Infinity is an extremely well-balanced game, so pretty much any faction can beat pretty much any other faction. Nonetheless, there are some marginally better or worse factions. Here with my two cents...
I'm only going to distinguish four tiers. There is a bottom tier of factions that I would consider handicapped relative to others. Then there are above and below average factions. These guys are all perfectly viable and I wouldn't be surprised to see them win a tournament, especially a small one. The average in Infinity is very good and mostly a matter of what player is piloting. Below average factions mostly just have a few bad matchups, whereas above average factions have no obvious kryptonite. Then there are a few factions that seem to have a little edge over everyone. Like I said, the game is well balanced, this is just to help players new to the game understand what's going on a bit better.
Bottom Tier
Morats
The Morat rule is a straight handicap - high cost for effects that you will only use if you are losing. High ARM and W is a sub-optimal strategy: if you win face-to-face rolls you never need to take armour saves. This is again something you will only use when you are losing. Focus on things that help you win instead. On the one hand, the 15 order cap made the lack of orders Morats typically face less of a liability, and Kornak now generates 4(!) orders. On the other hand, the one decent Morat build full of Hungries and REMs is now no longer legal. If you want HI links, Military Orders and Invincible Army do it better. Still at the bottom I'd say.
French (Rapid Response Force Merovingia)
Mix and match links made these guys OK but their get in, press button, go into retreat style just isn't good anymore (it was godlike in N1, but that was years ago).
Japanese Sectorial Army
Lots of melee with no way to close the gap combined with few reliable ways to knock over ARO pieces make the Japanese incapable of doing what they are supposed to do. The terrible gameplay design of these guys is inversely proportional to the amazing model sculpts. Ever so slightly better since Kuroshi Rider got a smoke launcher, but always a struggle.
JSA in its original incarnation had the same playstyle as the French, namely press buttons in suicidal way, go into retreat, and end the game as a result before your opponent has a turn to flip the buttons. That's why every single unit in the sectorial has courage (i.e. can function normally in retreat). But the missions just don't suit that style these days.
USA
The faction most boomed by the 15 order limit in N4. They just don't really have viable builds. Marauders make for an OK core link but they're just not as good as what other factions can put out, especially with all the shock ammo around nowadays - MI are not good!
Druze
Sub-optimal profiles combined with sub-optimal strategies make these guys a weak faction. Guided got much better in N4 so maybe these guys aren't quite bottom tier anymore, but it takes a good player just to get them up to competitive.
Below Average
Imperial Service
Weak defence, can't run 8 kuang shi anymore in 15 order cap, all good offensive units are hackable, too many bad medium infantry around the place. N4 Mixed links helped a lot though. Wu Ming might be the way to go now, with Dakini/Deva harris and bounty hunter duo, plus Kuang Shi cheerleaders.
Svalarheima
An emphasis on medium infantry is a feature of the weaker factions. Even with 4-4 MOV, MI simply tend not to be worth it point for point. Having 2 ARM doesn't stop you from dying, so you either want to pay a bit extra to get ARM 3 and the 2nd W on a budget HI (like a Jujak), or pay significantly less for a light infantry unit. Svalarheima is built around MI (Vargar and Nisse). Sure, you can go Fusiliers, but then why not just play Varuna? Or you can get lots of big boys like Boyg, but then why not play Military orders? Svalarheima is great if you want to run a Jotum - they do it better than vanilla I'd say - but that's about it. Note that MI will have many good games where you win with their great stats and equipment. This will make it seem like MI are amazing and Svalarheima et al. are top tier. But in a tournament or some such, there will be a game where your key attack piece/s just take a crit and it's game over.
Invincible Army
Few MOD stacks, melee, or chain rifles in your links, though this can be circumvented with good list building and smart play. There are a lot of matchups where you will find it difficult to win face-to-face rolls, even on active turn, and you won't have an alternate strategy. Say you have Qiang Gao in a 5-man link trying to win a face to face against a noctifer in cover. He's on 12s to hit you on 1 dice. You are on 10s to hit him on 5 dice. If he rolls a 10-12, you're dead, and 7-10 there's a good chance you lose the face to face and die. Things get nastier as your link team loses members. Imagine you've got Lei Gong in a 4 man team trying to win a face to face against a zero in cover and suppression fire at 12". He's on 8s on 3 dice. You are on -3 for range, -3 for cover, -3 for suppression, and -3 for mimetism, so you're on 1s on 4 dice. Good luck. To fix this you need to never leave home without a Hai Dao sniper who can handle a lot of the mimetic nasties, and you need to always have all range bands in your link team. You also need to get a good alpha strike off, but that can be hard against a faction with decent hacking presence. You have a range of units with MOD stacks - Mowang, ZhenCha, etc. but they tend to be expensive, and your core link is already soaking up a lot of points.
