You're assuming they can finish the story mode, or will want to if they are not enjoying the turtling AI early on. Depending on their draws/ability this simply may not be viable for newer players, especially as low level grind is now not a effective.
You are not guaranteed anything in draws, as a poster over at TA stated, they spent 25 shards and got 2 silvers and a bunch of bronzes. I don't particularly have an issue with these draw rates, but it does hinder newer players trying to build up their collection to be able to grind more gold and exp to yet further build up their collection. Evolving suggests people are not struggling to collect gold, which seems to be the opposite of what is currently happening.
The AI definitely feels different, namely because rather than introduce gradual changes to AI behaviour, the AI saw a near complete shift in gameplay from combo-centric to defensive. The previous AI, however, has nothing to do with wether or not the new AI is fun to play against, and generally the consensus thus far seems to be that it isn't. Yes, the previous AI could have used some tweaking, this isn't tweaking though, this is throwing out fast paced combat that could sometimes be exploited and creating an AI that frustrates rather than challenges players. Will new players learn how the AI works? Maybe, but if they are not having fun I can't see they'll bother.
