I think this is actually backwards. Bonuses are flatter than they've ever been, including the difference between masters and non masters. Never been easier for anyone to die to anyone, and a lot of people don't want to die on their bonused alts so they either don't play them or play conservatively.
That said, I still think there's something weird going on with abs mitigation and ranked damage, and it makes playing low in abs really miserable vs. a few years ago. Or something. Taking 5 damage from a bash and 10 from a kick seems pretty excessive.