Well, I started two weeks ago and so far I am rather pleased. There are quite a bit of bots, yes, but it's better than waiting 5 minutes for a match, I guess.

Regarding pay2win. I played Magic (online and real life) and Heartstone. And both games are not less p2w than Splinterlands. TCGs are always a bit about gambling. Buy packs and hope for good cards. That's the collection aspect of this game type.