Top and Bottom contenders for victory?

In your experience, which civilizations perform the best and worst? Here are the top ranks from my own experience:

Top Contenders: These are the civilizations that are the most dangerous, especially on higher difficulties because they will get massive bonuses to their empire.

1. Greece
2. Iroquois
3. Russia
4. Shoshone
5. Korea
6. Zulus
7. Persia
8. America
9. Incas
10. China

Bottom Contenders: These are the civilizations that I rarely see perform well. They are almost always either dead or irrelevant by the Renaissance era.

1. Byzantines
2. Indonesia
3. Polynesia
4. Celts
5. Babylon
6. Japan
7. Songhai
8. Morocco
9. Sweden
10. Mayas