If you feel that 'software is art', that 'you are going to have problems with ego' then probably your view is that of the solist, and likely not of someone who would be happy in a team unless they get to call the shots and impose their will on others.
Good teams simply follow the leader and take their paycheck. Great teams cause the team members to grow and will produce work that none of the members individually could aspire to. Great teams know the strengths and the weaknesses of the members, and they themselves know these too.
If you want to phrase working together in terms of 'battles' then you've already lost.
And if you feel that if there is no mathematically correct answer about something, just aestetics or simply choice and the end result is less important than whether or not it was your way or the other persons way then I again conclude that you are most likely not a team player.
And there is nothing bad in that, there is definitely room for solists. But if you are part of a team then you have to play by team rules, otherwise it becomes a war zone with bad results for the project and the health and well-being of the rest of the team.
Nobody needs to 'swallow their ego' in order to present an option, the worst that can happen is that a particular road isn't taken, as long as you don't identify with the road as yours you'll do just fine. But as soon as you see the roads taken as validation of your ego then you are on very dangerous ground.
I think you're trying to fit human beings, which are extremely complex creatures, into an artificial black-or-white definition. I would even argue that no one in the world is exclusively a soloist or a team player. Most people, if not everyone, adjust their attitude to who they are dealing with.
For example, a given individual may be a soloist on one team, but a team player on another team, based on the experiences they have had on said teams. They also may be a soloist when dealing with someone they don't respect, or a team player when dealing with their boss. Just examples.
You say "best opportunities". If you're looking to earn a good living, that's hard to do solo. Very few people are good at all of the tasks that go into software development (and I'm including the non-development tasks, like sales and marketing of both the product and your development skills here). Also very few people manage to create a runaway viral hit on a small application (like Flappy Bird), where your solo work can earn enough so that you don't need to worry about making a good living on the other solo projects you choose to work on. For most developers, learning to work on teams with others is a crucial development skill.
This is where I've ended up due after many years as a software developer at start-ups because you can land a more stable job that pays better while not being driven crazy by micro-management.
If you're dealing with people, then you are going to have problems with ego. Sure, it'd be great if everyone could lay down rational arguments, then come to a rational decision and rationally agree to move forward. It'd also be great if the unicorn færies showed up to take us all to Neverland. People have emotions; they hold grudges; they feel that fairness demands that if they yielded last time then someone else should yield next time; they have genuine differences in opinion and perspective.
A lot of software is art: there's no mathematically correct answer, just æsthetics or style or simply choice. People will disagree about which choice to take; they will feel ignored if they don't receive validation from time to time.
Now, an individual can choose to swallow his ego, but it's not pleasant — and frankly sometimes it's bad for the product to be quiet and let poor decisions move forward.
So yes, you have to pick your battles.