[SelfishGene]

I think either way is a valid choice; although, be careful if you choose a water nation that he isn't thinking to do the same thing!

I don't know which map you'll be playing on though.

Basically it's taking an Uber-bless strat to kill the AI faster than your friend, so you can have a much larger nation when you bump heads, vs. taking a water nation and camping the depths until you have enough magical resources to crush everyone with "tech". Either way should work alright as long as your friend is not too clever or does something really off-the-wall

I'll need to get home to remember which Pretender to use with Vanheim; you can pick the Father of Winter i believe... Take 3 Cold, 2-Drain, 3-Sloth, Imprisoned, and that should get you to 9f/9w. Yea, +3,-3,-3,0,-2,-2, will get you Dominion 9 and 9w/9f with a Father of Winter. Although this sucks a bit because you have 32 points unspent, and no way to spend them... but you get the idea.