Not sure about what the reward would be for a demotion to gold 1, as association members tend to be quite upbeat about staying up even when fighting for survival has been going on for the 4th season. And very possibly next one too when getting a 1st out of the next 2. Haha!
Greens seems to be the most precious when Ts are sufficient to buy FTs, so I did think about joining a gold 1 association and then keep a lower AVQ team to save more greens (more winnable even without spending greens to recover for asso matches, and also can still win with weaker FTs [can do with a 100% FT instead of a 120%]). You should be saving a lot more greens with less power-training needed. This can only be a good thing for future squad building.
I look to save more Ts to feel comfortable in getting FTs very early in a season, and can even consider investing in a tailored 120% youth to power-train to 140% on day 1. There is a certain FT which is so important but then never really pops up, such as DMC/MC with playmaker SA. Also not appeared in recommended or daily player ever too.
Level 20 onwards will become a lot tougher, so I feel fine to keep playing very competitive asso matches ahead of those expected challenges later.
