I avoided a promotion for 2 seasons, while building up a good team for the cup. Last season I ended up winning a lvl 16 cup while I was 13. However I already planned for the infamous "easy cup draw exploit". I now ended up in a much much MUCH easier league with 1* or even 2* teams while even the cup is a lot easier.
I am now guilty of the same crime I've been a victim for several seasons. Yeah, I might win but this surely will piss off a lot of people.
I also agree to implement a better draw for the cup without having to exploit it because it leads to 2 problems:
1) Unfair cup to some players. Contrary to real football where a weaker team can actually eliminate a stronger team in a single leg match, here it's nearly impossible for a 3* or 4* star team to win against a stronger team in 2 legs.
2) You have to dismantle a good team to get a good draw. I had 2 sell 2 6* players that I now miss because I couldn't find a replacement, unless I spend 1 or even 2 seasons to get them to the same level with a SA and a second or third role. You should keep players for more seasons like in real football instead of working continously on the market, instead of being an occasional activity during the season.
However, having only a few market window despite realism will close the game even more and make it more "static", other than preventing Nordeus to get their money (which is what they are working for).
I don't know if a slight improvement in player's progression is gonna help keeping a good team together, or that we need to rework the cup draw itself. I hardly found in the cup the same teams I faced in the league, and those where much more balanced (to me at least).
I think that the first cup leg could be "blind", and working as a real qualification round where you can't see your next opponents. Once you win it the game can calculate the next round as normal with equivalent opponents. I think this way you can't really plan for an easy draw in advance.