>And that's the primary reason I stopped playing online games like MTGA and Eternal: playing draft was too expensive and not as fun as playing in person.
I've never played them online and just assumed you would get access to all the cards so you could build your deck as you wished. You have to pay for the different cards?
Yes, generally you acquire in-game currency which you can buy for real money or earn through playing the game. You use this to buy a digital booster pack which contains a random collection of cards, similar to the paper game.
Most collectible card games nowadays work like this, because it makes the publisher a lot more money than the model you describe.
I've never played them online and just assumed you would get access to all the cards so you could build your deck as you wished. You have to pay for the different cards?