Freelancer is not an issue at all.

Frontline Freelancer is the GC restriction removal we begged for for 3 years because it sucked being in a different GC from your friends all the time, and it was even worse when queues could take up to 2 hours (and no, I'm not exaggerating) because there's 40 Maelstrom players in queue, 28 Adders, but only 4 Flames. Sure, that's 72, but to the matching algorithm, that's not 24/24/24. Freelancer fixed this issue, as we knew it would, and that's ALL it does.

That said, people who are skilled can play on any team and do well. I've said this. They still need a team of skilled teammates, or even just good support/coordination, but whether they freelance or not means nothing. Whether they're in Maelstrom or not means nothing. People don't lose because they AREN'T in X GC.

People lose because they want to rely solely on the ice to win.
People lose because they don't actively try to fight other players or take advantage of other means to score.
People lose because they don't get off their mounts when near enemies, or try to get on them near enemies.
People lose because they don't help each other, or support their team in the right ways.
People lose because they think if they miss one large ice, it's impossible to come back.
People lose because they'll drop everything and turn their backs on an attacking enemy just to rush to the ice.
People lose because they won't even defend themselves or each other at the ice.
People lose because they keep jumping off cliffs to hurry to the ice, despite there being a safe way down and inside each area.
People lose because they think sitting on the base alone in the name of "guarding" it actually does anything helpful. (PROTIP: It doesn't. You're just 5 extra points along with the stolen base when a group rolls in.)
People lose because they think the problem lies with bots, GC affiliations, and premades, and fail to see all the things they're doing wrong, even in the absence of bots/premades.

The problem isn't what team you're on, it's everything people do wrong/don't do right, and worst of all, don't even know they're doing/not doing. Let this talk of "People who want to win go to X GC/don't go Freelancer!" be laid to rest here and now. Freelancer isn't the issue at all, and being skilled isn't an exclusive trait to Maelstrom or any other GC.