Cactus Game Design Message Boards

I actually think that would help speed. Most speed decks use relatively few enhancements that are played in battle, instead they are heavy on Heroes and many of their enhancements are TC/Set-aside so that they don't need to be held in hand. Their hands can get as big as they need them to be during their turn to get whatever cards they need to win battles, and their opponents are limited to 7 cards in hand to try to stop them. Then after battle, they put heroes in territory, set them aside, and I think it would be pretty easy for most speed players to get to 7.

I'm thinking creating an artifact (?) that reduces opponent's initial draw by 1.

If by initial draw you mean the original 8 cards to begin the game, an Artifact won't work, since that can't possibly be activated. A card like that would have to be a situation/battleground-type card that has been proposed in the past, which can be active before the game.

If you mean the initial draw of each turn, there is a similar card to that: Sin in the Camp.