MTG arena has a $25 fee for tournaments. 2.5k Prize. Splinterlands is still for peanuts, and requirements to enter (power, sps.) Are so large relative to winnings.

Prizes are too low, cost to enter is still too high.

If Splinterlands has something similar, I bet people would pay for it.

Gods Unchained has a draft mode with a cost, and a prize structure that pays more than the draft cost if you win 7 times. (And it's a game that's comparable to Hearthstone.)

Splinterlands? nah, decks cost 150-450 (just bronze-silver, using peakmonsters data.) And you win? $1 or something "if you win."

Tournaments still suck.