opponents can even react. Add a Great General, and your cavalry becomes truly unstoppable.
The Gran Colombian Blitzkrieg: Simón Bolívar and the Wars of Liberation
Simón Bolívar’s “Campaña Admirable” ability gives all his units +1 movement. This might seem simple, but it’s one of the most powerful military advantages in the game. It allows for lightning-fast attacks, flanking, and quick escapes. Combine this with his unique Comandante General—a Great General with a passive +5 Combat Strength and another +1 movement—and the speed of your army is just unmatched.
The Synergistic Powerhouse:
To get the most out of Bolívar, you need to pair this incredible speed with policy cards that boost combat power and production. Your government of choice is often Fascism in the late game for its +5 land combat strength and extra military policy slots, but Oligarchy or Monarchy work great earlier on.
The essential policy cards for a Gran Colombian blitzkrieg are:
- Logistics: +1 Movement for units if they start the turn in your territory, letting you project power across your empire with incredible speed.
- Lightning Warfare: +5 Combat Strength for cavalry units. This turns your already fast forces into a true shock army.
- Total War: Pillaging yields 100% of the normal amount and costs only 1 movement point. Your fast units can wreck an enemy’s economy while fueling your own war effort.
Concrete Example in Action:
Imagine a mid-game war. You have a strong force of Llaneros, Bolívar’s unique cavalry. They already get +4 Combat Strength for each adjacent Llanero. With a Comandante General, they get another +5 Combat Strength and +1 movement. Now, add the Lightning Warfare policy for another +5 Combat Strength. Your Llaneros are now a terrifying force.
You can use their incredible speed to bypass enemy defenses and strike at their vulnerable cities. With the Total War policy, they can pillage farms for health, mines for gold, and campuses for science, all without slowing down. These hit-and-run tactics can cripple an opponent’s ability to fight back, leaving their cities open for conquest by your slower siege units. The psychological pressure on an opponent facing such a fast and destructive army is immense.
Science Victory: The Race to the Stars
If you’re racing for the stars and want to guide your civilization to a science victory, these combos will get you there faster.
The Korean Ascent: Seondeok and the Power of Governors
Seondeok of Korea is a scientific beast. Her “Hwarang” ability provides +3% Culture and +3% Science in all cities for each promotion a Governor has in that city. This can lead to exponential growth, especially with Korea’s unique Seowon district, which starts with +4 Science and gets extra science from adjacent mines.
The Synergistic Powerhouse:
A successful Korean science game depends on using Governors strategically and picking policy cards that make them better. The ideal government is a Republic early on for the Great Person points, then switching to Democracy later for its powerful economic policy slots and trade route yields.
The crucial policy cards that work so well with Seondeok are:
- Governor’s Conclave: +2 Governor Titles. This lets you get more governors and promote them faster, which directly boosts Seondeok’s leader ability.
- Wisselbanken/Free Market: These cards give you a lot more gold and production from your trade routes, which you need to fund your science buildings and city projects.
- Rationalism: +50% Science from buildings in Campus districts. This is a must-have for any science victory, but for Korea, with their powerful Seowons, it’s exceptionally strong.
- International Space Agency: +10% Science for every city-state you are the Suzerain of. This gives you a massive late-game science boost.
Concrete Example in Action:
In the early game, you want to get Pingala, the Educator, into your capital. His “Librarian” promotion gives +15% Science in the city, and his “Grants” promotion gives +100% Great Person points. With the Governor’s Conclave policy, you can promote him quickly, massively boosting your capital’s science output.
As you expand, you’ll place Governors in your other cities, and each one will add to your empire-wide science and culture bonus. You’ll use the gold from your trade routes, boosted by Wisselbanken, to buy buildings in your Seowon districts. Once you unlock Rationalism, the science from your Seowons will go through the roof. By the late game, with several highly promoted governors, a network of profitable trade routes, and the International Space Agency policy, your civilization will be a scientific powerhouse, launching the Exoplanet Expedition while your rivals are still trying to figure out flight.
