Keep in mind, there are extremes of not doing lvl freezing such as some people decide to level too fast and hopefully you aren't suggest that is a better choice than leveling freezing. If you level too fast especially on a new server, then you will be behind in the long run and eventually be stuck in the higher bracket of sage. I'm sure the sage brackets in all servers will eventually be identical with two brackets. A third bracket would have appeared in some time but due to a declining server population that every server expects to happen causes the bracket to disappear.

Putting power first before leveling is the main idea but you don't have to restrict exp compared to someone who stopped entirely. If you need to level to access a feature, go for it. However, give some time to increase your power before you level to the next feature. During this time, lucky board and missions should be your only focus rather than going for RNG ninjas. Finding that balance is what players should go after.

I've seen several being stuck there because they chose to level to fast, which is why I suggested this warning. Of course this is only in one range of servers but I did say servers in each range of servers eventually begin to look the same. This advice does not apply to you since you know what you are doing. However, for someone, who level fast may not. There are reasons why I see 1-4 players with power 90k at LVL 100-105 when the average power is 130k-140k excluding whales (which is the majority of my top bracket).

It really depends what server you are placed in. I'm able to get top 3 (usually 1st place) if I get pushed back to the lower bracket and typically at top 4-6 in the top bracket (which I'm fine with since I'll get more items if I didn't try at all). I have to try to target the weaker players in the top bracket while avoiding the whales and in the lower bracket, I don't have to have to try as much to get into top4. If I am placed in brackets a little more balanced, then I would not be able to get a score that can place me in top4-6. If there are less whales especially the top ones in your region in your cross server bracket, you're more likely to rank high but you better know what you are doing.

There's a lot of factors such as who shows up since I don't see all the players that can beat me all the time. Anyways, OP got his answers. No need for people who have opinions about level freezing taking over his post.