I agree with Hari_Smurf.
The other day, GregW2 and I teamed up with a third person in a 3v3. I can't remember all the civs but I was Hittite and two opponents were Yassy. Greg and I bronzed WAY before our fast civ opponents and I was on my way to a quick iron. I felt very secure and decided to wait for iron to attack the enemy. A created a few CAs and cavs for defense but our opponents amassed huge bronze armies and kicked our tails. Very stupid on my part.
If you can field a good bronze army and iron under 30 minutes you should be very competetive.
Learn from losing---that's my motto!