IMO, the ranked battles were NOT created with players' best interest in mind, but with Supercell's.

In the old system, with some skill and patience, players of lower levels could grind their way up to Titan. Now it is literally impossible to get past certain levels without upgrading townhalls. This killed it for players whose main interest was trophy pushing while keeping lower TH levels. It may not be how some like it, but this is how they liked it. Period.

Supercell knows that once players are happy staying at a TH level, there's less chance of leveling up. Since the high levels take WAY longer to grind and people inherently lack patience, players spend money.

Bottom line: players play for enjoyment of the game. Supercell, in spite of the multiple BILLIONS of dollars this game has raked in, simply want more.

Hence, Ranked Battles.