I was wondering if any of you players who've organized large tournaments have win/loss ratios available for first and second turn starts. I'm curious how much of an advantage starting first really has.. Our playgroup is too small to come to any meaningful estimate, looking at you Poland
Is that info available somewhere, I could tally up the results on my own if its posted anywhere.
Tournament statistics
I'd say it is a slight advantage, but if you go second you need to play different. I like to blow something up (support or unit) on my first turn if I'm going second for control and hit hard and fast for rush.
Either way it can put them on on the defensive fast and even out that slight setup boost going first gives you.
I'm guessing its something like a 55 to 45% win percentage disparity, which really isn't too bad. I agree it definitely does change your strategy as well. If you go first you are slightly more likely to end up card starved, and if you go second you are in a slightly better position to rush your opponent. But in the end, if you go first every turn you start you have had an equal amount of turns than your opponent to build and control. Conversely if you go second every turn you start you have had 1 less turn than your opponent to build and control. I'd just really like to see some numbers as to how much of an effect on win percentages this has.