Pantheon(+Agora) - Which Slots to Fill in the Pantheon?

[Shield For Your Eyes]

Hello, here's a topic i haven't seen any writing on but i think is tricky enough to deserve it. When you reveal divinities in Age I and get to place them in the Pantheon, what thought process do you use in deciding what to do?

At first i would always put the strongest gods like Ra/Neptune in my cheapest slot, but this would backfire on me a lot when my opponent took 1st turn in Age II! Lesson learned...

At the moment i tend to default to filling the opponent's cheapest spots with weak or middling divinities, but there could be discussion on the threshold for this. For example, i tend to do this with Minerva but i know some top players think she's on the stronger end - Zeus/Aphrodite/Mars also feel borderline to me in this regard. It clearly seems bad to let the Gate end up in one of the opponent's first 2 slots, but when do we want to put a really strong god on our end instead?

Putting the likes of Ra in the game usually seems safest if you have Temple of Artemis or another way to ensure you can build the wonders you need to guarantee 1st turn in Age II, but if your opponent has more options than you then it's probably best to keep him away, right? Alternately, if you think your opponent is a better player than you, it might be good to add the high-risk/high-reward god.

Any thoughts, experts & masters?

[silentProtest]

On a side note, we should make an compilation of most useful tactics, and most important aspects to understand the game, if arena starts for A+P, so the space can get more competitive

Edit: use frankenStains tier List on the side to have an overview about the names.

The question about what god to place and where, and when.., doesnt have an easy answer imho. This is one of the finer details of the games that are hard, make a difference and make the game more fun and complex.

Let me try to describe some solid basis, to get extended upon.
Blocking spots of opponents is very valid and most used {Reason: getting better gods later in game -> of same color, opp got to choose | different strong color closer/cheaper to you | wildcard gate/strong gate(only weak colors in game)}:
weak colors to trash: green/blue
weak gods nisaba, ishtar, zeus, isis, minerva. Exception for Ishtar is probably obvious; do not do if opponent goes for science
dangerous choices are yellow 7, blue 9/aphrodite, Mars; Zeus is also dangerous, on top level, and if there are little timing changers, and if the game wont end with points, But do not worry about that for starters.
Gods not to trash place are Neptune, Ra, (Baal, rare exceptions/no greys browns at age 2), 12 Coins, mostly Anubis, mostly Enki, mostly Hades, but 9 points might be rarerly worse on top level


The "to place" on own side overview is too hard to describe short/concrete/clearly, also less important, for a solid basis.
some pointers:
if you place only one very strong card on your side (Ra,Neptune, Enki for Theology play) be very sure to start age 2. if second in age 2 place competitor strongest card; make it hard for your opponent, force sacrfices.
mind your coins, and potentials to get them - affects placing.
mind Divine theatre.
mind possible win strategies, mind killer tactics, mind synergies possible in this specific game.

And those synergies, strategies and tactics make it actually complex. I think one can get better by getting a better understanding of the game and understanding the balances.
Some factors: science token in game, amount of extra turns, white cards in age 1, senate tokens in game, your opponent, his possabilities ( wonders, valid tactics, wildcard plots), plots you got and plot space on top blocked or maybe bluffed, gods in game, yellow cards you got, chances to go for point win savely, chance for sudden win, how behind/ahead you are at current point, and the potential you got or could get for advantages/rebalances .
then you get into player style on top levels - to my knowledge most viable are "balanced consistent" and "offensive balanced", represented by dron/cielciel/me and frankenStain/Pechnik/Luffy.
... the futher I go here into the weeds the more complex and vague it will get, so I'll stop at this point

hope the basics above help.


Edit: forgot about high risk high reward tactics
Edit: most of the time is the Treshhold to a good move to only use one extra turn wonder to force being first in age 2 or destroy 2 cards plot; plot "get bottom card" + extra turn is usually better in age 2 but might be valid; opponent using 2 extra turns, hurts him usually him worse than he will get out of being first in age 2, even mre so if gods are placed "right" in this specific game.