This is true for any competitive game, there will always be newbie groups and experienced groups. Matchmaking is already set in so that a full diamond team will only gain 1 rating from a full bronze team, and the bronze team will only lose 1 rating. Yeah, newbie groups might get bronze the first season, but they'll progress and hit gold the second season, and maybe diamond by the third season, too. Everyone starts somewhere, it's a long term learning process.
The purpose of the icons is to introduce a new incentive to the PvP side of things. Yeah, it's still a PvE centered game, but based on the fact that SE has been spending more and more time on PvP content, I don't think it's excessive to give PvP something neat to promote it.
