The AI opponents are predictable, of course, but they are 200% effective, and when you play not only against them but also against a real opponent, they can definitely kill you... The goal is to survive and defeat the opponent (regardless of who kills them). I haven't played in a long time, but I agree that if you know how to fight against the AI, they aren't a big problem and only become problematic when combined into two teams of three (if it's just one team, they have no one to fight and are weaker)... But for a tournament, not a game with one person and a limited time, this might be too aggressive, so I suggest a more relaxed option: 2 or 4 AI opponents without alliances. However, in a chaotic tournament with several players, it's not very interesting due to the inevitable human factor... again, the game will be based on luck (we'll exclude the option of a large difference in player experience). So, it's not worth saying:

Hmm... is it online with AI opponents????
That's very stupid... IMHO... it's the same as an offline game...

What kind of offline game can it be when you won't have a chance to win and will be limited in time? If an AI kills you instead of the opponent, you still lose.

AI opponents are widely used in the practice of professional online players on the 8mm6 template. That is, two players play against each other, and in addition to them, there are 6 AI opponents.

Because this is optimal for professional online players :) I only played like that on a local network, with one machine in "hot seat" mode, and it was optimal... But since I'm not an online player, I don't know anyone, I haven't played in a long time, and I'm not sure that these rules would suit many people for a tournament, I suggest 2 or 4 AI opponents. Also, I suggest that in the tournament, the map conditions are chosen in turn within certain limits (except for difficulty). The choice of starting cities should be either random or determined by a quick vote.