When we think about winning a game of Civilization VI, our minds usually jump to the big stuff: the clash of armies, the race for game-changing techs, or the glow of a newly finished World Wonder. We obsess over civ abilities and plan our districts down to the last adjacency bonus. But woven into all that grand strategy are the quiet kingmakers, the unsung heroes that can completely tilt the game in your favor: the city-states.
Now, any seasoned player knows to fight for control of powerhouses like Geneva or Brussels. But I’ve found that some of the most powerful city-states are the ones that consistently fly under the radar. Their bonuses can seem situational or weak at first glance, but for a strategist who knows how to use them, they hold enormous, untapped potential. They unlock unique and devastatingly effective strategies for any victory type.
I want to walk you through the five most underrated of these hidden gems, breaking down exactly how to turn their overlooked strengths into your greatest asset. It’s time to rethink your envoy priorities, because these are the city-states your opponents will never see coming.
Mogadishu: The Unseen Guardian of Global Commerce
In a world full of barbarians and opportunistic rivals, protecting your trade routes is a vital, if tedious, chore. This is especially true for coastal empires, where the open seas are a hunting ground. I used to spend so much production on escort units or waste policy card slots just to mitigate the risk. Then I realized the power of Mogadishu. This trade city-state isn’t just a minor ally; it’s an absolute economic linchpin.
Its power is beautifully simple. Too many players just see the word “trade,” lump it in with other gold-generating city-states, and completely miss the strategic revolution it enables.
Dissecting the Suzerain Bonus: A License to Print Money
Mogadishu’s suzerain bonus is one game-altering sentence: “Your Traders are immune to being plundered on water tiles.”
Let that sink in for a moment. For any game on a map with a decent amount of water, this bonus is nothing short of incredible. It completely removes the main weakness of sea trade. You no longer have to build a Caravel to shadow your precious cargo ships. You never have to fear sending a trader on a long, lucrative, but dangerous journey across the ocean.
- 1 Envoy Bonus: +2 Gold in your Capital. (Standard stuff.)
- 3 Envoy Bonus: +2 Gold from every Commercial Hub district. (A respectable boost.)
- 6 Envoy Bonus: +2 Gold from every Harbor district. (Even better for your coastal economy.)
These tiered bonuses are fine, but they’re nothing compared to the strategic freedom you get from suzerainty. The real value isn’t just the gold you make, but the production and peace of mind you save.
Strategic Applications: Liberating Your Production and Mind
The ripple effects of Mogadishu’s protection are huge and will touch every part of your empire’s growth.
1. The Economic Snowball: With the plunder threat gone, you can confidently run the most profitable trade routes you can find, no matter how risky they would have been otherwise. This means prioritizing those high-yield routes to faraway civs without a second thought. The flood of gold you’ll get can be poured into buying builders, settlers, or military units, speeding up your growth far beyond what a normal trade city-state could offer. If you’re playing a trade-focused civ like Portugal, Mali, or England, making Mogadishu your top priority is a no-brainer. Imagine Portugal, sending its massive fleet of trade routes with complete impunity. The economic momentum is terrifying.
2. The Military Pivot: Every hammer you don’t spend on a naval escort is a hammer you can use for something else. In the early-to-mid game, that could be an extra settler to grab a key resource, a critical district for your victory condition, or a wonder you’re racing a rival for. It lets a coastal empire focus its navy on offense—Privateers and Frigates—instead of defensive babysitters. You can project power instead of constantly looking over your shoulder.
3. Unlocking Early Exploration: Sending a trader to a new continent is usually a huge gamble. Barbarians love to feast on unescorted traders in the fog of war. Mogadishu completely removes this risk. You can use your traders as scouts, setting up profitable routes to new civs the moment you meet them, which builds your diplomatic relationship and economic advantage right from the start.
Here’s a perfect example: I was playing as Victoria (Age of Steam) on an archipelago map, building a global network of cities connected by Royal Navy Dockyards. Early on, I found Mogadishu. By becoming its suzerain, I didn’t have to waste production on destroyers to patrol my trade lanes. Instead, I dedicated all that industrial power to churning out Ironclads and Battleships to project power and secure colonies. All the while, my traders crisscrossed the ocean, fearless and invulnerable, fueling my war machine with a torrent of gold.
Mogadishu isn’t just a “gold” city-state; it’s a “freedom” city-state. It frees your production, your traders, and your strategic mind, making it one of the most powerful assets in any game with a coastline.
Armagh: The Quiet Architect of Faith and Fortitude
When going for a Religious Victory, we usually gravitate towards city-states that give big faith bonuses or help in theological combat, like Jerusalem or Yerevan. Armagh, a religious city-state from the Rise and Fall expansion, often gets ignored. Its benefits seem passive, and its unique improvement, the Monastery, looks unassuming. Trust me, this is a huge miscalculation. For a smart religious player, Armagh isn’t just a source of faith; it’s a tool for resilience, conversion, and control.
