For now, i expect switch2 first party games to havebig patches to.

Oh Switch 2 won't at all be just a first party machine; they'll be plenty from other developers, I'll just be getting them digitally as game key cards aren't my cup of tea.

Thing is, this route is really the most viable path for them realistically; pursuing power and AAA third party parity would only bring them into more direct competition with PS while also inflating their development times and costs, and sacrificing the very large portion of their userbase that values the portability and convenience of the hybrid form factor.

There's no perfect solution, but Switch 2 seems a pretty well judged proposition considering the options.

Until they change their mind.
I would not be surprised if at least a handful of Nintendo titles use the Game Key Cards.

This sort of makes me feel third party titles are generally inferior on Switch 2. I don't want to carry about a load of keycards when the games are on my SD card and reselling the key card is made more difficult by the fact the game isn't on the cartridge and when Nintendo closes the servers the game card is pretty much worthless. As the game industry evolves it seems the rights of people to own and use the software for years ahead is diminished. I can't imagine ever buying a game keycard either new or secondhand. It feels like if I had a Switch 2 it would be physical Nintendo games and digital third party games only. My main gaming platform is PC though and almost everything I bought on steam is still available to download after a huge number of years of buying those games.

As expected, premium games will ship on cards while mediocrity opts for game-keys.

even small ones are using game key cards. it is just a poor excuse by 3rd parties.

How do you guarantee your digital copy won't be worthless years ahead when all the services are shut down? They will be tied to the console most likely and if your system craps itself, the data won't work on another system you may find and buy on the secondary market.  

Essentially so many questions so little answers.

I'm glad Nintendo is still using actual game cards for their games.

If PS6 goes full digital, Nintendo will follow. You can clearly see that Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo push digital only and start to abandon physical media or make it uncomely as much as they can. Switch 2 should be the last system which supports a built-in slot to read physical media. Upcoming consoles will probably get an external device to read previous media (Sony already started with the external disc drive).

Based on what exactly ? That's just reaching right now considering we don't have a single example of their releases that actually needed one of these big patch day one like the rest of the industry regularly experiences.