Country Selection

How does the game pick who gets to pick their country first?

Usually the one with the best and fastest internet connection picks first.

I though it was random

Maybe. but when i am playing with a friend of mine, where i know that he has a slower internet than i, i can always pick first.

It seems to me that there's some kind of way the game selects who goes first, based on rank or something.

I believe its random, the Conection theorie seems not true, my Inet is slow, but i can choose first sometimes. Rank based seems to be wrong to, i have seen Rank 9 last, while low Ranks choose first and the otherway round

Yes it is 100% random. no host advantage, or internet advatage. No rank advantage.

if a spectator joins, then he goes to the end of the list, regardless of if players missed a pick.