I'll give you my personal opinion on the current top 20 tribes.
1 NG - Potential to be great, lacking a great dedicated leader at the moment. Players are scattered across the map, may cause them problems in the future.
2 REL - I won't comment on my own tribe. That's for all of you to decide.
3 CLOROX - Much potential, good leader in Uritel, they will be around for a long time. Potentially they will be one of the top 3 tribes to last it out in this world. Some great clusters.
4 ORI - Unsure. Everyone critises Ori for there tactics, but so far they have done well in the war against BLOC and are holding their own. Wizard* seems to have improved a lot and hence Ori have improved. They still have a lot of inactives and Sim City players, but if proper managed, they could be a threat to BLOC in the future. There con is that they only recruit in K44.
5 CEG - CEG have been very quiet so far in W8. They've changed leadership serveral times, but RossWP since becoming the new leader, seems to have improved CEG's potition in the map. Potentially they could be one of the tribes that make a difference in the South West.
6 THE - Seem to be coping okay with the war with Ori. They have been very quiet as of late, though they have a large strongh in the North West.
7 UBL - They have been very impressive and they are catching up CEG & THE. Potentially in the future, their could be hostilities between UBL and THE or CEG. We'll have to wait and see. For a tribe without to many members, they are coping well.
8 TPA - I know they are growing considerablly in the south and may cause CLOROX a problem in the future.
9 KNT - They are growing very fast. They have been in the top 5 of the most tribal enoblements for sometime. They are a wild care, unsure how their future will turn out.
10 AOD - Another tribe who is growing very fast. Their enoblements have been very impressive and because of this, they have shot up in the rankings.
11 Suigen - I know they have a large presence in the North, THE & REL may encounter them in the future, who knows?
12 KaK. D - They have appeared from no where, and now hold a large cluster of villages in the North East, though it appears they recruited ex OLB & DCI members, which doesn't go down well with REL. Though they hold a strong position in K45, they seem to be dropping like flies.
13 DAVOE - No comment as i've had no interaction with them.
14 SOL - These were created from Ex REL/UNK members, they have a lot of inactives, however they also have a strong cluster in K46 and have improved. Petra is a good guy, he knows what hes doing. They are potentially a top 5 tribe, if directed well.
15 UNIRO - Is this Sean5000's tribe? They've been in a war which has lasted 100 years. All I know, is that they are a North East tribe, who are fighting in a war with no meaning.
16 xDEx - Who?
17 Drunks - Well, bad leadership, bad direction. They are dropping like flies as REL are destroying them in K45. They decided to get in RELs way and ever since, there presence in K45 has thrawted. They won't last long, expect them to drop in the rankings over the following months.
The last three, I have no real opinion of, as I havent really had any interaction with.
18 RoSC
19 SE-53
20 TUF