Rewards were introduced during BETA not with Beta, I wouldn't consider them apart of classic play. Aplha/Beta cards only for classic play is my suggestion. I wouldn't be against including the first kickstarters Promo cards but for simplicity they can be excluded as well.

"Classic" splinterlands already exists. It's called "Alpha tournaments."

I touched on that in my post...

I know there's already some Alpha only tournaments but what I'm suggesting is much more than just adding the odd Alpha/Beta only tournaments. Make it a big announcement, Newly Introduced Splinterland Classic (Steemmonsters).
Give the classic version its own tournament lobby and have it displayed side by side with the one that's currently there or an in game tab in which we can switch back and forth between lobbies. I think doing this will up the interest in the Alpha and Beta edition cards big time.