Punishment

I am a returning player who hasn't touched the game in about 2 years. I hit infinite in either the first or second season, but have never come closer than rank 70 since. I just started playing again, had some fun after buying Galacta. New month starts, decide not to buy season pass so far, used the same deck i had been using. Got up to rank 70 despite constantly facing people 10,000 collection levels higher than i am. Then it started. The Punishment. For the record im around CL 4,500 dont have any of the big 3 yet and probably less than 20 Series 5 cards.

I read that this company has a rep for possibly punishing players who dont pay into the game. Also states they take cube rate, Collection level, and Win/Loss into account for matchmaking which im pretty certain is a complete lie.

So im half complaining as a returning player half questioning what yall think? Does playing people who have more recent cards and/or much higher collection levels make this game fair for returning/new players. Is matchmaking good or bad? Do you get punished for mot buying season passes?