I remember years ago hearing about a rule/mechanic that existed in early prototypes of Magic the Gathering, before the Alpha set was released.
Basically all creatures had 3 combat stats: power, toughness, and initiative. After attackers and blockers were declared, creatures with the highest initiative would deal damage first, then the next highest initiative creatures would deal damage, etc. This proved to be tedious and was boiled down into first strike by the time the game got into print.
I think this may have been mentioned in the Battle Royale or Deckmasters booklets, but I sold them a long time ago and can't find a digital copy.
Can anyone verify this?