Another color on the board would make natural cascades and extra turns rarer. It would also make any artificial manipulations of the gem board (such as those mathematically all-but-impossible skyfall cascades) much more apparent.
From this thread five months ago (Remove Increased Luck Factor for the AI - #27 by akots), I’m still not completely convinced that luck is a neutral event in the game, despite multiple dev responses on the matter (it is possible that the statements were true at the time of posting but are not anymore). From the thread, “Luck” is quantitatively measured throughout a match and assessed to determine whether the luck breaker kicks in. Sirrian’s post mentions the scoring criteria in how lucky events are scored on both sides.
Personal thoughts on the matter (all anecdotal):
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If both sides are scored on luck, then lengthier matches would favor the AI’s luck as the 3x point cap potential points spread increases over time as luck points accumulate for the player. (Ex: Turn 3: Player Luck = 10, 3x cap = 30, a 20 point spread. At Turn 15, Player Luck = 40, 3x cap = 120, a 80 point spread). ← This could partially explain why the AI seems to become luckier when there are only 1 or 2 units left, late in a match.
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I’m highly suspicious that other background factors are increasingly tilted towards the AI’s favor the longer a player’s current win streak actually is, until the player loses and the tilt is reset back to natural rates (and the process starts anew until the next loss and so on). The most apparent anecdotal observation of this is during matches where it feels like there is a permanent bonestorm (could very well be a storm of any color that favors one side over the other) going on the background and there are an unnaturally high natural skull appearance rates. Coupled with the Luck Factor, this is a deadly combination. Also, ever notice after losing from one of the AI’s crazy combo streaks, that the subsequent match seems like an unusually easy win?
Food for thought.