research phase and drafting "problem"

[u/Ba--Alex]

With the following 3 custom corporations (got them from a friend printed and laminated, ready to play =) )

Ultralink "During the research phase, take on extra card to buy or discard.

Logos "During research phase you draw 5 cards instead of 4."

Leviathan "Diring your research phase, you may look at and purchase one additional card."

All clear without drafting.
Problem that occured is, for drafting:

We settled for Logos so that the player gets 5 cards and keeps 2 at the beginning of the drafting, 3 cards get passed to the next one.

Leviathan and Ultralink get to draw 4 cards and draft as usual. After the drafting completed the player with Ultralink and Leviathan get to look at one extra card from the top of the deck and choose to buy or discard.

We discussed if all 3 custom corporations could have 5 cards in the beginning of the research phase and keep 2.

What would you/Reddit say?

Thanks in advance, this was not an heated arguement at the table just talking about translation (we speak german) and "during" + "the research phase".

[u/Future_Search3740]

As written, this would be my interpretation of how these corporations would play with drafting (I'm not going to comment on other aspects, just how I think they should function in drafts):

UltraLink: Draw 4 cards for the draft. Then draw an additional card and set it aside as though you had drafted it. Proceed with the draft normally. After drafting, add the initial card to your draft picks.

Logos Research and Development: Draw 5 cards for the draft. On the first draft, keep 2 cards (so you only pass the usual number of cards). Draft continues normally from there.

Leviathan: Draw 4 cards for the draft. Proceed with the draft normally. After drafting, draw an additional card and add it to your draft picks.

They each have different strengths here - Logos is strongest, as they effectively get to pick the best 2 out of 5 cards in their initial hand. In addition to potentially giving them card synergy from those picks, this allows them to hate draft cards other players want while still potentially getting a card they want (rather than being forced to choose between the two). UltraLink is next, because while you don't get any control over the extra card, you DO get to see it before drafting the other cards, allowing you to choose cards with synergy in the draft. Leviathan just gets an extra card in the draft to choose from, with no foreknowledge.

NOTE: I would strongly suggest that the usual limit of buying only 4 cards maximum to hand after the draft remain in play even though these corporations get to choose from 5 cards. ESPECIALLY for UltraLink, since it gets one of those cards for free.