User blog comment:LonelySouI/Food For Thought/@comment-24843529-20140720131309

Free players won't be able to beat cash players because of some changes that made it harder for free players to get good cards. It is impossible to reach 200F in tower with no items, the mag rewards for fallen were changed so you only get 2 mags at level 50, pure only appears at level 21 and over, whereas before any level can trigger pure encounter. Also remember that you can't join a good guild as a free player that's at a low level. The gold apple release does allow experienced free players to get good cards, but the problem with that is the difficulty with getting the skill level up. About the silver apple 5*, 12k attack and no high trigger really kills it, but it is a good starting point for players getting their first 5*.

'Nobody care about SS'  <- that's not true, I spent money on items to get Caladbolg and Shield of Achilles, both with 2 mags. The popularity of ss increased due to Caladbolg's skill, and I'm sure free players were glad to get Tartarus with less than 50 completions. At levels below 30, it's possible to get 60 completions with very few items, so it's, imo, the only way for free players to get top tier cards unless your at the 81+ warzone.

I don't think free players would affect ranking much, FH and TR in scq and tower are for cashers or free players above level 100 and has been saving items for months, and there are very few of them.

I can agree on some of the things you said, but I think you're overstating things when you say free players can beat cash players.