You've made very good observations, including on the concentration of rewards on the leaderboard which is now dominated hard by major players.
Regarding tips, you have to watch for the 1.5x damage too, which increases the damage, and you might go above 5 damage.
Yes. I will add the 1.5x into the write up.
The top 100 is supposed to encourage spending, but it will be a nonstarter if FORGE can’t maintain the value.