One word: No. If I stop playing for a month, I'll still be able to destroy anyone below level 25. Blowing up fine gentlemen is only entertaining for so long.

Instead of rank degeneration, I'd rather have rank fading. If you don't play X games per week, relative to leaderboard position, you're removed from the leaderboards. You still have your rank, but you need to play in that playlist to keep it there. No more boosting then never playing in the list again. The number of games scales with your relative position, with 5 games per week needed for everyone, up to 25 games per week for the top player. You must always face a significant variety of opponents in these games. At least 1 different team/player for every 5 games. If you're required to play 10 games and play the same person 10 times, you don't show up on the leaderboards.

This is a win-win. Boosters don't get recognition while it encourages people to play in their high-level lists, and inactive players are taken out of the food chain.

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