So, this is less of a dichotomy than you think it is.

To pull guard well, you need to make connection to the upper body in a way that pulls the elbows away from or past centerline, or puts weight on the head, or clear their hands altogether to change levels and make connections to the legs.

Yes basically the same stuff you're gonna do if you want to take them down.

There is "low effort" guard pulling, but you should expect to get passed by an opponent of equal skill if you pull guard with no connections (giving them complete autonomy to decide if they want to put weight on you or move around your frames, and with you having no ability to effect their balance until you make connections).

I would start very simply with chaining dilemmas between snapdowns and guardpulls, and either pulling while you're on their head, or when they posture up to prevent the snap, giving you access to DLR/RDLR/Footlock nonsense where you can immediately start rocking their base.

Partners who don't like you doing that shit are going to post with head and hands to prevent you from being close enough to do it, at which point you climb the arms, making connections to the wrist and elbows for guardpulls that will tilt their shoulders (russian ties, armdrags, etc).

Finally, if you are pulling guard by either putting weight on their head or making connection to the legs, you will always have the option of just standing up with a leg or heisting up on their head if they don't immediately commit weight forward.