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• I am an active player, but (other than the Starter Set) I am not invested money into the game so far.

I have invested 4 or 5 USD in the game past the starter set, but that was it.

I don't think that Splinterlands is "pay-to-play" as much as it is "grind-to-play"

By this, I mean as a starting player you may have to face loss after loss to make your daily quest...or even to hit a winning streak that moves you up to a better rewards bracket.

Like you, I am often matched against players that are ranked 200-300 points higher than me, but I have had days in which I ran streaks of playing ranks 200-300 lower than I was...once this resulted in my moving into the Silver I bracket, which has a much higher card reward

I think you have to look at Splinterlands as an investment in:
time
hope

Good luck!