Oh, 100% - there will always be that thrill of anticipation when you open a pack. I love love love opening Gladius packs. Unfortunately, when you've paid $4 for a pack and get cards worth a total of $0.20, there is the opposite feeling of that thrill. I think before Chaos Legion you could be fairly confident that even if you got the cheapest cards, they'd most likely be worth more than the pack cost eventually... but with CL I'm not so sure.
Um, honestly at this point I'd guess increasing your Hive power. I think CL cards are going to get a lot lot cheaper once that 14th (last) CL airdrop is distributed. There are 3 million unopened packs waiting in the wings for that...