Played this game for a bit a good 10 years or more ago (I remember Mirage was the current edition), then a few years back I started playing online. You buy the cards as normal but it wasnt all that bad, the game itself is free to download (though huge) I spent maybe ~ $200 but that was spread out over more than 3 years and I ended up with 5 or 6 playable decks, to varying degrees
At any time you can trade the cards from online to 'real' versions, I haven't played in ages now but its nice to know if I ever want to, I just need to find my username and password and the collection's still there.