To me, this is a no brainer.

Since removing leagues, the "game" has become HEAVILY pay-to-win. And gamers don't respond to that.

At what point do we admit that maybe removing card level caps/leagues was a mistake?

This game reminds me of the show Kitchen Nightmares. Gordon Ramsay visits these failing restaurants to turn them around, and the owners of the restaurants ALWAYS say, "But my regulars like it!" To which Gordon replies, "Keeping them happy is putting you out of business." I think we're in a similar situation, where we are trying to keep a few people happy rather than focus on the potential if we were to really make a change in direction.

We tried the no-leagues thing. It has failed. Time to re-think that decision.