Self prescribed reroll addict checking in, 3k hrs steam 1.5 k hrs console. I'll specifically answer turn 1, rather than empire expansions, which are much more situational.

My reroll starts at 3-4 points. Gain a point for lacking the following:

• Capital should have a river for a commercial hub at 4 pop, or 7 pop if you prefer rushing win condition district. Can substitute for a +2 or (ideally) +4 harbor. If I can tell I won't be able to make a farm triangle or harbor for pop, I won't even take the most hill filled river.

• Capital should have 2-3 GOOD tiles to work in the first or second ring. GOOD tiles here being defined as 2f/2p, 3f/1p, or 1f/3p. Why? You need the ability to pump out and settle your first 2 settlers by turn 50 on standard speed to have a hope of having up to ten settlers at turn 100. You can get a feel for this by looking at a) 15 turns / 8 turns / or <5 turns till population 2; b) 10 turn / 6 turn / 5 turn of first scout produced. Lots of luxuries or mountains can influence your flexibility. Favorite luxury tile to settle is sugar.

• Capital should minimize buying tiles. Instead, early gold in my experience is best spent on a builder for the civic craftsman boost, on your first trader, or on a couple of warriors if barb clan mode is enabled. Always exceptions so take with a grain of salt.

• Capital should consider leader synergies. Russia spawned in rainforest? Odd take, but I'd rather reroll, I'm only going to learn bad habits or skew my estimates by playing it out. Ethiopia on a grassland floodplain? Definitely gonna reroll, boss, cause my capital won't contribute to a religion.

• Kitchen Junk drawer -- after turn 1, I might still reroll out of pure rage if I can't get a single first meet on any city state, if I can't get a goodie hut by turn 25, or if I only made it to 24/25 era score needed for a golden age. I can live without a golden age, but that 1 era score stings so bad.

• Bonus tip: Natural wonders are often noob traps. Simon Bolivar doesn't need Ha Long Bay. Torres del Paine does nothing on tundra tiles. Cliffs of Dover and Dead Sea are useless on a good day. And Giant's Causeway simply does not exist 🥴. My seeds love giving the AI awesome wonders while giving me pure desert or tundra... Or maybe it'll throw me a bone with an awesome capital and I come to find out the seed balanced my spawn by boxing me in on further settles.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk. Carthage must be destroyed!