u/BelkacemB

tl;dr

I scraped per-GW squads, transfers, and chips for 10,000 managers (stratified: top 1k → top 5m).
Comparing top 1k to top 1m, five things show up cleanly:

1. Team value built early: Top 1k were +£0.5m by GW7, +£2m by GW20.
2. Chip timing, not just usage: Top 1k played their 1st TC at GW6 (top 1m: GW13) and 1st BB at GW9 (top 1m: GW15)
3. Far fewer hits. Top 1k mean: 1.1 hits all season. Top 1m: 3.3. Top 5m: 7.7.
4. Pivoted to the run-in early. By GW35 top 1k were 70%+ on Van Hecke, Verbruggen, Tavernier, Calvert-Lewin — top 1m were still half-anchored to the GW1 template.
5. Less original, not more. A typical pair of top 1k managers shared 5 of 11 starters at GW20. Top 5m pairs: 3 of 11. Originality is a symptom of low-rank play, not the cure.