So I'm looking for CCGs that don't require a mountain of dosh in order to skip an eternal grind to become enjoyable. I've enjoyed Gwent a bit, and I never really felt like I had to invest money in it to get good fun out of the game. Dabbled with Blizzard's Hearthstone a while ago. It was decent, but it never really grabbed me. *shrug*. Also tried out Marvel Snap recently, which ain't bad, but I almost found it too simple for my taste.

So what would people recommend? Online multiplayer deckbuilder games without the CCG part would work, too, granted they have big enough player bases so I could actually find people with whom to play.

Years and years ago I played a lot of Infinity Wars. The game has since died, disappeared entirely and then returned. I never played the "resurrected" game, so I'm not sure what it's like, but if it's indeed as it used to be, it should be good. I was quite impressed with a lot of unique ideas that still felt very intuitive and were easy to pick up for anyone with moderate experience in CCGs. Never paid any real money for it and didn't grind either, and I could play on an ok level for my liking.

MtG Arena was (is? It's been a few years since I played) a good online implementation of Magic the Gathering, with all the good and bad that comes with it. I had fun with it for a while, and got as far as a gold rank (half way through the tier list basically) without paying any real money. I eventually stopped playing because I got a bit bored, and keeping up with expansions is a bitch.

There's also Duelyst, an interesting combination of a CCG and turn based tactics of a "board game-y" kind. I didn't play much of it, cause frankly I sucked at it pretty hard :D But I think it was a good game. As with the previous ones, I'm not sure what it's like now.

Duelyst looks interesting, but I'm really looking more for just a card game. Infinity Wars Classic seems like worth a try though. Thanks for that.

Played Magic the Gathering (physical) decades ago when I was a teen. Was becoming overbearing already in the late '90s, so I doubt it'll be of much interest to me anymore. Haven't been into physical CCGs since, although the new Disney-branded Lorcana seems interesting. *shrug*

I could lend you my time machine, you could go back 40 years and try to collect enough gratis points by smoking that you could get a speedboat.

[CCG = collectible card game for those uninitiated]

The complete Faeria on Steam is about $20 when I bought it on sale. Gorgeous art and music might get old by the time you earn every unlockable, but forming land to dominate the board is so much fun.

+1 for Faeria, I got it for free on Epic Games and got many hours of fun from it. The gameplay is really unique you can watch some videos and decide if you like this kind of game. I don't know if there are many players left so it might be hard finding opponents.

Another unique card game is Card Hunter, I have more than 100 hours in it. Another unique card game with the added twist of placement importance is Mythgard, I had around 200 hours in it before it was put in maintenance mode and revived later. I tried Legends of Runeterra and even though it requires less grinding than Hearthstone, it would take hundreds of hours to make a variety of competitive decks.

Until you find your online game, search for shandalar 2016 and keep a copy for future generations:D

Will you accept source ports/recreations? Because Magearena https://github.com/magarena/magarena and Xmage certainly exist.

I just remembered Runescape Chronicle. Again, it's one that completely died some years ago, but apparently has been brought back asa fan effort. I've no idea how well that went, since I only found out about it right now. I remember really liking the game, because it was entirely unique - instead of the usual "card battle" you play the cards as a sort of adventure trail for your character, trying to make him as strong as possible for a final step where he fights the opponent's champion.

Much like Duelyst I was pretty bad at it, so I didn't play too much, but I loved the original gameplay, and the storybook/tabletop aesthetic. Card Hunter was great, at least the early game. Eventually I felt like it got to the point were I felt like the battles were more puzzles with very limited available solutions, but I still had lots of fun with it. I loved the overal theme, the classic tabletop feel. It's a pity they took down the browser version, I probably would have went back to it a couple times if they haven't moved to Steam. I was hoping for a GOG release ever since.

I am unsure if this suggestion is helpful. I am trying to get into the card-based mechanics of Deep Sky Derelicts, is that the sort of game of interest?