My experience is most p2w players climb the ranks too fast and actually fare poorly in the upper ranks. There are definitely exceptions who are obviously solid gamers before they try this game and who pick it up fast. And then there are experienced players already in the top ranks who now instamax their new gear to stay at the tippy-top, but would still be really difficult opponents regardless. Overall, there's less of a need to spend than a lot of folks think, but they take the initial deals, get used to an unrealistic win rate in the beginning, and then impatiently spend more every time they lose.
One other thing, I have noticed is sometimes less talented whales consistently get smarter AI when paired against me, to boost their prospects. I assume the matchmaker is compensating to try and get them a win.
Either way, don't let it get you down.