The Babylonian Eureka!: Hammurabi’s Leapfrogging and Strategic Policy Swapping
Hammurabi of Babylon offers a unique and thrilling path to a science victory. His “Ninu Ilu Sirum” ability instantly grants you the Eureka for a technology when you build a new building type for the first time. This lets Babylon “leapfrog” through the tech tree at a stunning pace, often unlocking technologies from future eras.
The Synergistic Powerhouse:
The Babylonian strategy isn’t about slow and steady science gain; it’s about strategically triggering Eurekas to unlock key technologies way ahead of time. This takes careful planning and swapping policy cards in and out. The best government is often a Classical Republic for its extra policy slots, which allows for these frequent swaps.
The most important policy cards for Hammurabi are:
- Inspiration: +2 Great Scientist points per turn. Getting an early Great Scientist like Hypatia can give you a huge boost to your science and library production.
- Craftsmen/Agoge: These cards give production bonuses for specific units. You’ll constantly swap these in and out to quickly build the units you need to trigger military-related Eurekas.
- Colonization: +50% Production towards Settlers. Expanding your empire is key to building the different districts and buildings needed to trigger more Eurekas.
- Serfdom: Builders get +2 build charges. This is essential for improving resources and building the improvements needed for many Eurekas.
Concrete Example in Action:
Imagine this early-game sequence: You start by researching Writing to unlock the Campus district, but you don’t build it right away. Instead, you build a Slinger. The moment it’s finished, you unlock the Eureka for Archery. Then you build a Quarry, which unlocks the Eureka for Masonry. This lets you build walls, which in turn unlocks the Eureka for Engineering.
Throughout this process, you’re constantly swapping your policy cards. When building the Slinger, you slot in Agoge. When building a Settler, you use Colonization. This focused approach lets you unlock technologies like Crossbowmen or Knights while your opponents are still working on bronze. The key is to always look ahead on the tech tree, see which Eurekas you can trigger, and then use your policy cards to produce what you need as efficiently as possible. This creates a powerful snowball effect, where every unlocked tech opens the door to more advanced Eurekas, launching you toward a science victory.
Culture Victory: The Allure of a Global Phenomenon
If you think true power is winning the world’s hearts and minds, these synergies will make your culture impossible to resist.
The Kongo’s Masterpiece Collection: Mvemba a Nzinga and the Great Works Economy
Mvemba a Nzinga of the Kongo is a cultural giant with a unique style. His “Nkisi” ability gives you the beliefs of any religion that’s in a majority of your cities. You also get +2 Food, +2 Production, and +4 Gold from each Relic, Artifact, and Sculpture. On top of that, you get a free Apostle every time you build a Mbanza or Theater Square. This creates a powerful engine for generating faith, which you can then use to get Great People who create the Great Works you need for a culture victory.
The Synergistic Powerhouse:
The Kongo’s strategy is all about collecting a huge number of Great Works, especially Sculptures. The best government is Theocracy, which lets you buy land units with Faith and gives you a discount on all Faith purchases. This lets you use your massive faith generation to defend yourself while you focus your production on culture.
The policy cards that create an unstoppable cultural machine for the Kongo are:
- Revelation: +2 Great Prophet points per turn. Even though the Kongo can’t found a religion, getting an early Great Prophet lets you establish a pantheon like Religious Idols (+2 Faith from mines over luxury and bonus resources) to get your faith going.
- Gothic Architecture: +15% Production towards Ancient, Classical, and Medieval era wonders. Many of these wonders have slots for Great Works.
- Market Economy/Trade Confederation: These cards boost the yields from your international trade routes, giving you the gold you need to buy buildings and patronize Great People.
- Satellite Broadcasts: Triples Tourism from Great Works of Music. While the Kongo focuses on Sculptures, having a variety of Great Works is always a good thing.
Concrete Example in Action:
You start by building a Holy Site to generate Faith and attract a Great Prophet. Then you focus on building Theater Squares and Mbanzas, which give you free Apostles. You can use these Apostles to spread religions to your cities, which gives you their follower beliefs. You’ll want a religion with the Choral Music belief (+Culture equal to the Holy Site’s Faith adjacency bonus) and the Jesuit Education belief (lets you buy Campus and Theater Square buildings with Faith).
With a steady flow of Faith, you’ll use it to get Great Artists, who will create the Sculptures that fill your Museums. Each Sculpture gives you a big bonus to your food, production, and gold, making your cities incredibly productive. With the Gothic Architecture policy, you can build wonders like the Apadana or Bolshoi Theatre to hold even more Great Works. The result is a self-fueling cycle of cultural dominance: your faith gets you Great People, who create Great Works, which make your cities more productive, letting you generate even more faith and culture. This relentless cultural output will eventually overwhelm everyone else, leading to a decisive culture victory.
The Swedish Laureate: Kristina and the Power of Friendship
Kristina of Sweden is a unique cultural leader whose abilities are focused on diplomacy and Great People. Her “Minerva of the North” ability lets her build the Queen’s Bibliotheque in the Government Plaza, which has two slots for Great Works of Writing and two for Music. More importantly, her leader ability automatically themes buildings and wonders that are full of Great Works. This theming bonus is a huge boost to tourism. She also gets Diplomatic Favor for every Great Person she earns.
The Synergistic Powerhouse:
Kristina’s path to a culture victory is tied to diplomacy and generating Great People. The ideal government is a Democracy for its bonus Diplomatic Favor and powerful economic and diplomatic policy slots.
The essential policy cards for Kristina are:
- Charismatic Leader: +2 Influence points per turn towards earning Envoys. This helps you become Suzerain of city-states, which can give you big cultural and scientific bonuses.
- Raj: +2 Science, Culture, Faith, and Gold from each city-state you are the Suzerain of.
- Great Person Generation Policies: Cards like Literary Tradition (+2 Great Writer points per turn) and Symphonies (+4 Great Musician points per turn) are key to fueling Kristina’s theming ability.
- Collective Activism: +10% Culture in all cities with at least one specialty district.
Concrete Example in Action:
You start by focusing on generating Great Writers. With the Queen’s Bibliotheque, you have early slots to fill. Once you have two Great Works of Writing from the same author, they are automatically themed, giving you a big tourism boost. You’ll use your Diplomatic Favor, earned from your Great People, to win resolutions in the World Congress, which improves your diplomatic standing.
You’ll want to actively make friends and alliances, as Kristina’s “Bibliophile” ability gives +1 Culture and +1 Tourism from each trade route to a civilization for each Great Work in the origin city. By building a network of friendly trade partners and filling your cities with themed wonders and buildings, you will create a powerful and resilient tourism engine. The combination of automatic theming and diplomatic bonuses makes Kristina a serious cultural contender, able to win a culture victory through peaceful cooperation and artistic excellence.
Religious Victory: The Unwavering March of Faith
If your goal is to unite the world under one faith, these synergies will give your missionaries and apostles the power they need.
The Byzantine Crusade: Basil II and the Divine Right to Rule
Basil II of Byzantium is a terrifying force in a religious war. His “Porphyrogénnētos” ability lets his heavy and light cavalry units do full damage to cities that follow Byzantium’s religion. His “Taxis” ability gives his units +3 Combat Strength or Religious Strength for each Holy City converted to Byzantium’s religion (including his own). This creates a powerful synergy between military conquest and religious conversion.
The Synergistic Powerhouse:
The Byzantine strategy is a holy war, a relentless crusade to convert and conquer. The ideal government is Theocracy, which gives you a discount on faith purchases and a combat bonus in friendly territory.
The policy cards that make Basil’s crusade unstoppable are:
- Crusade: +10 Combat Strength for your units when fighting in a foreign city that follows your religion. This is the core of the Byzantine strategy, turning your armies into an overwhelming force.
- Simultaneum: Doubles the adjacency bonus of Holy Site districts. This gives you a massive boost to your Faith generation, letting you buy more religious and military units.
- Religious Orders: +5 Religious Strength in theological combat. This makes your Apostles and Missionaries better at converting enemy cities.
- Wars of Religion: A casus belli that generates fewer grievances, making your holy wars more acceptable to the rest of the world.
