You definitely don't have to pay to win. I play entirely on MTG: Arena, and you can pay $0 and still build a competitive deck. For paper magic, just find people who don't have sticks in their posteriors and use homemade or printed versions of the cards you want.
It can be difficult to find people to play with outside of events sanctioned by WotC, in which proxies are not allowed. I have some proxy decks but my opportunity to use them is limited.
And in that environment, it's not pay to win exactly, it's pay for a shot at winning.
I remember my fancy black deck I was so proud of and all the nights playing against tooth and nail, a deck full of cards many of which was worth as much as my whole deck. It sucked. I won 1/3 games at my best because I wasn’t willing to sink hundreds of dollars into my decks
Playing with printed cards though is janky. It’s not how the game is meant to be played and contradicts the aesthetic experience. Better to switch to dominion where the intended experience doesn’t revolve around pay to win
I have no objections to proxies, but I do dislike printed cards. Proxies should be indistinguishable from real MTG cards when face down or in your deck, and printouts generally aren't. The right way to make proxies if you can't make decent counterfeit cards is with basic lands and a felt tip pen.
