This I agree with.
You could have more static competitions if you wanted to of course. With pre-determined gear etc. Not that I see much reason why.
Some people seem to care a lot about leaderboards though. I would keep them for that reason. But try to make them better. Still gear dependent (too important a part of an A-RPG to remove it in competitions), but less RNG focused. Like having static dungeons to compete in.
The Conquests in D3 are also better versions of leaderboards than the GRift leaderboards.