I think they are only contradictory if you take a very narrow approach to what deckbuilding and collecting each means.
For example, you can build a relatively large collect and not have any idea how to go about building a good deck. You can still enjoy the game by being able to netdeck a variety of different decks for different formats and you never need to develop skills for deckbuilding. For individuals who don’t care so much about deck building, the meta is most fun when the meta is solved so that they can go about crafting legendaries and epics they know will be used.
In contrast, you can go about theorycrafting using cards you don’t have, based on your knowledge of the metagame and win conditions. For these individuals, the beginning of an expansion will be most fun because they can go about testing out their new fangled decks against an unrefined meta which allows many deck archetypes to thrive.
I will acknowledge that having a wide collection facilitates deck construction, by providing access to more resources. However, deck building skill and enjoyment isn’t necessarily contingent on having a large collection.
I think they are only contradictory if you take a very narrow approach to what deckbuilding and collecting each means.
For example, you can build a relatively large collect and not have any idea how to go about building a good deck. You can still enjoy the game by being able to netdeck a variety of different decks for different formats and you never need to develop skills for deckbuilding. For individuals who don’t care so much about deck building, the meta is most fun when the meta is solved so that they can go about crafting legendaries and epics they know will be used.
In contrast, you can go about theorycrafting using cards you don’t have, based on your knowledge of the metagame and win conditions. For these individuals, the beginning of an expansion will be most fun because they can go about testing out their new fangled decks against an unrefined meta which allows many deck archetypes to thrive.
I will acknowledge that having a wide collection facilitates deck construction, by providing access to more resources. However, deck building skill and enjoyment isn’t necessarily contingent on having a large collection.