Battlegrounds - 1st Pick

I just had an observation and I wondered if anyone else has noticed the same.

I've played battlegrounds since the start and I always had the feeling I ended up placing defender first over 75% of the time. I've decided to actually start collecting data on it from today. Only reason I care is I feel having to place first defender and 3rd has a slight disadvantage.

Is there anything else that feeds into first pick? Stronger account, name, who finishes banning first or is it meant to be purely random

Will update as collect the data as of now it's pretty meaningless.

But currently from 21st Sep start point:

1st Place: 6
2nd Place: 0

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WinterFields

You should also take note of whether you win the match or not. While there are a lot of other factors as well, I'm curious if there actually is a correlation between drafting order and win rate.

I've also noticed sometimes it depends on the match as to which is more advantageous for me. Sometimes round 2 is more important because it leaves fewer options for round 3 while round 1 has all your options. There have been times placing first has actually helped me, but on average I do feel like it is a disadvantage

Emomike

I think picking first is probably the biggest disadvantage in bgs.

_Pez_

You should also take note of whether you win the match or not. While there are a lot of other factors as well, I'm curious if there actually is a correlation between drafting order and win rate.

I've also noticed sometimes it depends on the match as to which is more advantageous for me. Sometimes round 2 is more important because it leaves fewer options for round 3 while round 1 has all your options. There have been times placing first has actually helped me, but on average I do feel like it is a disadvantage

I was more concerned with the seemingly skewed pick order but will break it down more

Vibranium 3

1st Place Win: 5
1st Place Loss: 3

2nd Place Win: 0
2nd Place Loss: 0

psp742

Battleground is not fun.. Cavalier who keep getting match vs paragon players.. deeper roster with most heavy hitting champions.. its not skill issue.. its rng and limited roster that hurts.

To avoid frustration of trying and losing.. I just forfeit and give them the win..

Kabam.. this is awful planning in battleground match making.. @ least match with another player close in level.. many difference of 3 above or below.. but not 10 or more level higher.. impossible or suicide arena matches don't get the node bonuses unlike in battleground.

Emomike

Battleground is not fun.. Cavalier who keep getting match vs paragon players.. deeper roster with most heavy hitting champions.. its not skill issue.. its rng and limited roster that hurts.

To avoid frustration of trying and losing.. I just forfeit and give them the win..

Kabam.. this is awful planning in battleground match making.. @ least match with another player close in level.. many difference of 3 above or below.. but not 10 or more level higher.. impossible or suicide arena matches don't get the node bonuses unlike in battleground.

There's a whole thread about this no reason to high jack someone else's thread.

Squirrelguy

While I admit that a skew either way seems unfortunate and unlikely for a single account, I would definitely be interested on their mechanism of deciding which account picks first.

Also, while it may seem unfortunate for you to have to pick first, there are definitely still advantages that you can make use of. For instance, if there is a particular dual threat champion that you hate fighting/don't have a good counter for but couldn't ban, you can place a defender that draws them out, or force the other player to use a sub-optimal attacker if they decide to keep the other champ in their deck.

Another option is that (to give away part of my strategy) I tend to choose several mystic champs and the other player will often rely on torch as their only science champ and assume that one of mine will be used on attack. I can then play one of the less annoying ones on defense first, making them use a sub-optimal attacker, or forcing them to use torch on the easier fight.

Another benefit is that you can control the speed of the round. If you already know who you want to defend first, you can pick semi-immediately without having to base your choice off of who the opponent chose. The problem with going second is that you often have to do some quick mental math on what the best remaining possible encounter is. If they are given less time to think and are not ready, then that puts pressure on them to make a mistake. If you make your defender placement quickly, and can also immediately choose your attacker, then you can give them even less time to decide on their best option to attack.

There is also often one champ in either deck that is used as a defender in 90% of matches (Korg, Attuma, Maw, etc), so it's not like there is a huge question of if they are going to get played or not. Nor will players often waste their specific counter to the big problem fight on anyone else, so you might as well get the obvious fight out of the way first, then leave the guesswork up to the final two fights.

All in all, it's not really the worst thing to place defenders first.

_Pez_

Don't get me wrong I'm not saying it's a conspiracy theory against me and yes am still winning from placing first, just my experience is whatever decides the turn order most often anecdotally means I place first so now trying to collect the data and was wondering if anyone else experiences the same. Will only update once a day from now

Match Date Tier Placed W/L Currency Shield
1 21 Sep 2023 Vib 3 1st W Energy No
2 21 Sep 2023 Vib 3 1st L Energy No
3 21 Sep 2023 Vib 3 1st W Energy No
4 21 Sep 2023 Vib 3 1st W Energy No
5 21 Sep 2023 Vib 3 1st L Energy No
6 21 Sep 2023 Vib 3 1st W Energy No
7 21 Sep 2023 Vib 3 1st L Energy No
8 21 Sep 2023 Vib 3 1st W Energy No
9 21 Sep 2023 Vib 3 1st W Energy No
10 21 Sep 2023 Vib 2 2nd W Energy No
11 21 Sep 2023 Vib 2 1st W Energy No

Dicedicedicedice

Man it’s happening to me this season. But at a much worse scale. I haven’t had a second move for the last 10 days n even then it was 90%+ first move. Something is very wrong with the algo this season.

Colinwhitworth69

I just had an observation and I wondered if anyone else has noticed the same.

I've played battlegrounds since the start and I always had the feeling I ended up placing defender first over 75% of the time. I've decided to actually start collecting data on it from today. Only reason I care is I feel having to place first defender and 3rd has a slight disadvantage.

Is there anything else that feeds into first pick? Stronger account, name, who finishes banning first or is it meant to be purely random

Will update as collect the data as of now it's pretty meaningless.

But currently from 21st Sep start point:

1st Place: 6
2nd Place: 0

In the wide world if probabilities, some people will have vastly uneven experiences in this regard. If BGs was supposed to account for your previously placement order, then, yeah, this would be an issue to investigate. But BGs does not consider that.

Instead, you have experienced the lower probabilities of what is possible.

Not sure what determines who places first but for me it seems pretty even, and even when I place first it is not causing me to lose. Bad draft options is the most likely culprit of losing.

To me this mode is 50 percent about the draft. If I have a good one then placing my defender first has little impact.

Ansh_A

Renewing an older thread because its the only one looking at it practically instead of complaining to Kabam about starting first.

I have noticed this season and especially prominent during vibranium that the better account (average PI, higher ranked champs, etc.) Is always picking second. Out of what i can assume is 100 matches this season, i was always picking second in bronze and then platinum. Bronze i was being paired with thronebreaker and early paragon and platinum is a toss up because i was against uncollected as well. In vibranium, i have always picked my defender first except one match where it was obvious i was facing someone who has a lower PI account than mine.

This is actually quite unfair because bigger accounts already have a distinct advantage. Can anyone else confirm if this is true for them?