I never really zeta a toon or gear them up unless they are either 7 stars or meta. So my GP is only 2.2mil Dec 15 shard
Reason for this is because of resource management , there is no way I can survive spending resources on fluff and still drive towards my goals whether that's getting revan or c3po.
My first round of GA I was up against traya and I'm still to unlock her . Did It matter no I still got the win (magma , thrawn).
My friend who started playing 6-9 months after me has more GP than me now ,all because he likes to gear his toons in preparation for the stars so loads of gear 8,9,10 toons at 3,4 stars .
If we where to ever get matched the fact I have double the g12 and triple the Zeta's it's a easy win.
Moral of the story is the game is about choices.
And choosing fluff doesn't benefit anyone in any game mode.
TB - 200k of fluff or 2 teams to clear the waves
TW -"" or 2 defence/attack
Arena - more counters to the meta or more fluff
GW - enough strong teams for stages or fluff
GA - do I need say more.