Free to play X-COM with lots more waiting

Man I love this game. I got put on it by a Twitch streamer who is apparently really in touch with the company (Ive even streamed X-Mercs once or twice!), and I cant put it down. That is, until my phone is too hot to hold and I have to put it down.
First, the cons; save the best for last.
My phone heats up like CRAZY when playing this game. Its super resource intensive apparently.
My battery disappears when playing. Maybe thats cause I lose track of time, or maybe its cause the game is brutal on my iPhone 6.
Its 1.9 gigs. Thats insane. Plus when the new bug fixing update is 1 gig on its own, I dont have enough room to own this game.
Facebook pairing doesnt work for me for some reason. Every time the button pops up, promising a 2500 credit reward, I hit it and Facebook says you have already authorized X-Mercs and my account doesnt link.
My top mercs are at rank 9 and 8, and one skull difficulty contracts (as well as most of the story missions and most definitely playing PvP) are almost impossible as a free to play player. The game has been reduced to a slow grind waiting for my Shadow Markets to make money and for my mercs to heal (I cant level my lower mercs cause every mission is impossible for them).
Expeditions have also become impossible. With my literal 5 best mercs, a long expedition has around a 60% chance of success, when it used to be easy to hit 95%. Compounded with the fact I can barely beat missions, I dont have enough materials to make better gear to help me beat more missions.

The pros:
Free to play X-Com. Nuff said.
Nanites (the speed things up currency) are super abundant, and I have a stack of 300 of them waiting for when I have enough credits to afford to purchase the item.
So much gear and loot! So many customizable options for my mercs! So many strategy options!
I went a long time without hitting this rut of get better or get left behind. Its got a ton of great gameplay for a free game.

So overall I love it, but Ive hit a pretty massive gameplay wall and may just have to save the 2 gigs on my phone for another game if I cant get past it in the near future.

:D Secret about Mercs of Boom