New Civilization 7 Leader and Civ Combo is a Gold Mine

The latest Civilization 7 stream took a closer look at the Exploration Age, and along the way they revealed another new leader. Announced alongside her home civ Spain, Isabella looks primed to make a monetary powerhouse in Civ 7. With a combination of abilities that feel right at home in the Exploration Age and many different gold methods, using Isabella with Spain may become a favorite strategy when Civilization 7 is released. 

Civilization 7 will include Isabella and Spain

Revealed as part of the recent stream and further confirmed with a full first look video now on YouTube, Isabella joins a growing list of unique leaders coming to Civilization 7. While she wasn't featured as a leader in the last few releases, Isabella is another return from Civ 3 alongside Xerxes. Isabella first appeared in Civ 2 as a leader of Spain alongside Philip II, but her Civ 3 appearance as a Spanish leader leaves more than two decades since she was playable in this way.

As an economic and expansionist leader, Isabella comes with the unique ability  Seven Cities of Gold. This allows you to gain gold every time a natural wonder is discovered, and that gold reward is even higher should you discover a natural wonder in distant lands. For those who like strength at sea, Isabella also gets additional gold towards purchasing naval units and reduces maintenance costs for them.

Spain was confirmed as a new Exploration Age civilization, and their bonuses definitely align with Isabella. Spain's unique ability is Siglo de Oro, and this increases gold efficiency towards converting a town into a city, especially in distance lands. Spain's unique quarter is the Plaza which boosts gold for every settlement in distant lands, and the unique Casa de Contratación building gives extra gold adjacency for navigable river and resources tiles.

Spanish Conquistador could be huge in Civ 7

However, the most exciting feature for Spain may be the unique Conquistador unit. This Great Person can only be made in Cities with a Wharf, and your specific Conquistador is chosen at random. Since each can only be received once, you can continue to get each one so long as you can handle the increased gold costs. Here are all of the possible units and their bonuses:

• Ferdinand Magellan: Activated on a Fleet Commander in Distant Lands to receive increased Movement and Sight.
• Francisco Pizarro: Activated on a Commander in Distant Lands with a set number of empty slots to grant the Commander a set number of Infantry Units and a Cavalry Unit.
• Juan Ponce de León: Activated on a Water tile in Distant Lands to grant additional Movement to Treasure Fleets.
• Christopher Columbus: Activated on any Water tile in Distant Lands to reveal the world map except for the interior of Distant Lands.
• Hernán Cortés: Activated on a Commander in Distant Lands with a set number of empty slots to grant the Commander a set number of Infantry Units.
• Hernando de Soto: Activated in an Independent Power's Territory in Distant Lands to make that Independent Power a City-State with you as Suzerain.
• Francisco de Orellana: Activated on a Navigable River tile in Distant Lands to receive Gold for every tile in that River (effect scales based on game speed).
• Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca: Activated on or adjacent to a Natural Wonder in Distant Lands to gain Gold for each Natural Wonder tile here or adjacent to this tile (effect scales based on game speed).
• Miguel López de Legazpi: Activated on a Commander in Distant Lands with a set number of empty slots to grant the Commander a set number of Ranged Units and an Infantry Unit.
• Inés Suárez: Activated on an eligible Settlement location in Distant Lands to create a new Town.

The colonialism of Spain is going to be in full force when Civ 7 arrives, and they could be a very powerful Exploration Age choice even for those who don't use Isabella. It's hard to argue with the power of that pairing though, especially since it looks like they were truly built for each other in Civilization 7.