I always preferred Team Magma; Ruby was my first Pokemon game (and my first videogame in general), so Maxie and his devil-hooded crew left a bigger impression on me than Archie and his pirate, haha.
I prefer their designs more as well, and their pokemon, even though there isn't much variety between Aqua and Magma most of the time.
Beyond that, I just really feel like Maxie has more of that 'snarky, monologue-giving villain' feel to him. Especially at the top of the volcano with the meteorite; he fit the atmosphere of the scene a lot more the Archie in my opinion.