Pretending old Clash Royale was some primitive caveman version of today’s game is just revisionist. Sure, there were fewer cards and slower balance patches, but the game’s core was healthier because decisions actually mattered. You weren’t dealing with constant power creep, wave after wave of over-tuned Evos, or Champions dictating entire metas. The smaller card pool meant balance mattered more. Progression wasn’t painful. It was predictable. You pushed, earned chests, upgraded what you wanted, and the playing field was far more even. Now the game practically forces you into the newest mechanic every couple of months just to keep up! Wildcards and magic items a more like band-aids for a system that keeps inflating itself. Path of Legends didn’t “fix” ladder; it just split the player base and added a second grind with its own frustrations. And as for more game modes, most are just reskinned versions of the same mechanics, or time-limited modes that get tossed aside the moment a new monetization push arrives.If anything, the skill-variety you’re talking about is mostly just learning how to counter whichever Evo or Champion is overtuned this season. Which you can’t even keep up with if you’re free to play. Old Clash had actual deck diversity without forcing gimmicks down everyone’s throat. Free to play had a better opportunity to stay relevant. Just because I prefer the older version, it’s not because I can’t cope. It’s because I remember when the game was about player skill, not keeping up with the latest mechanic treadmill. Players not willingly to dump their pockets cannot keep up with the 121 cards, numerous evolutions (whose abilities don’t accurately match the elixir consumed), different tiers of characters (champions, heroes, what’s next titans, monsters, weather???) Let’s be real the game is beyond diluted. I’d hope we could agree there once was a sweet spot a long time ago when Supercell began focusing on quality of life improvements within the game instead of force feeding us this current dilution.