Hi and welcome to the Splinterlands. As a player who started this journey from Day [2] I've seen and read it all. And trust me when I say we've tried to guide this game development along the whole way and recognize and agree on a lot of your arguments.
Firstly, Untamed broke the Splinterlands, with these OP summoners. And the people who say 'play XYZ cards and win' are just about earning money. (It's kinda of a crypto mentality take as much as you can before the walls collapse around you. That said this game appears to be here for the long haul, but habits are hard to change)
Now the thing you'll discover, if you play with maxed cards (try renting them) is the game play changes once again. And I guess that's what makes this game also appeal to those that have actual skills and don't want to hang around in lower leagues, clubbing the seals.
Maybe to get some context, search for videos that are called Steemmonsters (previous name) as you will get a feel of what has gone before.
But for me the big problem is massive player growth and a lack of cards. I suspect if you did the same game review after Chaos Legions is released it might be a completely different post. Abundance of cards is gonna change things once again.
Anyway, there are few amongst us that try to fight for the little guys, but the whales always want more than there fair share. And I recently discovered that the whales who feed in the Champion Leagues actually don't have to contend with a Collection Power increase. A huge oversight I think.
Unfortunately, I've learned you can't change this game even if you see the obvious problems where others don't. But you have the special gift of insight, so the challenge to you, is to use what you've learned and exploit it in your favor.
For instance, those Mylor thorns are actually useless if you don't use melee attack in your teams. Check out Lord Arianthus or Almo Cambio as a tank and provide heal to them then fight mylor teams from your back line for the win. The llama + kron combo can also be beat.
There will be balance coming in Chaos Legions. That I am sure.
GLHF
Thank you for the confidence boost and tips :)
I hope game will change - that is why i started to play now so i can utilise next cycle.
The question is - will the change be for better or worse?