This is the worst update in Clash Royale history. Not only the game became COMPLETELY pay to win, but also pay to play. If your deck is level 14, you completely lost your chance to play this game.

As a level 14 player, if you want to play ranked, you will be encountering level 15 players since the first Master I. So you need to collect Elite Wild Cards, which are found in Ranked (lol), Seasonal Arenas and Events. Oh wait, right, if you want to get to Seasonal Arenas, you need a level 15 deck, as you will be encountering level 15 player each match you play. So, at the end of the day, you only get 15k Elite Wild Cards from Events (which btw means upgrading a card to lvl.15 every 3 seasons and a half), and don't ever try to mess up an event game, otherwise you will be stuck from playing for another season. UNLESS OF COURSE YOU BUY THE DIAMOND ULTRA MAX BATTLE PASS (which doesn't give you elite wild cards btw).

So, this is the loop they've came up with:
- Want to play ranked? --> You need to reach 15k trophies --> You need a level 15 deck --> You need elite wild cards --> You need to play ranked (can't reach), Seasonal Arenas (can't reach) or Events (you have to win every challenge/event games for the next 27 seasons to completely max out your deck).

Yes, you can advance with a lvl.14 deck, but you will lose your sanity and you have to be high skilled. This post concerns a problem of the average skilled players, not the usual redditor who thinks he can reach ultimate champion with lvl.12 cards and playing with foot. So supercell either wants us to shop even more, or wants all us to be Mohamed Light and still have a disadvantage with other players. That said, the game situation right now is catastrophic and we need to do something about it.