I have been stuck around 1700-1800 forever, but last few weeks I really have not played just opened a free chest now and then to keep the card collection growing (finally got a Epic Baby Dragon this morning!).
A bit sad about the business model. If anyone makes a clone that I can just pay for once (or free

) please let me know.
One thing I really dislike about the random chests is that the contents are tied to your current level. I was going up and down between levels 5 and 6 for weeks, and the chest cycles unfortunately gave me some really nice chests, like the super magic one, when I happened to be on level 5. Guess that could have made a huge difference for my collection and chances to stay on level 6 more permanently. I am reasonably stable now but one reason I do not play much is to make sure my free chests keep giving me level 6 cards. I do not want to start playing again, drop down to level 5, and then have to struggle back to level 6 before I can take a new break.
The only way I stopped dropping down to level 5 was by switching back to an older more stable deck with some really basic cards like the Musketeer and Javelin Goblins and Skeleton Army and stop playing around with towers and buildings and collectors and other advanced things that are beyond my skills to use well. I know reasonably well what to counter by what and I do that, but I always have trouble going on the offensive to score.