Civilization V: Best/favourite victory?

[Carl the Llama]

So I picked up Civ V and all the DLC during the steam sale and I've been pouring all my free time into it since, but I was wondering, what's everyones favourite way to win? So far I've won by United Nations which I found a little easy to manipulate by buying up all the city states at the last turn. I've also won by Utopia and by Science (all from the same save reloaded) and I have to say science victory seems to be my favourite so far.

Also has anyone beaten Diety yet? I stupidly tried it out and got owned, any tips for winning?

[Rez09]

Yeah, the UN victory is extremely easy to get, provided you don't roll a Deity AI Alex game, in which case you pretty much need to wipe him out early or pick a different condition.

My favorite victory condition is probably culture after the changes in BNW, as there is a lot of work you put into it over the course of the game, and I kind of like the idea of theming bonuses and tourism. That said, it was my least favorite condition prior to BNW, as it was an extremely potent ticking time bomb and probably the single hardest condition to do ANYTHING to stop.

Science victory is pretty cool too, especially when you end up in a space race with another player and you are both pushing super hard for those last pieces. My only problem with it ends up being that the AI are terrible at prioritizing their research, so you rarely get that rush unless it is against another player.

As for the Deity AI, I can't offer much advice other than to be extremely wary of wasting early hammers on Wonders, ESPECIALLY The Great Library, as the Deity AI starts with all level 1 techs and almost always goes Writing -> G. L. You also need to keep an eye on your military score in the demographics and avoid being bottom as much as possible; the AIs are far more passive than they should be, but they will declare war on you if your score is too low. Other general tips are to only make academies fairly early in the game and save your great scientists for bulbing for raw science later on, usually a few turns after you complete your research labs, as this will give you a MASSIVE tech bonus late game and, provided you had a decent enough early game, will put you FAR ahead of the AI in research -- assuming you can hit Hubble, it is often enough to secure a science victory. You also want to save your Oxford for one of two important mid game tech pushes -- either Economics into Industrialization if you want to gamble on coal or Electricity into Radio -- to guarantee a first ideology, as the two free policies of your choice are hard to pass up, and it is generally easier to pass a World Ideology proposal the earlier you do it.

[Pike]

I don't play Civ V but Steam says I've put about 700 hours into Civ IV and in that game I usually go for a tech victory. Nothing like flying to Alpha Centauri and then being able to jump into a good game of SMAC!

[escobert]

Cultural and Diplomatic are how I win most of the time. I got the "Dark Horse" achievement which is to win a diplomatic victory without ever hosting the world congress I'd say Cultural is how I win most often so it's my favorite.

I turn science and time victories off.

[Laddy]

Cultural/Diplomatic victories are the most fun and best suit my play style. I rock Brazil or France mostly and their respective bonuses in a Cultural game are insanely useful, especially when getting access to museums. I Wonder hoard too so I rarely have any competition when I hit the Industrial era.

[escobert]

I generally use Russia, Germany, Poland, Songhai or Arabia. My most recent game is with the Ottomans. I play on Prince difficulty.

[Mirage]

I like science cause it's so easy to get

[Christmas]

Any non violence ending is good for me.

I love peace as much as I Iove blood.