Well... like pretty much ANY other TCG, yes... the person that spends the most has the coolest cards (and will often win).
However, with @SteemMonsters you aren't paired up against the players with much better cards than yours. So while you aren't going to end up on the top of the log, you can easily finish daily quests and win lots of battles by being paired against opponents with similar strength cards to your own.
And then, like most TCGs (or any card game really)... there's an element of chance for sure... but a lot is left to the player to make sure they use their head and make good deck choices/strategy.
Ok - thanks for the detailed explanation.