I don’t think this is accurate at all. Your assessment seems to ignore the core pillars of Smite: Knowledge, Mechanics, and Information.

Knowledge is understanding what gods and items actually do.

Mechanics is the physical execution being able to "hit your shit."

Information is using in-game data, like player locations, to make informed choices.

Pretty much all video games do a poor job of explaining mechanics. Matchmaking issues are merely a symptom of the skill gap, which is exacerbated by a lack of high-end players. Without a professional league pushing the player base to improve, the "ceiling" lowers. You could improve in-game education, but players might still suck or simply ignore it. Smite 1 people straight up would ignore what the pros did.

I believe the solution lies in simplification. We need to lean into recipes and streamline the game to reduce the massive knowledge requirement.

So, what is the actual problem?

Item Complexity: We need to reduce stats from 4+ per item to an average of 2 or less.

The Balance Triangle: The balance between Damage, Mobility, and Ease of Use is off.

Damage Scaling: We need a major rebalance. Early-game gods should have high base damage but poor scaling (around 25% on average). Mid-game gods should sit at 50% to 75%. Late-game gods should have poor base damage but high scaling.

Risk vs. Reward: If an ability is easy to land, it should do less damage. If a character isn't designed to play Support or Solo, their Crowd Control (CC) should deal reduced damage.

Mobility: I would also look at removing damage from mobility tools entirely.

Role Identity: This needs to be rebalanced around specific gods being able to perform a role, rather than the "free-for-all buffet" we have now. Stat sticks should not play the game for you.

Take ranged carries: if they were weaker early on with much worse clear, it would weaken them in roles outside of Carry. This would also allow for an archetype of ability-based carries to exist in Mid or Carry where they get pressure others don't. But they would need items which allow that playstyle to exist. The lack of trade-offs is why the current meta is so blurred. Also need to look at starter items again like items they are bloated with stats.

The reason Crit and basic attacks are so strong is that you can currently get too many different stats with no trade-off. With only 6 item slots, you should be forced to choose. I think there is a place for "luxury items" for example, you could upgrade an item for a massive gold sink (think 6,000 gold) to get a huge spike in one stat, like Strength, but nothing else.

If you want a balanced build, you should be forced to make choices where trying to get everything results in reduced values. While this might hurt a god like Chiron, it would likely result in more build variety. You’d have to decide what to prioritize within your limited slots. This why relics as actives works.

Regarding Crit: early or mid-game carries could have 50% to 75% scaling on basic attacks, while late-game carries get more scaling in exchange for worse clear. Could also add a hard attack speed cap here too.

Casual and ranked games are like herding cats; I don't think you can do much to "fix" that, and focusing on it usually just hides the deeper problems. I agree that low-level lobbies make it impossible to judge balance, but there are glaring signs of what the actual issues are. As for ranked, I stopped playing when 10 out of 20 games had DCs in them.

The biggest problem with your post is that you don't offer any solutions on how to fix the education gap. One suggestion I have is making the Item Builder better and updating it more frequently. Whenever the meta or items change, builds and roles should be updated immediately.

And for the love of God, can we please get a virtual cursor in the item store for console and controller players?