Well indeed if we talk about the Champion bracket thats needed a massive investment, even the cards are only rented....
Right now I mostly thinking about the Bronze and Silver leagues and mean the "catch up" accordingly. Step by step, there is always someone ahead to catch up. I guess its some grinding ahead, but still without this voucher thing it would be easier to shorten the backlog.
Ya, bronze is where "anyone" (with time, ability to math, and some gaming skills) can catch up and be somewhat competitive, and push into silver on season-end-day to get more rewards.
But even then, if you jump in and buy $200 worth of cards, you're going to crush people that just did the $10 spellbook and have been grinding for a few months.