Yes, that little of a difference absolutely matters, proven by the observation that it went both ways. I could become the clear winner, or my opponent, based on who had the lower ping, whereas in equal ping settings the games were much more balanced. It’s easy to tell when you regularly play against the same people.

That’s how fast paced shooters work. Don’t think about the crap that people sell as “shooters” nowadays which is adjusted to playstation controllers or similar BS.

Think quake, unreal tournament, quake arena, openarena.