thanks for the mention my friend :)
Yes my friend I have always preferred to buy cards instead of card packs and I think this is the best strategy in a tcg.
The only exception is when the estimated value of the card packs is much higher than the purchase cost.
In this case buying packs to sell the cards and buying more packs and reselling the cards in a cycle might be a good strategy

Today I bought 27 starter packs (more out of curiosity than strategy) but between the two options I will always prefer to buy the cards I like best

About Wild Pass you are right, it is a high seasonal cost and requires a good amount of staked SPS to cover it.
I started in the Wild today with XBOT, I am curious to see the results at the end of the season
@tipu curate