Nomads
In missions without exclusion zones, the camo spam list (see guide here) is borderline top tier. In exclusion zone missions, I think Nomads is bottom tier and indeed bottom of the bottom tier. They have some decent pieces, for sure: puppetica, Kriza, Kusanagi, uberfallcommando, etc. But you lose so much efficiency to link teams that you are handicapped. Most of the cool strategies that Nomads known for - guided, hacking, AD, minefields - are ruled out by the exclusion zone. Meanwhile, the other things Nomads can do all require a lot of moving pieces and end up being inefficient and difficult to use as a result. Unless you want to camo spam, play the sectorials, which are now all quite good.
Aleph, Ariadna, O12, Haqq, Pan-O
The vanilla factions just don't have anything going for them these days that you can't do better in a sectorial. Besides Nomads, these guys aren't able to force multiply by leveraging the greater variety available in vanilla to overcome the benefits that accrue to link teams. In particular, link teams are hugely powerful defensive units, and unlinked defensive pieces tend to get knocked over easily by a link HMG or spitfire. I would really like to see Corvus Belli give vanilla factions some specific advantages. For example, being able to take >15 orders, have extra command tokens, only vanilla can use tokens for combined orders, +3 WIP on the lieutenant roll, etc. All of these could be bundled into "reinforced chain of command", which would be fluffy.
I think Ariadna camo spam is top tier, but it is very hard to play optimally and it is the only build in Vanilla that rises above the chum.
Ramah
Not a lot of MOD stacks and kind of crummy link teams. Rather bland play style to boot.
Foreign Company
Everyone is expensive. Bolts are quite bad. If there were more viable cheerleaders in here you could do cool things, but as it stands you always end up with an overweight list - lots of powerful units and not enough orders for half of them to do anything.
Starmada
Mostly bad link teams and a combination of low orders with few MOD stacks. The Harris with Hector, Parvati, and a Betatrooper can obviously be devastating, but Steel Phalanx does that build better.
If all the other O12 units (i.e. Lynx, Gangbusters, Alpha, Omega, Syrius, etc.) go into the second sectorial that sectorial is going to be top tier because all those units are fantastic and a mixed link team would push it into brutal territory.
Qapu Khalki
In the early days of N3 these guys were the first faction to have a mixed link team and they were one of the best sectorials in the game in consequence. They've had barely any updates since and slipped down the ranking but are still very effective - basically dead on average across all factions. Nice skirmisher presence, an excellent link in the Janissaries, and good support players make for a straightforward strategy.
Ikari
Might be bang on average now. Ikari took the 15 order cap very badly. There are certainly viable lists in there that combine the samurai of JSA with reliable smoke, but getting the smoke you want is hard in the order cap. Previously, Ikari used 18+ orders (see my 4-1, 3rd place lists from the Australian championships). Group 1 was the actual attack units and a bunch of regular cheerleaders like the Keisotsu link with Tanko missile. Group 2 was some support units and a bunch of smoke throwers, notably Yuan Yuans. If you try to do this now you end up with no regular orders in group 2, which means your Yuan Yuans and desperadoes can't rambo when they get an opening. Or you can mix them into group 1, which means your principle attack pieces like the Rui Shi are starved for orders. Still a powerful faction, but not the top 5 they used to be. Super fun however - samurai harris with lots of bikes is a delight to play.
White Banner
Another bang-on average faction. I have a little bit of trouble getting to that 14+ order count, even with a Zanshi core, and Shang Ji are really overcosted for what are ultimately bland HI. Nonetheless, White Banner has the basic tools - solid link teams (if Ye Mao could be 5-man with more weapon variety White Banner would be above average - they are just better, cheaper Rodoks, and Rodoks are very good), good mix of guns, decent specialists, chain of command, MOD stacks where they matter, the Rui Shi with cheap smoke - and some extra tricks, notably the Hundun makes for a nice sniper trap with a Jujak or Zhanshi missile launcher in a 5-man link team, a nice midfield game, and an excellent duo in Jing Guo + Shaolin. Guo is a specialist with climbing plus and a spare wound who can kill most things with his rifle and mimetism, and the monk provides smoke cover and the ability to perform in melee against hard targets. For 41 points, this duo does everything you want a sweeper to do with excellent reliability and durability.
