1v1 Duels... what are fair nation matches?

[Maltrease]

While large multiplayer games are a lot of fun the ability to win seems as much a factor of diplomacy as it does with your skill directly related to the game.

Obviously the nations are not balanced in a way where you could have 2 people play with Random nations and get a fair match, but their are certainly many different 1v1 mathups that would work well. Particurarly if you can specify a map size to help counter the strong rush nations... compared to the ones that gain power over time.

So what do you guys think are fair (and fun!) matchups? Assume that you will know you the nation you are playing against so you build your pretender and scales to suit.

I like the simplicity and direct give and take of a duel game. You know who your enemy is, you don't need to worry about exhausting all of your forces against an enemy only to have a third nation come in and take you both out at the end.

It might even be interesting to setup a ladder or some kind of tournament game with duels.