The Torians and Arceans are always on my "list of races to keep an eye on". Especially the Torians can grow to a huge bloated monster of an empire when left alone on a large enough map. The Arceans usually don't pose a direct threat, but for some reason they ALWAYS end up allying with my enemies, and they're almost always strong enough to pose a big threat on their own if provoked.
Next are the Drengin and the Altarians. Since I'm usually Neutral, these two opposite extremes are usually not my best friends. I dislike the Altarians more though, as they seem to be just a little bit more aggressive in their holier-than-thou crusades. Occasionally I manage to form an alliance with the Drengin. Probably just because noone else wants to be their friend. Both can be a PITA, but neither tends to become a serious threat on their own, unless left alone and blessed with a little bit of good luck.
The Drath, Korx, Iconians, Yor, and Terrans hardly ever become a serious threat in my games. Sometimes the Iconians manage to get a big alliance to go to war against me, but on their own they don't mean much. Occasionally one of them (most often the Drath or Korx.. in fact, I'd place the Drath half a step higher than the others in this paragraph) grows bigger than I expect them to, but it usually isn't too much of a problem to cut them back down to size. Iconians and Korx seem to be the least 'reliable' or races. Usually they're not worth much attention either way, but every now and then they get wiped out really really early or suddenly become a big player.
The Thalan, or the Buggies, as I affectionately refer to them, are almost ALWAYS my best friends, for some reason. They never become extremely strong, but I haven't had a single game where they started a war with me without me forcing it myself. They're often my most loyal allies, and because of that I have come to like them enough to protect them from harm whenever possible. Except when I'm crushing them for a military victory, of course, but that's another thing altogether.
