Since we're on the topic of TCG slang, another term that you might hear when talking about practice is " gauntlet" In card games, running the gauntlet means taking a deck and testing it against a "gauntlet" made up of a series of top-tier decks, popular decks, and decks that have won recent events. Knowing all of the cards in the game is invaluable and by constantly tinkering and playing with different lists and combinations you are much more likely to identify powerful interactions. Brewing new decks on FFDecks is another great way to invest your time alone. Sites like FFDecks act as an amazing resource - posting tournament results and deck lists with easy access to statistics on different builds. RVA Returners, FXBG Turks, Chocobros, The Break Zone, EmoTempest, Metapotion, Joesephyr and so many other content creators are constantly talking about their experience with different decks and giving you plenty of information to use for your own practice. Listening to podcasts and checking tournament results can let you tap into the practice of other players by distilling information on what does and doesn't work from their experiences.
If you know what decks have been doing well lately, you can get more deliberate practice in by testing against those matchups. By reading this article, you're already on the right path! Checking tournament results, listening to podcasts, reading articles, and discussing FFTCG with other players are all easy ways to improve your practice by investing time alone.
Research is another excellent way to spend your free time.
While this isn't nearly as nuanced as playing against a real player, goldfishing can give you a lot of information on how your deck performs in different situations. If you're having trouble with Mono Lightning, play turns assuming they have al-cid combo in their hand and see how you would play around it. How would your deck feel if your opponent had one removal option every turn? Simulate how you would fare against Turbo discard by drawing your hand, discarding three cards, and playing off the top-deck. Are you worried about a certain matchup? Set different scenarios for yourself. Do you mulligan almost every game? Are you drawing your combo pieces regularly, or does a combo feel difficult to set up? If you deck isn't running smoothly on its own, it is sure to stumble across from another player. Important information like how often you get a good start, how the diversity of forwards, backups, monster and summons feel as you play, and how it feels to use certain combos can easily be gleaned by playing a few games on your own. Goldfishing really helps you to get a feel for how your deck can run on a fundamental level. Goldfishing is a term used in TCGs to refer to the practice of playing without an opponent on one's own, typically by drawing a starting hand and continuing to play as if your opponent has no response. Goldfishing is one of the ways that you can test without another player. There are many ways that you can invest your free time at home into improving your play. Playing FFTCG against another player is surely the best form of practice, but isn't always available to us. While obviously not the ideal way to practice, we've listed it first because it's the most important.