It sounds like it would fuck up the balance somethin' fierce.

Yes, it would. I'm totally against this idea, it didn't work in any of the other games either.

I think the way they have it now is the best way to go about it.

Changing variations between rounds would defeat the purpose, IMO. The idea is to commit to a strategy.
On a side note, it's a given that blind select will be an option for characters. My hope is that blind select will also be available for the variations. I don't mind counter-picking variations AFTER the first match, but I'd prefer if players were encouraged to choose variations based on style rather than match ups.

In other words, if you don't know what character and/or variation you're up against, that means it's in the player's best interest to master a specific variation. We'll get more diversity overall, and that's a win for both players and spectators.

The MK9 community relied on counter-picks quite a bit early on, and it wasn't entirely based on match ups so much as players just being lazy. I don't want MKX to encourage that. Counter-picking is inevitable, but it should be viewed as a necessary evil instead of a primary strategy.

I got what you guys are saying. I never thought about the other side changing styles as well. Lol. That changes it quite a bit. I am extremely interested to see how the overall strategy for fighting styles will be incorporated during the final build.