IMO, it's not even a matter of making it fair. The group allows the arena to be more efficient. So that in a given payout, the people in that payout can more easily reach a higher rank. What the people in your given payout decide to do from there, it's up to you.
If there are only 3 people in your payout, and yet every day someone comes in at the last second and snipes from 6 spot (or tries), this means EA is not shelling out the max crystals that you 3 dudes could have earned, collectively. Well, perhaps that guy is always sniping from 6, because he doesn't know who to hit on the way up. On his better days he is just barely getting in striking range before the clock expires. So he goes for it. With better coordination, perhaps he could make the 3 spot before challenging the other dude in 1.
As for clock block... this is the only interesting part of the game. I miss my old rival, even though he was "that guy" who always sniped from 5 spot... even though there were only 2 of us. When the game is made so everyone with the right toons can beat everyone, the BEST the game gets is when your rival has a better team (as in can beat you faster than you can beat him, most of the time) and he has performed a perfect block.... but you scrape out a win with time running out... it's so close you don't even know if you made it until you check your reward. The guy who tried to block you knows exactly how much time he left for you, and he will be impressed, too. And for that one day, you will both appreciate this excuse for PvP.
