1. Please start using paragraphs on long posts like that, it really helps other users to read it more smoothly, instead of these big walls of text, trust me, im one of the users who posts the longest entries in here and i obviously want them to be read.
2. I disagree, thinning does not make the game more skillful, quite the contrary, it makes players use a metadeck and always play it in the same way and still get great results. You distinguish 'skillful thinning' from the thinning we have now, but you are unclear on what's this means, and i think its a paradox.
3. Agree with the binary situation and how big of a problem it is, like most, and yes, the problem started exactly with Iron Judgement, with the introduction of defenders, then it increased with MoO and Scenarios. Master Mirror introduced evolving cards, which fortunately arent as decisive as the previous 2 types, but introduced too much thinning with AA, Oneiro and Blood Eagle, which elevated the binary issue.
Most decks just run a heatwave for everything, so if the opponent plays defender+scenario, the binary check is positive-negative, and all it takes is a negative for you to lose.
4. Yes, the powercreep is real, and its basically done on purpose, just to maximize profit from MTXs, while sacrificing balance.
And yes, a lot of the mechanics are displayed as different, to pretend there's much diversity, but they work exactly the same, usually just boost by 1 each time its triggered. Fortunately the new mechanic - Adrenaline - for the next expansion seems to be truly different and a breath of fresh air, even if its quite simple.