When Civilization 7 unveils its selection of leaders, it could bring back the most unusual leader that the series has seen to date. Most of the time, leaders in Civilization will largely play by the same rules, with their playstyles being largely guided by their own abilities. This puts everyone on roughly an even playing field to start. However, Civilization 5 introduced a civilization that completely turned typical gameplay on its head, requiring a completely new approach to have any hope of success. Although this civilization was difficult to learn, it would be great to see again in Civilization 7.
An important part of choosing a leader in Civilization is their unique qualities. The leader abilities, unique units, and civilization-specific buildings are what keep the game interesting, solidifying every leader's strengths and weaknesses. Of course, the player still has the option to take any route to victory with any leader they choose, but each leader's unique abilities will more often than not push them towards a specific playstyle. For example, Shaka Zulu's Impi and Ikanda in Civilization 5 are some of the game's best tools for a domination victory. Leader-specific abilities often lead to some of the best strategies that players can use in the games.
Enrico's Venice Can Bring A Thoroughly Unique Playstyle to Civilization 7
One of the most interesting Civilization 5 leaders that wasn't in Civ 6 is one that took having a unique playstyle to extremes. Venice, led by Enrico Dandolo, had one of the most unusual abilities in Civilization's history with Serenissima. Serenissima prevents Venice from founding any new cities aside from their capital. They cannot train settlers, and even if they capture a city through combat, they cannot annex it into a part of Venice's empire, only puppet it. This means that a Venice player will always control only one city, that being Venice itself, and it has been described as a playable city-state for that reason.
Although it would be virtually impossible for Venice to earn a domination victory in Civilization 5 due to its restrictions, its design doesn't leave it hopeless. Enrico gets twice the normal amount of trade routes, letting players create a sprawling trade network and earn a lot of gold that way. In addition, the unique Merchant of Venice, a Great Merchant replacement, can outright buy a city-state to turn it into a puppet without going to war. Although Enrico cannot control what a puppet state does, this is Venice's version of expanding its empire, and he can uniquely buy units and buildings for his puppeted cities.
Enrico's playstyle can give him a big advantage when it comes to Civilization 5's World Congress. By puppeting city-states and paying others for their loyalty thanks to the massive gold reserves his increased trade capacity can build, he can gain a lot of votes to do whatever he wants, including basically electing himself world leader to win a diplomatic victory. Enrico's weaknesses are admittedly more pronounced than most, and he has a very difficult early game due to not being able to expand. However, if he gets rolling, he can be a mercantile and diplomatic powerhouse that can be difficult to stop.
Enrico Dandolo is an incredibly interesting leader, even if his relative obscurity means he isn't one of Civilization's more iconic leaders. Venice's playstyle is truly unique, essentially putting the player on a one-city challenge run while giving them the tools to make victory feasible. Civilization 7 can benefit from including leaders like Enrico, who add a lot of variety to the game through their wholly original mechanics and strategies, so he's worth a look when it comes to leaders that could return for the next game. Enrico may be Civilization 5's most unusual leader, but he would bring something special to Civilization 7.
Civilization 7 is in development.