1 vs 1 - game and match curiousity

Looking for some thoughts/opinions here:
I constantly hear how 1 vs 1 games are more decided by dice, initial placement, who goes first, etc etc
Also the majority of comments tend to come from players who are at risk to lose more points in the game. After all, if you could win one game, lose three and break even on points - well if you actually care about points why the heck not! (Except you GLG, I know you hate to lose period)
I've always thought 1 vs 1 was excellent, but if you want to actually factor in skill and strategy it needs to be a multiple game match - with maps and settings being random (none of this is in regards to speed freestyle matches, which are of course an entity of their own)
So for example, if you play a 50 game one vs one match, no speed, everything else random against a player who has exactly the same points as you do - does skill or strategy factor into this or do you think its still just a crapshoot?
I constantly hear how 1 vs 1 games are more decided by dice, initial placement, who goes first, etc etc
Also the majority of comments tend to come from players who are at risk to lose more points in the game. After all, if you could win one game, lose three and break even on points - well if you actually care about points why the heck not! (Except you GLG, I know you hate to lose period)
I've always thought 1 vs 1 was excellent, but if you want to actually factor in skill and strategy it needs to be a multiple game match - with maps and settings being random (none of this is in regards to speed freestyle matches, which are of course an entity of their own)
So for example, if you play a 50 game one vs one match, no speed, everything else random against a player who has exactly the same points as you do - does skill or strategy factor into this or do you think its still just a crapshoot?