I know that I can't live from my Splinterlands account as I play with only 1, but I suppose that players in the Champions leagues can do that even with just 1 account... You mentioned tournaments, rankings position, rewards cards, etc...
On the other side, living from crypto is possible and I can sign that from my personal experience... But, that's another topic... :)
Cheers!
I totally agree, since the start of SPS airdrop a guy like khazarak hasn't been seen doing any content creation. He probably makes enough just by playing the game. At the beginning I remember that he said he made around 3'000 USD per day just from SPS airdrop :-). I think for the top 50, things look pretty nice. And yes making a living from crypto seems more and more possible the more I advance on this journey as well :-)