Above Average
Spiral Corps
Good, just missing that little bit of overwhelming firepower. Taagma aren't quite as good as Gao Rael snipers because they lack durability. K1 combis are not reliable killers, but Draal now have AP instead. The triad guys here are a bit lackluster compared to vanilla Tohaa, and the compensation, notably Tri-Core, comes in clumsy packages that are easy to pick apart. Pheroware, like N3 hacking, is a bit too order intensive and situational.
Caledonia
Hit with the nerf bat by the 15 order limit but still brutal. Uxia and McMurder are nice rambos, the Grey + volunteer link is an amazing parapet clearer, Catarans are great snipers, and the Scot Guard with Molotok is an excellent sweeper. Plenty of T2 and melee means you aren't scared of heavy armour.
Darshat
Similar story to Ikari but with more expensive stuff that is good in low order counts so they don't suffer from the 15 order cap quite as much. You still have good links, good sweepers, good skirmishers, and good random stuff like McMurder.
Neoterra
A good all round faction just a little narrow and the traditional fusilier link build is relatively weak against TAGs which are now back with a vengeance.
Tunguska
Hollow men are excellent but weak if they have to move forward early. The Kriza is a very nice complement, but leaves you with few orders and even fewer mid field specialists so your link really has to go forward eventually, and hollow men are quite easy to take down in midfield. The other link teams are paper thin and overcosted due to high BTS and other relatively useless qualities.
Corrigidor
Hugely boosted by mixed links. You can run a brigada lieutenant with shotgun now in a defensive link with a ML and some alguaciles without handicapping yourself, and still have the HMG guy, who is now running around with Massacre. Strong stuff.
Onyx
A great faction now that they have a good SMG skirmisher to push buttons (Malignos SMG). Still a little flimsy and susceptible to quality MSV attack pieces, but very good all round.
Combined Army
The Avatar is just stupidly good now. Don't make the mistake of running 10 orders. You want a lot of Taigha and Hungries in a full 15 order list. You opponent wants to turtle against the avatar. Punish them for it by running a horde of warband units at them. This one list is perhaps even top tier. The Anathematic and Charontid lists with guided are more finesse oriented but still very good. Other than these builds, vanilla combined is on par with other vanilla factions i.e. average to below average.
White Company
A nice all-round faction. Would have been amazing in N3 but has a little bit of trouble against heavy targets, which are more common now. I suspect the optimal build is a 5-man fusilier link with Orc HMG, Haidao sniper, and Valerya, and then a duo with Hawkwood and a Varangian to throw smoke for him. Sprinkle with bots for repeaters and a guilang minelayer and you've got a very strong guided game and a strong midfield tarpit. Hawkwood can wreck LI-based lists, but you'll need guided and melee for hard targets.
TAK/Russians
Another very good faction that is just a bit narrow. Struggling for MSV in particular.
Steel Phalanx
These guys still absolutely wreck face it's just that there are now a few defensive link teams that will stop them in their tracks. A HaiDao MSV sniper in a 5-man HI link, Riot Grrl missile launchers, Kamau snipers in Vedic, Gao Rael's in Tohaa, etc. Bringing the MK12 guy instead of Pheonix helps a bit, but a bad role or two and suddenly you're in struggle town. Varuna is an especially bad matchup as the jammers ruin your link teams.
Shock Army of Aconticimento
A fantastic all-round faction, just nothing fancy. If you have good fundamentals you will go very far with shock army. A little bit weak against TAGs, but you can build specifically for that if necessary. The Tikbalang is excellent, and you can fit it in alongside a full 5-man regular link with 2 sapper snipers and a full complement of bots.
Kosmoflot
These guys just have everything. Russians with MSV, better AD, and excellent sweepers. Probably top tier except the link teams are a bit weird.
Top Tier
Military Orders
This sectorial has been on a roller coaster over the last few years. There was a time when a mixed Teutonic/Hospitaller link team was one of the top 5 builds in the game. Then MO was redone and didn't really have any good link teams. It was either Crusader team, which is just a bit too expensive, or Order Sergeant link with very few knights mixed in, which just isn't much chop. Now they seem to have the best of both worlds - you can run the Teutonic knight team, and knights can go into sergeant links. Amazing. It's a little bit harder to get the HMG into the link than it used to be, but you can easily have the Teuton link with a Santiago spitfire lieutenant (0 SWC!) leading it, a HMG on a HI, and a harris of sergeants with a HRL, and a Trinitarian with MSR for a brutal sniper trap into the late game. All the martial arts and shotguns means that these guys are quite capable of carving up even once their main attack pieces are dead. Shotguns and swords also work fine even without MOD stacks, especially on BS13+. If I had to pick one, I would say military orders is the best faction in N4 as of September 2021.
