I'd still pick egy over phoe because of this:
1)we've been through the whole chariot v chariot and Chars v Chars, so we know who wins this one. Oh yeah, throughout this post, when i say chars, i mean regular or scythe AND CA's
2)eles v eles phoe wins b/c of cheaper costs
3)priest v priest egy wins b/c of extra range.
Now combining them:
1)Chars/priests v Chars/priests: depends on controller IMO. if you're a smart phoe, you'll use the ca's to take out the priests, retreat your own priests and try to get more Chars. if you're a smart egy, you'll want to make it a quid pro quo. this is combining both units in which egy has the advantage, why not make it so that you exploit each one alone. use chars to take out chars, priests to convert priests.
2)eles/priests I'd take egy b/c of the extra range. 1)when heading into battle, egy priests will start converting phoe eles right away-phoe priests have to wait a few extra seconds, giving egy the time to...2)convert the phoe eles, who will undoubtedly take off some of the phoe priest hps. if phoe converts them back, then both priests are immobile for a few seconds, turning it into an elephant war. now also remember that 3)some of the phoe priests will undoubtedly be killed b/c of the chance of conversion, and 4)it takes like 2 seconds for the eles to realize they are back on the phoe side, thus meaning that the egy eles will get first fire. 5)the egy priests finish rejuvenating first, converts the eles again, cycle starts all over. eventually, the phoe priests will die, and the phoe eles will be egy eles.
Now, the most likely scenario played by any good player.
3)chars/eles/priests hard to choose, although i'd still pick egy b/c of the +3 conversion range, but it really depends on the controller. same idea as the char/priest fight above. if phoe, kill off the egy priests first w/ chars, block egy chars w/ eles, convert egy eles w/ priests. if egy, priests get extra range, so block off phoe chars first w/ eles AND char's (just to make sure they don't get through) and convert phoe priests, then use phoe priests to convert eles.
a lot of this is easier said than done, but that's the idea and the ideal situation, and since that's what we're all aiming for, the idea situation, that's what we're posting.
Now then, the coinage vs egy bonus. in a VERY long game where all the opps have resigned and iron age is the only age anyone has been in, phoe wins. in a normal game, egy starts with that 20% bonus, thus mining gold more efficiently from the beginning. coinage doesn't come until iron. egy can do a great char rush (again, both CA's and regular chariots) in early bronze, disrupting phoe econ quickly and early. only problem is that egy cannot allow phoe to get the compy upgrade. compies will absolutely slaughter chariots. if phoe goes compies anyway, large amounts of egy chars+nobility is the only chance of winning, but then who is using up gold and delaying iron time? .If there are two gold mines for each one, assuming it's 1v1, may not be true w/ team games, each with 8 blocks, that's 3200, base level, 6400 gold total. assume that coinage comes after the first mine is all gone, since it takes a bit to upgrade as well, and then to make some units, compies for phoe really, and then the upgrade to iron. so w/ phoe, that's 3200+3200+800(25% according to Ender)=7200. w/ egy, it's 3200+3200+2x640(20% bonus)=7680. so who has the advantage?
Now if you want to argue team games, I will tell you right now that if I ever play egy in a team game, i will, after a few minutes in bronze and getting my "normal" amount of chariots and being pleased w/ my wood inflow and food inflow, start pumping out villagers specifically for the purpose of sucking up gold. In 3v3 games, I will normally have over 4000 gold AFTER all my iron upgrades, and will still have a supply of gold coming in because I char rushed at least one opponent and took his gold pits too, and I will start tributing my allies if they need the gold (although I try not to because of the cost).
If you want to argue cents coming into play for phoe, i'd say more more more priests, and also a nice wall to hide behind. what the heck. throw up a wall in all the other scenarios too. of course I don't mine stone (a habit I'm not particularly proud of), but the point is there.
I should write a book on the subject.