You can not compare this to freemium games because they are not the same. Cards having and retaining value because of provable scarcity makes this different then your normal video game.
Also pay to win means that you can only win if you pay no matter how much time you put in. This is obviously not the case here.
Pay to win means you can't progress in the game if you do not pay for contents. I don't think you can do climb the ladder so easily with lv1 cards :P
Anyway it's ok, that were just my 2 cents :)
Not easily but you can. You win the same packs that can be bought. Is it slower, yes, and you pay for it that way. Some games you cannot progress all the way UNLESS you pay, which is not the case here. They are going to sell 900,000 beta packs for $2 each. You want them to sell out asap, because that means more money for contests, but ridiculing a minor bonus when you may not realize they are trying to incentive the very top to keep pushing once they reach the last level or for other reasons is a waste of everyone's time. Just my business pov 2 cents :-)