The SPS rewards for the two formats of the Splinterlands ranked play are very different, with much higher rewards in the Modern format and much lower in the Wild format. All while the Wild format has a season participation fee, and Modern doesn't. Of course, things can change, as they often have, but the only way I see this change for the time being is if players switch between formats, thus creating more competition for the same reward pool in Modern, and less in Wild.
"But I thought this was about SoulKeep", you might think.
I'm getting there... right now.
One way for Wild format players (Modern players are... allowed, but they already win too much SPS, lol) to increase their SPS rewards is to play in Brawls. Another is to play in tournaments. And finally - although other non-playing options exist - another variant is to play SoulKeep. I am going to focus on the latter, since you are probably all too familiar with the first two options.
By looking at the numbers, not too many Splinterlands players consistently play SoulKeep too.
I just looked at the SoulKeep tournament stats from yesterday, and there were almost 300 players in the 8 leagues that have any players so far. The majority are in League 2 (113 yesterday), and then in League 3 (52 yesterday). The number of players are relatively constant from one day to the next, from my observations. Sure, there are variations, but around the same numbers. Which means that the players that play SoulKeep are consistent, but not too many.
I already said a number of times that I like the game (and I play it daily). But that aside, rewards are... regular.
From my personal observations, if you understand the game and play it well (not even like a pro), you'll get rewarded daily. A little investment is needed at first to get the right towers and spells. With a little research you'll figure out which they are. And maybe you'll need to upgrade some of them in higher leagues. But then, rewards will be higher too. So far I could manage without a hero, but I'm sure those at the top of the leaderboards have one.
Also from my personal experience, right after you unlock a higher league you have a period of adjustment where you might not earn anything for a while. For example, I haven't earned anything for a week since I unlocked League 4. Haven't passed first gate of the solo quest either, but I haven't tried hard enough, to be honest.
But from my experience with lower leagues, after a while you figure out what you need to do to win, also more players unlock the higher league and it becomes easier to earn rewards.
For example, in League 3 I used to earn rewards daily. Last day before I unlocked League 4 I even finished in Top 10 for the first time since I play the game:
Notice the reward for my 8th place: 115.39 SPS. That's pretty nice, right?
So, if you are a Splinterlands player (Wild format in particular), don't discard SoulKeep as a way to earn SPS rewards!