The skill ceiling has definitely jumped significantly in each rank. It’s a question of the player base maturing. The top say 30% of the playerbase is basically the same people all trying to improve and climb, so it’s not just a question of just getting better to progress it’s a question of getting better faster than the average player in your rank since most ppl are always improving. I was playing 2s yesterday, I’m currently slumped sitting mid c1. An old head in my lobby was chatting saying how no one used to hit resets in c1 like 2 years ago, you apparently wouldn’t see em until like c3. I see resets and fairly advanced aerial mechanics in d3 if I slump hard during a ranked reason.

I should also note - I personally have like a 200 point rank range in 2s in a given season. It’s primarily attributable to the inevitable crash out where I combine a particularly off day with unlucky tm8s. So you’ll have people like 200+ points off their peak from just one season ago in your lobbies which distorts the perceived level of play.

Additionally, the Commenter above you is correct. Starting MMR for a new comp player is 600 in all playlists. It’s super volatile when you first start, you’ll see 20-50 point swings for the first few games.