Out of all the Splinterlands sets I chose to max out this one: Chaos Legion. Time has told us that wasn't the best decision, but it came after an incredible time for Splinterlands, when, instead of taking massive profits (like some did), many chose to reinvest everything or almost everything in the game, like there was no ending to the upside. That was obviously wrong, as we have seen, some of us multiple times, in crypto.
Despite that and the obvious loss of value, I don't regret maxing out Chaos Legion. I may regret the timing or the opportunity cost, but since then, they helped me produce rewards in-game, either in Wild (yes, that's what I play automatically), or on Land (to a lesser degree compared to older cards), or in Brawls. Even in Survival mode recently, although I don't have a large enough collection for that one. It may have been from renting cards out in the past. I don't even remember at this point.
With the disappointment of CL, it was difficult for me to find motivation to participate in future set sales, like it was the Rebellion. In fact, my plan from the CL days was to max out every two core sets. Conclave Arcana would be the second one... so, if I'll have to decide if I want to max out this set.
Chances are I won't be interested to max out the entire set, and since I already play in Wild (or Survival, depending on how crowded Wild becomes), I can wait for a bit without FOMOing in.
I did buy a few Alchemy packs and some standard packs in the presale, but nothing that would give me any starting deck in Conclave Arcana.
The Alchemy packs are more for the purpose of a small attempt to get at least the same value out of the packs after opening them, and likely selling the cards. The proceeds made this way will eventually return into buying Conclave Arcana, but the timing and what exactly I will be buying between packs and individual cards remains to be seen.
Obviously, it would really help speed up the process for me if the value returned by the Alchemy packs would far exceed the investment. That's where luck plays a big role.
So, in only a couple of hours I will know... I'll have my Midnight potions ready for my Alchemy packs, but won't use any for my Standard packs (but I will use the Alchemy and Legendary potions there too).
After opening my packs I'll have a better idea on what I'll need to do from there. I'm hoping for something exciting, so it can give me the fire to start building up the CA deck sooner. As we already see, cards become insufficient due to growing use cases even for bigger accounts, so to me it seems they are a required component for success in Splinterlands.
I am however at a stage in my life when I analyze opportunity costs. If the probable profit also outweighs the opportunity costs, that's a good deal for me. If not, it's not.