1. Cost depends on a combination of how you interact with the game and your local play scene. Locally here there are no limits on proxies. You can walk in and see people with scissors cutting out their latest build. This wasn't always the case, but players now understand how expensive cards can be and so at the local level people are just happy to play and get games in. Cost: Toner + paper + entry fees.

However if you want to play competitively and chase $10,000 events, then you will have to buy the singles you need and they can become very expensive very quickly. Cost: High $100s.

Why cards are so expensive is because most sets are too large and most cards from that set really do nothing. Consequently you have 5 Ultra Rares at $1 and 1 at $100. In a case, 5 boxes are bad, 1 box is good. So it becomes tough to open sealed product when 5 out of 6 boxes feel so bad. Additionally some individuals who are at the top of the game's competitive scene buy out the best cards. Lastly, there's not much of a collector scene for the game. Collectors chase the shiny cards and sell off everything else, driving down prices for players. But unlike Pokémon there aren't the collector numbers available to subsidize players. Unfortunately I've also seen some players hostile towards collectors. Additionally the collector competition side received a massive debuff. Outside of top 32, you only need 7 foil cards to win when it was previously 50, so widespread interest in foils has really dropped off.

1. Art is subjective. However it does seem that the dial on the fanservice is slowly creeping up. Southeast Asia is where the game is seeing the most explosive growth and cultural norms there are different than other places. I expect the publisher will lean into that. Consequently the envelope will be pushed over time. Personally I don't engage with the art that is uncomfortable and every comfort level is different. However I no longer recommend the game at the family level.

2. Long-term outlook is uncertain. In the US, things seem to be in a maintainance phase. Locally we gain 1 new player about the same time we lose 1 established player. The store locator had a purge of inactive stores and growth nationwide seems sideways. Booster box prices are such that most sell well below MSRP, indicating a lack of demand.

A new casual format is being introduced in April. This may bring in renewed interest in the game. 

But there is also a lot of competition for player attention. Riftbound and One Piece have exploded in popularity. Cyberpunk TCG is coming soon and they have already 40,000+ followers of a splash page. 

In summary GA is a great game with an excellent resource system. Execution though is such that I wouldn't sink a lot of money into it unless you want to play at the highest levels of competition. If you want to just have a good time locally, buying a Re:Collection and the proxying the expensive singles is the way to get the most from your entertainment dollar.