That's entirely a fair cop. The question is whether one considers stability from round to round a virtue (and if one does, one still considers randomness in it at all a virtue; as you note in passing there are games that have, effectively, "fixed" initiative where dice are only rolled for ties (Hero and Fragged Empire come to mind).
Getting to ties in hero is rare- Since dex and speed have to be equal before even going to dice.
I like some random - but noting that the fastest systems I've run have had popcorn initiative... Especially Sentinel Comics and Talisman Adventures, as well as two 2d20 flavors. I also have been using fixed slots but swappable ownership of them... 3 year zero engine games...
Stable and totally static aren't synonyms... Players making tactical decisions to swap cards due to different threats is a fun element of YZE games... but actually reshuffling and redealing them would be way too much hassle factor.
Likewise, D&D initiative is static - it doesn't change in any given fight without special situations (Held Actions and/or taking an action to reset it in more recent editions).
Any of those were faster than J's use of Savage Worlds - and the sessions I watched were him after several months running it. They were having fun... but it wasn't fast. And he was dealing face up. Not everyone can process multiple comparisons readily.
The one slowest for me is one I like conceptually, but hate in play: WEG Star Wars d6 1E... where everyone declares, then everyone rolls the actions simultaneously, then they're resolved in descending order of success rolls...
I do like several of the setting books... but just can't overcome the math issues (a very minor issue due to how open ending is handled), the every round card draws (especially since I like stable slots with tradable use as a GM), and the whiffyness of the combat rules... But I know a secret... the game is ratings compatible with Cortex Prime...
