Seems about normal for the 2nd milestone.  103 ancient shards on average to get there.  IMO not unreasonable above average acquisitions since the last 2x ancients. 

I have completed this event and won the shard tournament a few times with just a fair amount invested when I was just starting off in RAID knowing I needed some decent champs asap to get ahead plus needing decent gear which relentless gear served me well. Being I'm years behind everyone else figured this was a good way to start. Though now after playing a few months have found shards are not that hard to come by if in a good clan with decent champs and if very active ig. From daily quests to demon lord to just farming shards add up. Its about saving them up and waiting for that precise moment for an event you truly want to win especially if f2p. If f2p yes it could take months or a year give or take but a f2p person is getting years of entertainmen for free they get what they get imo. If they want more invest and/or simply pay up as plarium has done a fine job and has put a lot of work into this game. They deserve to be paid. I surely wouldn't work for free 😆  their customer care is on point from what I've seen as well. Never seen an app game with such on point service. Least is my opinion at the moment. 

Honestly being my silly self I can't resist a moment like now where Kassandra needs her souls. Its now or never. Like Leo was and am glad I got him when I could. I haply paid up. 

Yes the drop rate for shards is heart breaking sometimes but its how it is cause as said for higher ups shards don't seem to be as big an issue to come by. If to high a drop rate everyone would have every champ having no diversity in the game making it boring years later for the pros. They'd all have the same teams as I see it.

In the info area it tells ya how much you get per champ as you know. Save shards do the math and see if thats an event you can possibly win before going all in. Cause it does bite when you're only a few hundred points away from completing an event I know. Know when to spend, know when not too. It can be like gambling so be a wise spender. Know when to just take the lose. Like poker know when to hold em know when to fold em. 

Just to clarify: Once you have a limited time-only champ in your collection, their souls will always be in the pool to randomly pull from soul stones.

I'm not sure if that's what you meant by "now or never" but I figured it would be worth mentioning for anyone who might not be aware of it.