Potential updates to ranked rewards
It's gonna be a long post, but hear me out: why not instead of just the usual hourglasses and the emblem rewards, we have additional rewards (e.g. exclusive cards, pack points for the next set, e.t.c.) so that it makes ranked battles more enticing.
What I'm thinking could work is:
Top 1000: 100 pack hourglasses, Top 1000 emblem, 1250 pack points for the next set, and an exclusive ex card with a "Top 1000" promo stamp
Top 5000: 100 pack hourglasses, Top 1000 emblem, 1250 pack points for the next set, and an exclusive ex card with a "Top 5000" promo stamp
Top 10000: 100 pack hourglasses, Top 1000 emblem, 1250 pack points for the next set, and an exclusive ex card with a "Top 10000" promo stamp
Unranked Masterball: 100 pack hourglasses, rank emblem, 1250 pack points for the next set
Ultra Ball 4: 90 pack hourglasses, rank emblem, 500 pack points for the next set
Ultra Ball 3: 85 pack hourglasses, rank emblem, 500 pack points for the next set
Ultra Ball 2: 80 pack hourglasses, rank emblem, 500 pack points for the next set
Ultra Ball 1: 75 pack hourglasses, rank emblem, 500 pack points for the next set
Great Ball 4: 65 pack hourglasses, rank emblem, 250 pack points for the next set
Great Ball 3: 60 pack hourglasses, rank emblem, 250 pack points for the next set
Great Ball 2: 55 pack hourglasses, rank emblem, 250 pack points for the next set
Great Ball 1: 50 pack hourglasses, rank emblem, 250 pack points for the next set
Pokeball 4: 45 pack hourglasses, rank emblem, 125 pack points for the next set
Pokeball 3: 40 pack hourglasses, rank emblem, 125 pack points for the next set
Pokeball 2: 35 pack hourglasses, rank emblem, 125 pack points for the next set
Pokeball 1: 30 pack hourglasses, rank emblem, 125 pack points for the next set
Beginner 4: 25 pack hourglasses, rank emblem
Beginner 3: 20 pack hourglasses, rank emblem
Beginner 2: 15 pack hourglasses, rank emblem
Beginner 1: 10 pack hourglasses, rank emblem
I think these can work, because personally I feel that ranked is not really "how much you spend in the game", but more of "how much you grind ranked in the game". Sure, meta decks will undoubtedly rule in ranked, but you can still get a pretty high rank by constant grinding, if not maybe even Top 10000. Who knows, right?
For the exclusive ex promo cards, they are meant to be exclusive to the ranked and not a variant of existing ex cards or from a future set. In other words, a completely new card only available as ranked rewards.
I suggested adding in pack points for the next set so that players have more flexibility in terms of what cards they want to obtain from the get-go. For newer players, that could mean using the hourglasses to open old packs to get cards that are necessities in any deck (e.g. Cyrus, Mars, e.t.c.) while using the pack points to obtain cards from the new set. Ultimately, it's every player's choice of how they want to spend their rewards.
Those are my thoughts, what do y'all think?