First or Second?

[KCU Master 2007]

Which position do you like playing from? Do you like to make the first moves in the game or do you prefer to wait and react you your opponents opening moves?

I know that which faction you're playing as has a big impact on this but just as big of an impact is you're own personal play style. Personally, I prefer to go second. Playing second means that I am probably summoning second which puts you on the defensive; but I like catching an opponent who is over extended trying to get early shots at my summoner. I find I do this in many strategy games I play.

How about you, do you like to play first or second?

[champrjk]

I prefer to go first. Even though the first turn is limited I prefer to not allow my opponent to get the starting advantage.

[Lord_AndraK]

As you said depends on the factions involved
If i'm playing orcs vs anyone i like going 1st
If i'm playing dwarves vs anyone except orcs i like going 2nd
Elves like going 2nd
Goblins go 1st except against dwarves

[PePe QuiCoSE]

Golbins is very good second because you can summon right off the bat and your opponent has got some of his units closer to you.
Elves is better first because if you go second you can't summon, at best you can magic drain him which means you have 1 or 2 dead guys already for it to be useful. And going first means you can blaze step your warrior out of danger (even if he went and hit something).
Orcs and Dwarves are a toss up. With Orcs is safer going first to use that exposed fighter, but going second means you can draw a wall and reinforcements to unleash some pain.
Dwarves going first can put a bad lock on your opponent with the defenders and moving the spearman in a good position, but going second is just as good, i guess it depends on faction and opponent style.

[darkbladecb]

I typically prefer going first, though as has been said here that is match-up dependent.

The reason being that it maximizes the chance that the units that start on the board will get a kill. Each one of these is a piece of magic that I gain without expending any magic from my deck. If my opponent gets to go first and kill 1, 2, or even three of them, then that means that those cards did absolutely nothing for me. Going first gives me a much greater chance of getting to use those cards.

There are some scenarios where I like to go second. The most obvious of these is when I'm playing the Cave Goblins against the Phoenix Elves, because there is next to nothing that I can do on the first turn against the Elves in this setup.

[Jivatma]

It really depends on board positioning and the various faction match-ups. If you can only kill 1 unit or 0 units going first, its really better to go 2nd. CGs love going 2nd just to be able to summon first I think. I also think Dwarves prefer going first to start setting up Gauntlets. Board control with defenders is just amazing.

[gamjuven]

With the dwarves vs goblins I think the advantage is definitely with the dwarves. I think they have awesome first or second moves. Going first I have no problem sending up the defender and the spearman up the left side and taking out a fighter and slinger. They don't really lose that 3rd attack, and they can't summon much anyway. If they go second they can frequently get a magic drain going to ruin the opponent's first turn as well as react to the goblins with proper summoning or positioning. The goblins ( despite me playing with them the most), are giving me the hardest time at figuring out what to do. I don't know if I want to go first or second. It has a lot more to do with what's in my hand.

[darkbladecb]

If I have a chance to make 2+ attacks on my opening turn, I want to go first. If I don't, then I am going to go second.

In doing so, it is likely that most of the time this will then protect me from being attacked by my opponent next turn, causing there to be a slight to miniscule magic advantage due to me getting "free" magic as I didn't have to pay any in order to play the attacker.

[lildrummahboi34]

Originally Posted by darkbladecb

If I have a chance to make 2+ attacks on my opening turn, I want to go first. If I don't, then I am going to go second.

this is a very useful rule of thumb it seems

[Jivatma]

Now that I've had quite a few more games under my belt, some things I've noticed...

(a) Elves vs Orcs: Elves love to go first. Its Devestating if both the Shaman and Fighter kill off a Guardian and warrior
Elves vs Dwarves: Elves prefer to go first. Killing off a spear man and wounding both Defenders is much too good to pass up.
Elves vs Goblins: Elves prefer second here. Theres only 2 possible kills here. Let the buggers get closer for up to 3 kills. Watch out for first turn Sly though. Generally Elien is there to offer some pressure as long as you don't lose your warrior.
Elves vs Fallen: I think Elves wanna go 2nd here. unless you want to play defensively and try to retreat your archer and warrior.
Elves vs Vanguard: I don't think theres not a reason to go first. Vanguards are just so far away. Getting the chance at 2 hits is a good start.

(b)Orcs vs Elves: First every time baby. 44% chance to kill a Guardian and a 66% chance to kill a warrior + fury!? all day long...
Orcs vs Dwarves: First again. Smasher vs Defender is a favorable match up, and once again 44% chance on a 2-life unit.
Orcs vs Goblins: First - That smasher is going to take a beating if you let it sit there. And you give them a front-line Sly with no "real" threat of damage. Move either forward and put some hurt on, or move back and play a bit defensively till you see a favorable hand.
Orcs vs Fallen: Tough Call. only 1 likely kill. also do NOT move smasher up. with back up from Ret, its an easy magic/filling for reaper.
Orcs vs Vanguards: First again. 44% chance on 2-life units all day long. Smasher may take a small beating also.

(c) Dwarves vs Elves: I think first here. Setting up an early gauntlet can be crucial. Burns + precise + far shot can be difficult to overcome early on.
Dwarves v Orcs: I think first is good here. 1 kill possible. move defensively however. Shamans can wreck your 2 life defenders. and Smashers will need help from Oldin early game.
Dwarves vs Goblins: Gauntlet absolutely wrecks Goblins. 2 possible kills and easy way to plug up walls. first again
Dwarves vs Fallen: hard choice here. I think it depends on your play style. Kills first turn are very unlikely due to Magic Lock. I'd probably opt 2nd to see how my opponent plays
Dwarves Vanguards: Vanguards have 0 answers to your Engineer in the first2 turns. Move him up Move him up. First all the way.

(d)Goblins vs Elves: No kills possible here. Hard to justify going first. Not unless you want to sly up along the sidewall and risk 1 dice attack.
Goblins vs Orcs: Second Here I think. They might kill a berserker and fighter, but at the risk of losing a smasher to a good draw.
Goblins vs Dwarves: First here I think. Gauntlet is going to kill you. Try to put pressure on those Defenders and get them out of the way. Keep your berserker away from the Spearman however.
Goblins vs Fallen: First again. Sly forward and put some heavy pressure on the reaper/warrior tandem.
Goblins vs Vanguards: First First first First! Slying forward is such a good and depending on player Sneeks will only get up to 2 attack dice.

(e)Fallen vs Orcs: I think 2nd. There's really nothing you can kill and going first just means you're advancing or moving more defensively. You risk your warrior and archer though
Fallen vs Elves: I think first is thebest option, even if it is only to try and kill that single Warrior.
Fallen vs Dwarves: First here doesn't hurt. plink away at the 2 defenders I think and let him make the foray into your territory.
Fallen vs Goblins: First is good here. Might end up wasting a zombie ability though, unless your reaper gets lucky.
Fallen vs Vanguard: First First First. Move forward with nothing to lose.

(f)Vanguards vs Orcs: First always. Vanguards are too far back to do much of anything. pinging the smasher with Sera might be a good idea.
Vanguards vs Elves: First First. Moving up defensively isn't bad. Stay away from the Warrior.
Vanguards vs Dwarves: first Again. Have to stop that Engineer. He'll wreck your wall.
Vanguards vs Goblins: First! You can actually get a couple kills here!
Vanguards vs Fallen: Probably only time you don't mind 2nd. No kills from either side.

Thats just all my opinions. A lot of these strategies can change drastically with first-hand draws also.