I picked C/E/G - though B,D,E,G are only subtly different, and hard to choose from. A definitely has charm (elegance in simplicity) but it can be difficult to quickly determine the coastline as more details (cities, roads, rivers, etc) are added.

Other styles that were not represented that I'm partial to:
  • Bathymetric - using the height map, actually show where the continental shelves, trenches, and ridges are. Since I use most maps for RPG purposes, it's nice to know the rough depth of the water in any particular area (even if it's incredibly difficult to get a decent tectonically accurate ocean floor)
  • RobA's Artistic Regional Map in Gimp - specifically, the Displace/Smear Effect in Post #7 - i prefer the random effect to the more regular effects in the poll (option C: Texture Burn being the notable exception)