Help me pick my main civs!

I hadn’t played since 2005 until a buddy of mine convinced me to download DE, and holy mothballs is this my favorite game once again! What a miracle it is to have AOE2 not only alive, but thriving in 2020.

After a few days of play I’m at a 1050 ELO (mostly team games tho), so before I go higher I want to start focusing my gameplay on just a few civs to main.

Right now, I’m leaning toward (in no particular order):

1. Bulgarians (cav+inf, love dropping those kreposts!)

2. Ethiopians (archers + I got a 946/431 k/d in one 4v4 game thanks to their siege onagers)

3. Malians (proving difficult to know what to do, but I love their unique unit)

4. Tatars (I want a cav archer civ but can’t decide. Mongols are cool but seem one-note to me 😬)

I feel like I’m watching SOTL and pro vids every other day to help decide who to prioritize in this list (or if I should switch out for another civ), so in your opinion and based off of what I like about each civ, what are your thoughts on these?

Any insight from people who used to play one of these then switched, or from those still playing them and loving it? Gameplay or strategy I should consider?

I want to grow, and I want to get better with only a few main civs before branching out. Thanks!