My point is that deathnail is not only fatalistic, but hyperbolic. People have gone on and on about this LI thing, and at the highest levels I feel it is a valid point given the current players in the game. I also believe that, given time, a change in the current training best practices paradigm, and inclination, someone could put together a team that would defeat an LI team.
My real point, however, is that since the vast majority of teams play in d.iii and lower, I think that there are a great variety of tactics that can and do succeed. That's where I believe you to be misinformed. You consider only the competitions for the top teams to be important or "major", when actually the opposite is the truth. The d.iii and d.iv leagues are equally important and "major" for the people involved in them, and there are far more of those. It is fairly selfish of you to consider only the top level leagues and the last rounds of the Cup as the only "major" competitions. Even a cursory glance through the finals of last season's d.iv leagues in the USA, Italy, Poland, or France shows that a number of tactics were used and successful.
If people get to the highest levels, discover they cannot find ways to either compete or keep themselves entertained, they leave. Sad, but understandable. I myself enjoy the game because it is a daily diversion for me, so I won't be leaving anytime soon, even though I have been playing in a non-competitive tiny country since season 3. Actually, the user numbers in Thailand have increased slightly lately, and the caliber of teams in d.1 has gotten more competitive, so the entertainment value has actually increased the last two or three seasons.
And finally, the number of users right now is 49746. Two years ago, the number was roughly 50000. Four years ago, it was about 40000. I just don't see huge movement away from the game over any significant historical time frame.
Is there room for growth? Questionable, Since the number of users has been roughly static over the last four years.
Are there areas for improvement? Obviously. Especially in new features, as Yellow Cake endlessly reminds us.
Is LI a deathnail? I don't think so.
That is my point.
Once I scored a basket that still makes me laugh.