Starting player advantage (in one specific case)

[AwwwYeah42]

I have a hypothesis that, in a 2-player game, if the blue and green starting techs are adjacent, especially on the top or bottom (that is, they are not the middle two techs), first player has a small but noticeable advantage.

Does anyone else feel this is true? Just looking for friendly discourse and opinions, not trying to blame losses on it or start a flame war. That said, I think I've only ever lost like one game in that circumstance and it was to the 2nd-ranked player or something

[MartoTom]

Is the idea that you can steadily progress tech levels without having to worry about population cubes? I am definitely not experienced enough to grasp the advantage of the first player.

[Cile]

In a two player game if your plan is to ignore the space board you are giving up 4 easy automation discs to your opponent, as well as any control bonuses, and making it easy for them to colonize any bonus they want.

Red is also much more valuable in a 2 player game than at higher player counts because you don't have to worry about player 3 while you're blocking player 2.

Personally I find yellow the most valuable level 1 Tech as I will use the "jump 4" through the entire game. Jump 4 is more than you'll find on most higher level techs, and not having a cost makes it a good choice if you just need to gather some more resources for an expensive space.

All that said, starting in a colour doesn't mean you're going to stay in that colour. You can start on green/blue and discover a good military tech. You can start in Red/Yellow and discover a good research tech. At the start of the game it's more important to look at the available achievements and planets than it is to start on your favorite tech colors.