In the grand scheme of CCGs, Pokemon's "paywall" is quite miniscule. All of the money cards you generally see in T1 decks (1 or 2 Shaymin, 4 Trainer's Mail, 3-4 Sycamore, 2-4 N, 4 Vs Seeker, 4 Ultra Ball) are splashable into any deck, so you really only need to shell out a single time for them...