diff --git a/src/game/engine/scenes/world_map/world_map_arena.gd b/src/game/engine/scenes/world_map/world_map_arena.gd
index e6be7c5e..1a9b683a 100644
--- a/src/game/engine/scenes/world_map/world_map_arena.gd
+++ b/src/game/engine/scenes/world_map/world_map_arena.gd
@@ -212,36 +212,75 @@ func _on_victory(player_index: int, victory_type: String) -> void:
 
 
 func _pick_winner_by_score() -> int:
-	## Highest score wins; ties resolved deterministically by lower player index.
+	## Tiebreaker cascade: score → cities → population → units → true draw (-1).
+	## Without the cascade, strict `>` on score alone makes player 0 win every
+	## tie — and because both arena players run the same heuristic as the same
+	## race, scores always match. A true draw returns -1 and is serialized as
+	## victory_type "draw" by _finish / _build_result_dict.
 	var game_map: RefCounted = GameState.get_game_map()
-	var best_idx: int = 0
-	var best_score: int = -1
+	var vm: VictoryManagerScript = _victory_manager as VictoryManagerScript
+	var leaders: Array[int] = []
+	var leader_stats: Array = []
+
 	for player: Variant in GameState.players:
 		if not player is PlayerScript:
 			continue
-		var s: int = (_victory_manager as VictoryManagerScript).calculate_score(
-			player, game_map
-		)
-		if s > best_score:
-			best_score = s
-			best_idx = player.index
-	return best_idx
+		var stats: Array = [
+			vm.calculate_score(player, game_map),
+			player.cities.size(),
+			_total_population(player),
+			player.units.size(),
+		]
+		if leaders.is_empty():
+			leaders = [player.index]
+			leader_stats = stats
+			continue
+		var cmp: int = _compare_stats(stats, leader_stats)
+		if cmp > 0:
+			leaders = [player.index]
+			leader_stats = stats
+		elif cmp == 0:
+			leaders.append(player.index)
+
+	if leaders.size() != 1:
+		return -1
+	return leaders[0]
+
+
+func _compare_stats(a: Array, b: Array) -> int:
+	## Lexicographic comparison across the tiebreaker axes.
+	## Returns +1 if a beats b, -1 if b beats a, 0 if identical on every axis.
+	for i: int in range(a.size()):
+		var av: int = int(a[i])
+		var bv: int = int(b[i])
+		if av > bv:
+			return 1
+		if av < bv:
+			return -1
+	return 0
 
 
 # ── Result writing ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 
 func _finish(winner_index: int, victory_type: String) -> void:
+	## winner_index == -1 signals a true draw — _build_result_dict translates
+	## that into winner_name: "" and victory_type: "draw" regardless of the
+	## caller-supplied type, so downstream consumers (ai-arena.sh summary,
+	## tournament scorers) don't have to special-case both axes.
 	_finished = true
 	var result: Dictionary = _build_result_dict(winner_index, victory_type)
 	_write_result(result)
+	var winner_display: String = str(result.get("winner_name", "?"))
+	if winner_display.is_empty():
+		winner_display = "<draw>"
 	print(
 		(
 			"[AI ARENA] match=%s finished: winner=%s type=%s turn=%d"
 			% [
 				_match_id,
-				str(result.get("winner_name", "?")),
-				victory_type,
+				winner_display,
+				str(result.get("victory_type", victory_type)),
 				int(result.get("final_turn", 0)),
 			]
 		)
@@ -278,6 +317,14 @@ func _build_result_dict(winner_index: int, victory_type: String) -> Dictionary:
 		if player.index == winner_index:
 			winner_name = player.player_name
 
+	# winner_index == -1 is the canonical "no winner" sentinel from the
+	# tiebreaker cascade. Force victory_type to "draw" so the result file
+	# is internally consistent even if the caller passed "score".
+	var final_victory_type: String = victory_type
+	if winner_index == -1:
+		final_victory_type = "draw"
+		winner_name = ""
+
 	var duration_seconds: float = float(
 		Time.get_ticks_msec() - _start_ticks_msec
 	) / 1000.0
@@ -287,7 +334,7 @@ func _build_result_dict(winner_index: int, victory_type: String) -> Dictionary:
 		"seed": _seed,
 		"winner_index": winner_index,
 		"winner_name": winner_name,
-		"victory_type": victory_type,
+		"victory_type": final_victory_type,
 		"final_turn": GameState.turn_number,
 		"turn_limit": _turn_limit,
 		"players": players_payload,