Nate,
Personally I have enjoyed this format better than any other this game has ever had. Fight everyone except the few that are aligned with you. This gives us the truest champion this game has had. There are no avoids or excessive challenges to boost rankings. Even though I have for the most part gotten my ass handed to me in Blood Gods (except for Erupt) I have been enjoying this format. Heck the best part is after a few months we start from scratch and the old records erased. Now you can prove if you have improved or not.
I believe the balance of the different classes is fairly even. Granted I think power theatrics are struggling right now in the overall game. Also 2-hand wars are not as successful right now, especially considering there success in the past.

I have been seeing a lot of complaining, with little or no ideas for a solution. I can definitely see where this can be tricky to balance. Some managers might take a break, others might be inexperienced against top glads. Or the glads are just not ready for the blood gods, lord knows some of my boys suck right. But until I read some good ideas that are simple to implement and make sense to all, quit all the bitching and complaining. I would much rather have our developer finish up a major project such as conquests instead of revisiting something that's works but is not perfect to some. Then after some good ideas and suggestions he can make a path forward to correcting or modifying this part of the game.

Have a nice day
Crow