Is there anyway to drop ranks quickly in Casual and / or Ranked PvP?

[Strat]

Yep. Unfortunately same as 2 weeks ago.

Is there any advantage to being a higher level?

You want to keep your XP gains as low as possible until later in the game. There is a hidden line at Level 200 that opens PvP up to all players (yes this includes 1k+). Your over it there’s so there nothing you can do at 235. Work on your Invade teams synergy. You XP Armor moved you too fast up the levels, It will be difficult for a bit but you’ll get through it, but yes the XP Armor is making the game harder before you have the necessary troops. Oh and most importantly there is a MASSIVE …

My additional advise is to slow down, and spend a bit of time reviewing @Tacet YouTube channel. Find a PvP team you can build using your existing troop inventory and Trait it out. I don’t know what your currently using but I’m sure you can find something more successful.