I just finished watching it, and the whole session was a mess. I think almost everyone took the right decisions except KJ, but in the end it benefitted him because of the execution.
Imo, KaiserJohan should not have engaged Mamluks and QQ. This drew far too much attention on him. I think it would have been far better if he layed low a bit more, and expanded just against AIs for one session to draw attention to someone else, like Starnan expanding safely or the disgusting western alliance: it's far easier to make deals when you are the strongest but don't look the strongest. After he 1v2ed QQ and Mamluks, everyone was afraid, and it makes sense that almost everyone declared. Still a lot to learn to become wiz.
That was super fun, and he brought the fight, but that was definitely not the best way to play it.
From there, something had to be done, and I agree with the person who said that Bratyn had the less to gain from it, but still had to carry the weight of it because noone had the courage to declare. He was right in all regards, PLC was right to join, the Western alliance was right to join because with a dead Byz they were the uncontested leaders.
A case can be made for Denmark, but why not, it's nice to keep good allies. If I played Denmark, I think I would have sided with Byzantium to expand in Poland, Muscovy and Kazan, that seems a far better chance of getting a trophy than their current situation where they're boxed in. That's the decision Sweden made, and I guess it's what prevented Denmark from doing it too, but I still think it was better to aim for a control of the Baltic as Denmark by taking TO and LO for themselves instead of letting PLC seize them.
I said Denmark should have joined to get a trophy, same goes for Hungary or Sweden, siding with Byz will help them to get closer to the top. Without Byz, they'd be nothing relevant; the victory of Byz offers them valuable expansion in players.
The situation is different for Austria. Austria starts stronger, and Starnan has more ambition. If he sided with the coalition, he would have made the western hugbox the undisputed number one. If he joined Byzantium, he would have always been the second member of the team, and Starnan does not make hugboxes to get second place. So I think doing nothing and expanding in AIs was his best move. Everyone got weakened, got debt, battered armies, delayed expansion. During this time, he's getting stronger.
All said and done, everyone took the right decision, but it failed. I won't comment the mechanical mistakes, they were numerous but understandable. And yes, Anatolian early game is way too strong. That doesn't mean everything, and lack of coordination doesn't explain it all either (no idea what France is doing with their mil power for instance, they're France and they can't fill their ideas). But that's fine, not everyone is equal in skill, and you can't ask someone to play better when at least they take the right decision.
It leaves four major players contending for a trophy as it stands right now, imo.
The West has shown weaknesses, but as many people said, their unit will become better and they still face no real threat. France however was delayed, probably spent tons of money to rebuild their armies and was just set back. They're now locked, Austria expanded in most of the land they could have taken if they did not eat the coalition war of Holland and the failed colaition against Byz. I count France out for the moment, but England was untouched because they played it the English way, and Castile is eating Aragon and Morocco without anyone caring about it. England and Castile are still two of my main contenders.
Else, Starnan has played it really well, he keeps on gaining super good provinces in complete indifference of everyone. He has three excellent allies with the Pope, Bohemia and Hungary. If they all keep on expanding, they can be a real threat to the west, especially given that the other players have shown weaknesses.
Finally, and obviously, Kaiser Johan. I'm curious at what will people do. They won't abandon him the victory, so will an even bigger coalition form? A case can be made for Starnan joining it this time, he used that session to outgrow France, so if he joins next time it won't give the west free reign. I still think he can't join with KJ even if that would be awesome, it would give Byzantium too much expansion paths. At the same time his alliance with Hungary is precious.
PLC also showed their weakness, Kazan is a horde, everyone else is small and boxed in, or has halved points. It is really between these four as it stands right now, but it will depend on what happens.
Maybe a new coalition, maybe not. No matter what happens, I'd like to see Hungary carry the fight. Call in Byzantium and Austria, maybe Sweden and Bohemia too, and partition that Poland. That would be a powerplay.