The age old question in card games is whether it is more beneficial to play first or draw first. Due to the differences in certain games and how decks work, it can be advantageous to do one or the other by getting more cards or having some sort of handicap for playing first.

First we will look at it from a more mathmatical conceptual perspective, without going into hard numbers to make it easy to read, then we will look into different scenarios where it could be more beneficial one way or the other. I side on the camp that it is more beneficial to play first in most circumstances, but it can depend on your deck. However this article isn't about the defacto decision of which is better, but more of an eye opener to see the possible benefits of one over the other.

So if you break it down turn by turn, you can see the card distribution. The first player doesn't draw any cards on the very first turn. The second player's first turn they get the normal two cards per turn. Here is the breakdown:

Turn 1(Player 1) 7 cards
Turn 1(Player 2) 9 cards

Turn 2(Player 1) 9 cards
Turn 2(Player 2) 11 cards

Turn 3(Player 1) 11 cards
Turn 3(Player 2) 13 cards

If you look from it from this perspective it seems that it is a no brainer to go second. It feels like the first player will always be catching upon cards. Usually people with more cards overall win most card games by the means of card advantage. However card advantage is built into cards in so many different ways in VS2PCG it is often more how you use the cards.

After seeing it broken down like that, let's group them very simularly, but add the opponenets card count.

Turn 1a(Player 1) 7 cards (Player 2)7 cards
Turn 1b(Player 1) 7 cards (Player 2) 9 cards

Turn 2a(Player 1) 9 cards (Player 2) 9 cards
Turn 2b(Player 1) 9 cards (Player 1) 11 cards

Turn 3a(Player 1) 11 cards (Player 2) 11 cards
Turn 3b(Player 1) 11 cards (Player 2) 13 cards

Baring the fact that we can't predict drawing extra cards from other sources, make a mental note of the following:

-If you go first, you will always have the same number of cards on your turn, but two less on your opponents turn.

-If you go second, you will always have two more cards on your turn, but the same during your opponents turn.

Playing First

What other factors are there in going first? Well let's think about them for a minute. You get to attack first and play a resource first. All of this is extremely powerful. Especially while they are defending,they will be at the same card access level as you, baring any other outside card plays. Getting a first turn stun before your opponent can even play a resource is big for some decks.

Your one cost supporting character coming out before their one cost supporting character or four cost supporting character coming out before their four cost supporting character is pretty big. They will likely always feel on the defensive because their drop will have to play "catch up" to what your similar drop already did. Other factors can apply such as "ramping" but in non-ramp situations it can matter quite a bit.

Drawing First

Well what do the other cards do if they don't come till later? Then why would it be important to ever go second? Well you have a greater card selection on your turn if you go second. It is actually easier to "curve out" if you go second due to having access to more cards in hand during your turn. Some decks rely on curving out, usually aggro/midrange decks. Missing curve in VS2PCG isn't as bad as many other games though in my opinion, but it still can be important based on your deck design.

Decks that want to hit their curve are typically aggro decks but it is easier to hit your curve going second which can be a little confusing. Also on that turn you have temporarily while on the attack to have more cards than your opponent, meaning more resources to attack with than they can defend with.

I'm not saying it is better to go second as aggro but it could be a possibility. I still prefer getting bigger supporting characters out in play first but it isn't a bad alternative depending on the matchup or depending on your deck. It is thought provoking to realize that each scenario has different advantages before even looking at card specific scenarios, speaking of which...

Card Specific Scenarios

Certain decks and cards may want to always go first. Groot is a 1/1 and going first is one less "Free Stun" your opponent gets on you. Magneto also gets a "Free XP" if he goes first because he begins the turn unstunned. Magneto would also prefer the out there first so he has more ways to combat a first turn stun.

Black Cat however wants more cards in hand so Black Cat pretty much always wants to play second. This is so that she can level quicker on average.

I won't go over each variation of each deck and whether I think they want to go first or second, because that could depend on the matchup and the specific build of the deck. I'd love to hear what you think about which specific decks would to play or draw or in what specific matchups certain decks would want to play or draw. Leave it in the comments below!