Yeah... I would be up for trying it (if they now or in the future allow European customers), and could imagine liking it enough to be willing to put in $1000 to last me a while, but not without trying it for a few $10s first.

Maybe they are choosing to price out those of us who would use occasionally but not often, or maybe it's an acceptable downside to benefits they get from having other people pay that lump up front. (For example, maybe they've found that in the first $200 of spending people aren't convinced, but if they're forced to spend another $800 then they start to appreciate the service more and are less likely to stop using it.)

You're right. I missed the comment about a minimum buy-in. That definitely puts it outside of the reach of someone who may find it useful for simple, occasional tasks. I guess they still want those people to use standard Magic.