Well that's part of the point, that not everyone will agree.
That's why rather than have opinions tossed around here and there, I thought why not collate and average out the different perspectives, to give these newcomers a more complete and accurate base to draw from?
And just to note, I am basing this more on SP, because that is where newer players will cut their teeth. As far as LA Ermor goes, they were my first win against all Mighty AI, and I just walked through the game with almost no complications whatever. EA/LA Mictlan have been very hard for me to pick up. Between no dominion spread from temples, and the thusly heavily enforced blood magic reliance, these nations require more thought and management for a newer player, than most other nations. Again, as I said, these are just my own perspectives on it, but having a central repository for these opinions could possibly help sharpen the learning curve for new players, keeping them interested in the game, and getting them ready to dive into MP more quickly.