[_aavaa_]

The physical game absolutely does not have this issue.

1. First of all, you could print proxies when playing with friends to try out card.

2. You could buy individual cards from other players or your local game shop.

3. You could sell your cards.

The previous iteration (MTGA) had both 2 and 3 as part of the game. What's more, they would let you "cash out" your digital cards for physical cards.

You were not required to get cards by opening packs (which I agree is the ancestor of digital loot boxes). But Arena got rid of any way of getting cards outside of "lootboxes" because they want to get as much money out of your as possible, not because it's better for the game.