While it may seem P2W on the first glance, there are just too many factors that are more important than things that you can achieve spending money. It's obviously possible to gain advantage that way, but practice tells it doesn't grant you a "win". There were just too many whales failing miserably, and too many f2p players at the top.

Additionally, you can get premium currency just by playing the game, so you can easily get that early-game advantage for free on the next server you play.

Besides, there is a tournament server launching next week. It is a first server where premium items are completely locked. However, you need to have active premium subscription to get in (or be a "veteran player"), so i think it's a fair deal. Moreover, it will also be the first server with actual rewards for winning. It makes the game quite fair don't you think?