Teutonic Knights in links are frankly broken. Think about this: in the bad old days of Qapu Khalki having mixed links, they used Hafzas to fill out Janissary links. They cost 16 points for BS11, PH10, W1, ARM1, rifle+light shotgun. Teutonic knights cost 3 points more and get 6-2 instead of 4-4, +8CC, +2BS, +4PH, +1W, +2ARM, Martial arts 2, panzerfaust, and dodge+3. In a 5 man link these guys are incredibly hard to kill. Shotguns mean they have good range bands on BS16 with B2 even in ARO, and then there's the wounds and ARM, they dodge mines on PH14 and templates on 17, and you can't surprise shot them. A nightmare. They are a long-range rocks too with Panzers. You can have 3 of these guys on overwatch turn 1 firing missiles with good odds of winning face to face rolls against your opponent's principle attack pieces. If they lose likely they only take 1 wound, fail guts and go prone. Gross. Corvus Belli really needs to rethink the way they price impetuous, especially in link teams.
Hassassins/Shasvastii
I think these guys are borderline and it depends a bit on the player (both hard to play) and the mission mix. They're undeniably very powerful. They also, like everything in this top tier, have a sweet spot at 15 orders. Ghazi got nerfed but Daylami got BUFFED and mixed link with Asawira is so powerful. The new Nadhir unit is the best TO camo skirmisher in the game. 24 points for a hidden deployment SMG and Flammenspeer! OMG that's disgusting.
Shasvastii meanwhile have an incredibly strong defensive game (noctifers, Q-drones, and mines) mixed with very powerful sweepers and skirmishers. Bonus is that even the best players make errors around impersonators. Shasvasti must play 4 Taigha - they make the faction work by clearing mines, forcing enemies to hide, and generally opening up the table for your skirmishers and snipers to shine.
Neither of these factions is beginner friendly to pilot, but in the right hands they are top tier, especially in ground control missions where they are hands down the best because they deploy expensive skirmishers that are hard to uproot directly into scoring positions.
Vedic
MOD stacks everywhere, very high WIP and reliable specialists, great defensive pieces, the absurdity of proxies. Vedic's only weakness is a lack of smoke combined with a lack of multi-wound HMGs. That means that if things go badly you can be locked out by defensive pieces that win a few face to face rolls early.
Tohaa
These guys are still top tier, even with the changes to symbiomates, because they combine cheap wounds and link teams. The defensive game remains very strong. 3+ links gives tremendous economy. You have K1s and Melee for hard targets. B2 eclipse is broken. Their sweepers are now 4-4, which was honestly the only thing that used to feel weak to me. The changes to Taquiels (i.e. eraser, which the diplomat also has for reasons unknown) make them even more broken than symbiomates were. Tohaa's only "weakness", if you can call it that, is that their game plan and style is very straightforward and they don't have any "tricks". They just beat you with efficiency. As such, good players will know what to do against you. Whether they can pull it off is another matter.
Bakunin
Riot grrls with missile launchers in a 5-man team, which is cheap with the moderator mixed link, are the single best defensive unit in the game, especially now that MSV1 can see through smoke. The mixed link means you can afford to have a Harris with Kusanagi, a healer, and a moira HMG or sniper rifle. This is an amazing attacking link. And then you have points left over for Avicenna to heal the riot grrls, a zero FO to score points, and 3 morlocks with an uberfallcommando to do general offence and throw smoke. This is a very strong all-round list. It's only draw back is that is that your lieutenant (Kusanagi) is agro, which often results in loss of lieutenant. Just make sure you kill with the warbands first.
Varuna
A fantastic mixed link that never has to leave the deployment zone in the Orc HMG + Kamau Sniper + Fusiliers, great defensive midfield with the Cobras, peacemakers, and Helots, outstanding sweeper in the Bulleteer, a sniper trap with the Croc men, and you can swap to a good TAG game when necessary. Only downside for these guys really is that their lieutenants tend to be obvious and a bit weak.
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