Res Arcana

Pros

• Res Arcana is one of my favorite games. I'd also recommend to just start with the base game, but I loved Duo too. As someone who has played 100s of games of Res with the expansions, focusing on just Duo for a while was really fun.
• Res Arcana is great 2p-4p
• Res arcana
• Res Arcana, from the same designer, is fantastic and has much more player interaction. You're going for the same buildings, or for end of round bonuses (like TM and Gaia Project) and everything about this game is timing.
• Alchemy-themed engine-building game by the creator of Race for the Galaxy. Can be played for Elo online. ... Recommendations for... Competitive: Res Arcana

Cons

• Res Arcana's base game doesn't have drafting, but the only actually competitively viable playstyle is its variant rule where you do a draft. Otherwise the game is just about who starts off with a deck with better synergy or better cards.
• I bounced off this game (original, not duo) after a few plays. Found it fun while both players were still clueless and figuring the game out. Once you learn that it’s possible to win on turn 4 with certain strategies, it kinda sucks the...
• Found base game card pool too small. It became a favorite after adding expansions and recently the duo standalone expansion has been great too.
• I only played Res Arcana once (with cards drawn instead of drafted, though) and that really felt like 'here are your cards, now make your own engine', with most interaction being accidental and/or rarely consequential.