Board Game Arena

I vastly prefer buying cards since it's also shortens the game time too. I'm still a little shocked to see many turn-based games select drafting since it's a long game. I also hate potentially giving up a card to a rival player that I want but can't draft.

If you're not drafting, it's either:

1. You want to save time.
2. You want a game with less decision trees, and thus a less stressful game.
3. You are still learning the cards and combos and want something more simple.

Draft is complex, and I'd only recommend it if you're quite familiar with the game. It reduces the luck factor by a lot and allows more room for player skill to shine since there are more decisions to make.

Though I mostly play with draft I sometimes do non-draft for reasons 1 and 2 above.

Playing without draft vastly lowers the skill ceiling to the point where it's not worth playing without it imo. No fun for me to get beaten by low elo gremlins because they just happen to top deck Earth cat, AI, NRA, etc

kchillin wrote: ↑17 July 2025, 14:58 Playing without draft vastly lowers the skill ceiling to the point where it's not worth playing without it imo. No fun for me to get beaten by low elo gremlins because they just happen to top deck Earth cat, AI, NRA, etc

They can still top deck those in draft…

The game is fundamentally about acquisition and use of information though. Hidden information is just about the most powerful thing in the game and taking away a skilled player’s ability to remember what is passed in draft and deduce what an opponent bought and thus their sequencing for a generation really does remove a massive chunk of the skill involved in playing.

Playing without draft truly is just competitive coin flipping and it’s quite pointless. Well, except for true beginners. True beginners just need to learn the basics and how to sequence cards efficiently before they get into the head space of calculating their sequencing based on known information about opponent’s sequencing.

jaymc1130 wrote: ↑17 July 2025, 16:57 They can still top deck those in draft…

Well duh. but exactly as you go on to say, it happens far more frequently in coin-flipping non-draft mode.
not sure what your point is

kchillin wrote: ↑17 July 2025, 18:42
not sure what your point is

Providing additional context and highlighting the importance of using known information as a critical competitive skill.

Is your goal to save time? Then play without draft.

Is your goal to play the most skillful arrangement of game settings? Play draft.

Draft - when I wanna play the game, have time with no background noise to disturb me and wanna play with somebody above my level or equal where I know that everything counts towards the end game.

Buy - when i just wanna play the game fast because there is chance something interrupt me and I can "autopilot" game and everyone is good no matter of what ranking they have

Draft, everything jay said.

My first 250ish games I vastly preferred buying cards. I hated seeing 2 great cards in draft and only getting 1 one them. It felt worse to see a good card that you can't get than buying where you dont know what you missed. In draft both players suffer because you are cutting each other's key combo cards. I think another reason was I didn't understand TR rush strats so I went full economy every game.

Once I got into arena and was forced to play draft I slowly liked it more and more as I got more experience. It's clearly more skill based. I play live so the additional time isn't too much of a hassle.