Dissecting the Suzerain Bonus: Building Sanctuaries of Power
Armagh’s strength comes from its unique builder improvement, the Monastery.
- Suzerain Bonus: Your Builders can construct Monastery improvements. A Monastery gives +2 Faith and heals friendly religious units on its tile for +15 HP if they haven’t moved or fought. It can’t be built next to another Monastery.
Let’s break down why this is so much better than a simple faith tile.
- 1 Envoy Bonus: +2 Faith in your Capital.
- 3 Envoy Bonus: +2 Faith in every Shrine.
- 6 Envoy Bonus: +2 Faith in every Temple.
The base bonuses give you a steady trickle of faith, but the real power is in the Monastery. It’s a spammable, high-yield faith improvement you can build on almost any tile. Unlike Holy Sites, which are limited to one per city, you can have your builders pepper your lands with Monasteries, creating a faith engine that can rival even the most dedicated religious civs.
Strategic Applications: The Unbreakable Crusade
The Monastery’s dual function is what makes Armagh a top-tier pick for more than just religious victories.
1. The Indomitable Missionary Force: That +15 HP heal is a game-changer for theological combat. A common tactic against a religious player is to use military units to “condemn the heretic” and kill their Apostles. With Armagh, your strategy changes completely. You can build a “supply line” of Monasteries from your homeland to the front lines. Your religious units can go in, spread your faith, and then pull back to a Monastery to heal up fast, ready for another push. This creates a relentless, resilient offensive that’s incredibly hard for an opponent to stop without declaring a full-on war.
2. Fueling Faith-Based Strategies: The massive amount of faith you get from Monasteries can power all sorts of strategies.
* Monumentality Golden Ages: A landscape full of Monasteries ensures you have the faith to chain Monumentality golden ages, letting you buy settlers and builders with faith for explosive expansion.
* Grand Master’s Chapel: For a domination player, combine Monasteries with the Grand Master’s Chapel to turn that huge faith income directly into an army by buying units on the front lines.
* Naturalists and Rock Bands: For a culture victory, the faith from Monasteries is your ticket to buying the late-game units that seal the win. You can spam Rock Bands or create National Parks everywhere.
Here’s a perfect example: I was playing as Tamar of Georgia, going for a Religious Victory. I was struggling to convert my neighbor, Philip II of Spain, who kept killing my units with his army. I secured suzerainty of Armagh. I sent builders ahead of my Apostles and built a chain of Monasteries just inside my borders. My Apostles would advance into Spain, use their conversion charges, and then retreat to a Monastery. They healed so fast that Philip’s Inquisitors couldn’t kill them. Meanwhile, the faith from all the Monasteries in my homeland let me buy a new Apostle every few turns, overwhelming Spain with a seemingly endless wave of faith.
Armagh doesn’t shout its power; it builds it, tile by tile. It gives you a strategic depth and resilience that turns any faith-based plan from a hope into an unstoppable force.
Granada: Forging a Cultural Fortress
Militaristic city-states are a dime a dozen, and most just give you a straightforward production bonus. Granada is different. It’s a militaristic city-state that’s secretly a builder’s best friend, offering a unique improvement that’s one of the best tools for a defensive “turtle” or a culture-focused strategy. People dismiss it, see a small defensive bonus, and move on. They’re missing the big picture.
Dissecting the Suzerain Bonus: The Mighty Alcázar
Granada’s power is all in its unique builder improvement, the Alcázar.
- Suzerain Bonus: Your Builders can construct Alcázar improvements. An Alcázar provides +2 Culture, gives a unit on its tile +4 Combat Strength, and automatically provides 2 turns of fortification. It can’t be built next to another Alcázar and triggers a Culture Bomb.
This improvement is a strategic Swiss Army knife.
- 1 Envoy Bonus: +2 Production towards units in the Capital.
- 3 Envoy Bonus: +2 Production towards units in every Encampment with a Barracks or Stable.
- 6 Envoy Bonus: +2 Production towards units in every Encampment with an Armory.
The tiered bonuses are a solid, standard buff. But the Alcázar is where Granada becomes a game-changer.
Strategic Applications: The Art of Aggressive Defense
The Alcázar is more than a fort; it’s a tool for expansion, culture, and defense.
1. The Culture Bomb Offensive: This is the most overlooked and powerful part of the Alcázar. A Culture Bomb is an incredible way to steal tiles. You can use this aggressively. Settle a city near a rival, then send a builder to the border and start planting Alcázars. Each one will snatch a ring of tiles, pushing your borders forward and potentially stealing luxuries or strategic resources from your opponent without ever declaring war. It’s a devastatingly effective way to cripple a rival’s new city.
