TLDR: Fix the rating system first.

Every update prior to this was to "encourage players to play more." You even used this statement to hype the new soul bound reward cards. Now because bots are exploiting the system and you refuse to handle the problem directly, you want people to play less or pay a fee.

I understand the need for something like this but feel it's a bit premature. The rating system is broken and needs fixing before something like this is implemented.

Fees without fixes = money grab

You don't have to try and exploit bots to make money when actual players are willing to spend more if things like this are actually fixed.

Leaderboard players took a hit with the last ECR update and now we're taking another one with this.

Example:
A single loss negates the previous 20 wins. Following that, each consecutive win was worth +0-1 rating.

This +0-3 rating per win and -40 per loss has been a major issue for a while now and it's not like the community hasn't been vocal about it. You should address this problem before you start charging people to try and make up for a major design flaw.

More examples: