Nomad

Nomad spawns every player with three villagers and a Scout but no Town Center. The opening minutes are about scouting good resource clusters, deciding whether to build forward or safely, and reading the opponent's TC placement. Water is usually present, so flexible civs that handle both land and dock pressure thrive: Vikings, Italians, Malay, and Portuguese are top picks. Early TC drops near the enemy can snowball games quickly. Nomad tournaments are common because the placement metagame is unique to AoE2.