2. The Impenetrable Wall: A +4 Combat Strength bonus is huge, especially early on. Add the automatic fortification bonus, and a unit on an Alcázar becomes incredibly tough to kill. A line of Alcázars along a border creates a formidable defensive wall that will make any attacker think twice. This is perfect for civs that need time to build their infrastructure for a Science or Culture victory. It lets you get by with a smaller, more advanced army that can punch well above its weight on defense.
3. Fueling a Cultural Victory: Don’t forget the base yield: +2 Culture. That’s the same as an early-game Monument, but you can build a bunch of them. For a culture player, peppering your empire with Alcázars not only protects you but also massively speeds up your progress through the Civics tree. This means unlocking key governments, policy cards, and wonders faster than everyone else.
Here’s a perfect example: I was playing as Peter the Great of Russia, aiming for a Science victory. My large territory bordered an aggressive Montezuma. I became suzerain of Granada. As I expanded toward him, I used my builders to create a “Great Wall” of Alcázars. Each one culture-bombed the territory, pushing my borders out and creating a defensive buffer. I stationed a single Crossbowman on each one. When Montezuma’s Eagle Warriors attacked, they faced instantly fortified units that were almost impossible to dislodge. This defensive line bought me the time I needed to build my Lavras and Campuses in peace, letting me surge ahead in tech while my opponent broke his army against my cultural fortress.
Granada offers a smart mix of offense, defense, and culture. It’s the ultimate tool for the player who knows the best defense is a culturally-explosive offense.
Muscat: The Governor of Growth and Happiness
Amenities are the silent killer of empires in Civilization VI. Unhappy citizens mean lower yields, slower growth, and even rebels. As your empire gets wider, keeping everyone happy becomes a nightmare. Muscat, a trade city-state, offers a powerful and criminally underrated solution to this problem.
Players see its bonus and think, “A few amenities, that’s nice,” without realizing the massive positive effects that widespread happiness has on an empire.
Dissecting the Suzerain Bonus: The Amenity Engine
Muscat’s suzerain bonus is targeted and incredibly effective for wide empires.
- Suzerain Bonus: +1 Amenity for every city with a Commercial Hub. This bonus is empire-wide.
Think about that. Most cities in a well-built empire will have a Commercial Hub for gold and a trade route. Muscat gives each of these cities a free, permanent amenity, easily pushing them into “Happy” status.
- 1 Envoy Bonus: +2 Gold in your Capital.
- 3 Envoy Bonus: +2 Gold from every Commercial Hub district.
- 6 Envoy Bonus: +2 Gold from every Harbor district.
The gold bonuses synergize perfectly with the main ability. You’re already encouraged to build the exact district that Muscat’s bonus improves. It’s a self-reinforcing loop of economic and civic stability.
Strategic Applications: The Ecstatic Empire
Muscat’s power is its ability to solve your amenity problems single-handedly, letting you focus your resources on winning the game.
1. Enabling the “Wide” Empire: The biggest thing holding back a wide empire is the amenity squeeze. Every new city strains your supply of luxuries. Muscat shatters this limit. With its bonus, every city you found can build a Commercial Hub to pay for itself and immediately contribute to its own happiness, allowing you to expand relentlessly.
2. Fueling Growth and Production: Happy cities get a 5% bonus to non-food yields and +10% growth. Ecstatic cities get a 10% bonus to all yields and +20% growth! By making all your cities with Commercial Hubs happy, Muscat provides a direct, empire-wide boost to your science, culture, production, and faith, creating a snowball effect that will leave your rivals in the dust.
3. Freeing Up Policy Cards: How often have you been forced to run policy cards like Retinues or Liberalism just to keep your amenities in the green? With Muscat, that’s no longer a concern. You can free up those valuable policy slots for more powerful cards that directly advance your victory condition, like those that boost wonder production or unit combat strength.
Here’s a perfect example: I was playing as Trajan of Rome, and my plan was to go as wide as possible. After my 8th city, my amenities were tanking, and my growth was stalling. I became suzerain of Muscat. I made sure every city had a Commercial Hub. Almost overnight, my entire empire became happy, with several cities hitting ecstatic. The boost to growth and production was immediate. My cities started churning out Legions and building districts at a pace I couldn’t have managed otherwise, allowing me to secure a massive, stable, and productive empire before anyone else could react.
Muscat isn’t just about happiness; it’s about efficiency. It provides the stable, productive foundation that any victory type is built on.
So, the next time you’re in a game, don’t just chase after the obvious city-states. Take a closer look at the ones everyone else is ignoring. A little-known bonus in the hands of a clever player is the most powerful weapon in the game. Give these unsung heroes a try; your opponents won’t know what hit them.