To be honest eygpt rarely dominates my game. Usually It's the Byzantines but the Almohads and turks get a look in too. In my current game I'm playing scily on early and by the time I had launched my second crusade the turkish had already annihilated eygpt.

Personally I prefer to fight off the golden hoard (or confine them to one province so they won't reappear). The russian provinces provide a great staging post for taking over europe.