Good players have taken new accounts to legend rank in ~2 weeks. The truth is most of the reddit community is far more apt to blame their results on an incomplete collection than a lack of game skill or effort in climbing the ladder.

This doesn't at all mean there are no problems with the cost or accessibility of the game - there certainly are, and there are pretty easy solutions to it (welcome bundles for every expansion, selling pre-built decks at a $9.99 price point, reduce crafting costs and/or allowing players a 24-hour trial period with a newly crafted card to get a full refund), but the hyperbole about "it's impossible for new players to do anything but be stuck below rank 20" doesn't help.