Yeah it's a little silly. People don't really think it through - there's no actual ethical, reasonable, defendable argument for the current pricing model other than farting out "Blizzard makes more money this way. Get outta here you Communist!"

But really the entire model is superbly anti-consumer and obviously is built around the same impulses that cause people to gamble. And just straight up outdated. It made sense for physical card games, you know. Since you actually need to have physical packs. But in a digital game? Get the fuck out of here. The entire set of each release should be immediately available for a $60 purchase like any other game/expansion for a game.

I will also mention though that if you actually play the game for a long time, eventually you just sort of... are able to craft things when you want to. I've been playing since it was just the Classic set. Only ever spent money on Adventures. I can craft any meta deck I want at this point. I have wiggle room to mess around with other, less efficient, more "meme"ish decks as well. But certainly if you're newer to the game it's a silly uphill slog just to be able to craft a a single decent/interesting deck.