A friend managed to get to top 100 during Season 19.
He had a lot of free time and didn't bought anything, when PVP was up he'd get in. He was almost always on queue, ready to wait for 3 hours if it was needed.

He barely made it despite his time investment. Imagine you put that much time in it and you don't get the rewards.

Rewards distribution is unhealthy and they need to allow more players to get the rewards. I understand that the goal is to make PVP attractive through amazing rewards but it has a toxic effect. Players become easily agressives and tools/buy are encouraged to secure a spot.