I chose the Nature Faction first because I know that in the beginning it is far more likely that you'll run out of food. And even though the Magic Faction gets you tech points quicker I did that one in my second tribe.
So far I really find no difference.

I have gone for magic for my first tribe - still attempting to complete it!!!!
Will try nature next time (on Wednesday!!!)

Spoiler!!! I chose Magic, and liked the fact that my fisherman, and Ladies swam with the Shark's instead of getting rid of them.

I usally like things that have to do with magic but in this case... I had to chose nature. Nature can give your tribe a better chance of survieing.

I have a very successful nature tribe, but I'd like to know the secret of how to keep a magic tribe... I've went through two tribes already in my experiment of which is better, and I don't think putting your tribe in complete jeopardy (for me) is worth the benifits it has...

I have 2 Tribes...so
...my "NewOnes" tribe is Nature
and my
"NewOnes to the Second Power" tribe is Magic...
I like both ways to play..ya just have to play them alittle differently
I like the variety

I chose nature in my last three games and my villagers still died of starvation. I never could get enough tech points to be able to buy what I needed to make the potion to get rid of the sharks.

I choose nature cause i lked it better..

I did both, and I liked my Magic tribe better - it was a little bit harder to get food at first, but they got tech points a lot faster, so those long waits for L3 techs weren't so long.

Besides, I tend to play science-first villages anyway (being a scientist and all )

Started with magic then started a 2nd tribe with nature