I think everyone can have a chance to rank up; when I read about the new merit system my first thought was "ok, gg, I'll never reach the next rank".. my second thought was "ok, let's try and put some effort on my next posts, let's try to give something to this forum"
I made few posts and I got rewarded; as long as people keep sending sMerits I think it's definitely possible, a lot harder but still possible