Yeah, I have no clue what they are thinking as it's pretty straightforward. introduce a tax to play = lower reward pool = lower card prices & more players leaving.
Just force players to have a decent collection power with Soulbound & Duplicate cards not counting while renting only counts partially to enter and play Wild. This removes all leeching bot farms. If they add an equal card burn mechanic to unlock soulbound cards it would over time help restore card prices giving players a bit more faith again to buy new sets.