Oh I could afford it too. It was just a matter of that I wasn't as invested as I was earlier and not into hearthstone as much anymore, and them really saying "oh you need to pay 2500 to keep playing tavern without being utterly kneecapped" combined with "I don't even know how much I'll play this season" and "I still kinda wanna save gold for solo stuff" made the decision clear-cut for me.