Concrete Example in Action:
You found a religion and select the Crusade belief. Then you build a powerful army of cavalry, supported by your unique Dromon naval units. You send your Apostles into a neighboring civilization’s territory and convert one of their cities. The moment that city adopts your faith, your army attacks it.
With Basil’s leader ability, your cavalry does full damage to the city walls. With the Crusade policy, they get an additional +10 Combat Strength. The city will fall quickly. Once you conquer it and convert their Holy City, all your units get a permanent +3 Combat Strength and Religious Strength. This creates a snowball effect: each conquest makes your army and your religion stronger, preparing you for the next victory. The combination of military power and religious zeal makes Byzantium one of the most aggressive and effective religious civilizations in the game.
The Russian Expanse: Peter the Great and the Power of the Tundra
Peter of Russia is a versatile leader with a strong tendency towards a religious victory. His “The Grand Embassy” ability gives him +1 Science and +1 Culture from trade routes to more advanced civilizations. His civilization ability, “Mother Russia,” gives cities +1 Faith and +1 Production from Tundra tiles. This allows Russia to settle huge, otherwise undesirable, areas of land and turn them into faith-generating powerhouses.
The Synergistic Powerhouse:
The Russian strategy for a religious victory is all about expansion and generating overwhelming amounts of faith. The ideal government is Autocracy for its bonus to capital yields, which can be very significant for a large Russian empire.
The key policy cards for a Russian religious victory are:
- God-King: +1 Faith and +1 Gold in the capital. This gives you an early boost in the race for a pantheon.
- Exodus of the Evangelists: +2 Movement for Missionaries and Apostles. This lets your religious units cover the vast distances of the map more quickly.
- Scripture: +100% adjacency bonus for Holy Sites. Combined with Russia’s tundra start bias, this can lead to incredibly high-yield Holy Sites.
- Religious Colonization: New cities start with your religion, and you get +3 Loyalty per turn in cities with your religion. This helps you maintain control of your sprawling empire.
Concrete Example in Action:
You start by settling as many cities as you can in the tundra. Each tundra tile gives a bonus to your Faith and Production, letting you quickly build Holy Sites and their buildings. With the Dance of the Aurora pantheon (+1 Faith from Tundra tiles adjacent to a Holy Site) and the Scripture policy card, your Holy Sites will generate enormous amounts of Faith.
This massive faith income lets you buy a constant stream of Missionaries and Apostles. You will enhance them with beliefs like Pilgrimage (+2 Faith for every city following this religion in other civilizations) and Missionary Zeal (religious units ignore terrain costs). With a seemingly endless supply of highly mobile and effective religious units, you can systematically convert the world, one civilization at a time. The sheer amount of faith you produce makes a Russian religious victory a matter of when, not if.
Diplomatic Victory: The Art of Global Influence
If you’d rather use diplomacy than force and believe in the power of alliances, these strategies will help you master the world stage.
The Canadian Consensus: Wilfrid Laurier and the Favor of the North
Wilfrid Laurier of Canada is a diplomatic powerhouse. His “The Last Best West” ability lets him build farms on Tundra tiles and reduces the cost to buy Snow and Tundra tiles by 50%. More importantly, his civilization ability, “Four Faces of Peace,” prevents him from declaring surprise wars and makes him immune to them. He also gets +100% Diplomatic Favor from completing Emergencies and Competitions.
The Synergistic Powerhouse:
The Canadian strategy for a diplomatic victory is all about peaceful development, economic strength, and smart manipulation of the World Congress. The ideal government is a Democracy for its focus on alliances and Diplomatic Favor.
The policy cards that are essential for a Canadian diplomatic victory are:
- Diplomatic League: The first Envoy you send to a city-state counts as two. This helps you quickly become Suzerain of many city-states, which is a key source of Diplomatic Favor.
- Orator: +2 Influence points per turn towards earning Envoys.
- Collective Bargaining: +100% Production towards Industrial Zone buildings. A strong industrial base is crucial for winning production-based Emergencies and Competitions.
- Containment: +10 Diplomatic Favor per turn if you have no grievances with any civilization. This rewards Canada’s peaceful playstyle.