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Civilization VII
Civ 7 Maya Civilization Guide
★ Start Here: How to Play | Early Game
★ See the Best Leaders and Civs
★ Tech, Civics, Buildings, Units, & Wonders
★ Economic, Military, Science, Culture Victories
★Recommended Guides: Treasure Fleets
┗ Map Types | Trade Routes | Migrants
Maya is a playable Civilization from the Antiquity Age in Civilization VII (Civ 7). Read on to learn Maya's unique ability, starting biases, civics, best leader to choose, and strategies to play as the Maya.
List of Contents
Maya Overview
Attributes, Ability, and Starting Biases
| Maya | Age |
|---|---|
 Maya
|
Antiquity |
| Attributes | |
|
Diplomatic Scientific |
|
| Age Unlock | Starting Biases |
| Hawai'i, Inca, Mexico |
Vegetated Tropical |
| Unique Ability | |
| Skies of Itzamna: The Palace gains Science for adjacent Vegetated tiles. | |
Maya Unique Civics
| Unique Civic | Effects |
|---|---|
| Rain of Chaac | Unlock the K'uh Nah Unique Building. The Altar gains Science for adjacent Vegetated tiles. Unlocks 'Pet Kot' Tradition. |
| Lords of Xibalba | Unlock the Jalaw Unique Building. Hul'che Unique Ranged Units and Jaguar Slayer Unique Recon Units gain Stealth in Vegetated tiles. Unlocks 'Miracles of the Twins' Tradition. |
| Calendar Round | After completing a Technology, gain Culture equal to a small percentage of the Technology's cost. After completing a Civic, gain Science equal to a small percentage of the Civic's cost. Increased Settlement Limit. Unlocks 'Tzolk'in' and 'Haab'' Traditions and Mundo Perdido Wonder. |
Maya Unique Units and Infrastructure
| Unique Units |
・Jaguar Slayer (Civilian) ・Hul'che (Military) |
|---|---|
| Unique Infrastructure |
・Uwaybil K'uh ・Jalaw ・K'uh Nah |
Maya's Wonders
| Wonder | Effect |
|---|---|
 Mundo Perdido
|
+1 Happiness and Science on Tropical Terrain in this Settlement. Ageless. Must be placed on Tropical. |
Leader Choices for Maya
Recommended Leaders
| Leader Choices for Maya |
|---|
|
・
 Jose Rizal (Strategic Choice) ・
 Pachacuti (Geographic Choice) |
The table above shows the recommended Leaders to play as in terms of strategic pairing and geographic advantages when choosing Maya as your civilization.
Civ 7 Leaders List and All Abilities
How to Play as Maya
| Maya Gameplay Tips |
|---|
|
|
Settle in the Middle of Vegetated Tiles
Maya's ability makes the Palace—placed as the first building on your capital by default—gain +0.5 Science based on the number of Vegetated tiles adjacent to it. By settling your first city in the middle of Vegetated tiles, you'll get a head start in the Tech Tree on turn 1.
Studying the Maya-exclusive Rain of Chaac Civic gives this same ability to the Altar as well, which you can build on the same tile as the Palace to double the Science bonus.
Improve Vegetated Tiles
Try not to build Urban Districts over Vegetated tiles so soon if there are other suitable tiles for your buildings. They will still be Vegetated tiles and provide the corresponding adjacencies even if they are converted but, like any other tile, will lose their base yields unless they're improved into Rural Tiles.
The Pet Kot Tradition of Maya increases the Science yield of Vegetated tiles which can only be utilized by tile improvements. It's best to place Urban Districts elsewhere to keep these bonuses for as long as you can.
Rush the Uwaybil K'uh Unique Quarters
Maya's Uwaybil K'uh unique Quarter makes it a very powerful Antiquity Age Civ and arguably the best Civilization overall in the game as it instantly gives the settlement Production equal to a portion of the Science cost of a Technology after researching one.
Having these Quarters on your settlements solves most of their Production problems as you can focus more on Science to complete Techs while also speeding up the Production queues until only Future Tech—which gets increasing Science cost and therefore, higher Production bonuses—is left in the Tech Tree.
The Uwaybil K'uh Quarters are also categorized as Ageless and you will get to enjoy, or abuse, its effect even in the later Ages.
Surround Settlements with Jaguar Traps
Regardless of the Civ you're playing as, you'd want to spend Production immediately on Scouts after founding the capital to uncover the surrounding area. With Maya's unique Jaguar Slayer unique Scout units, you can also set traps around your settlements.
Jaguar Traps can be placed on Vegetated tiles and, when stepped on by hostile units, will deal damage and end their movement right away. Unlike other Scout units, Jaguar Slayers are also capable of engaging in combat and are on par with Warriors in strength.
Add Settlements Near the Coast
You now have three settlements in Vegetated areas. Great! Several turns later and you'll notice that, as you develop your empire, your Gold per turn has reached negative numbers. That's when you realized Maya doesn't have a single Gold-based bonus.
A simple fix for this is to settle near coastal areas to get Gold from Fishing Boats. Improving Coastal tiles gives both Food and Gold, which can help Maya expand and maintain buildings and units if the standard Gold buildings are not enough.
Works Well with Most Leaders
| Recommended Leaders for Maya | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Jose Rizal
|
 Trung Trac
|
|
 Himiko (Queen of Wa)
|
 Benjamin Franklin
|
|
Choosing Maya for the Antiquity Age makes it easier for those who are aiming for the Science or Culture Legacy Paths. Excelling at both Science and Culture also gives a huge advantage, making Maya a flexible Civ that can also take the Military and Economic paths regardless of the Leader.
However, if you want to dominate the game even more, you can choose Jose Rizal to get more rewards from Narratives and Celebrations plus the bonus Culture and Gold or Trung Trac for the added Science on Tropical tiles. Himiko, Queen of Wa and Benjamin Franklin are also great Leaders for Maya as they match the Civ's attributes.
Civilization VII (Civ 7) Related Guides
All Antiquity Age Civilizations
| Antiquity Age Civilizations |
 Aksum
|
 Egypt
|
 Greece
|
|---|---|---|
 Han China
|
 Khmer
|
 Maurya India
|
|
Maya
|
 Mississippian
|
 Persia
|
 Rome
|
||
All Exploration Age Civilizations
| Exploration Age Civilizations |
 Abbasid
|
 Chola
|
 Hawai'i
|
|---|---|---|
 Inca
|
 Majapahit
|
 Ming China
|
 Mongolia
|
 Norman
|
 Shawnee
|
 Songhai
|
 Spain
|
|
All Modern Age Civilizations
| Modern Age Civilizations |
 America
|
 Buganda
|
 French Empire
|
|---|---|---|
 Meiji Japan
|
 Mexico
|
 Mughal
|
 Prussia
|
 Qing China
|
 Russia
|
 Siam
|
||
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Civ 7 Maya Civilization Guide
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