If you get it right now I believe you will start with 2,000+ gems which is a really good kick off.

In some part it is p2w but is hard to explain, I haven't encountered an OP deck and you can build a strong one enough to take any deck out there...

You would need to pay hundreds of dollars (not joking) to have a "p2w" deck, it's all about your luck while opening packages. I haven't had problems with online duels, I always have balanced duels, plus I enjoy the game more with friends so yeah, it's hardly a p2w

Sorry for long explanation