Thanks to swissboy for hosting this great tournament but as an arena player I am disappointed with these civ choices. Byzantine is clearly the best civ in G1 and Celt clearly the best choice for G3. The theme seemed to be a play on counters like we see in G4 with Mayan, Goth, Turk..... but Saracen nor Japanese counter Byzantine and there isn't a single civ that can counter Celt in G3.
IMO....
G1 could be Byzantine, Chinese, Spanish
G3 could be Celt, Mongol, Korean
IMO....
G1 could be Byzantine, Chinese, Spanish
G3 could be Celt, Mongol, Korean