only way to beat that is to have differing stats and the only way to do that in fleet is to introduce mods
Not true.
You can have the same total relic levels required, but don't require the fleet commander at r9. Then people have the option of pushing relic level higher to go first more often OR get used to winning without a coin flip but always going second.
Some coin flips will still exist (for fights between fleet commanders of the same relic level) but players have a meaningful choice to make in this scenario -- which is totally unlike the current situation where fleet commanders must be r9 so it's always a coin flip whether you want that or not.
