[quote name='Brainberry']No items? as in outfarming your opponent is pointless?[/QUOTE]
It seems like it. You will level up faster, but the max level is only 14, so that doesn't matter too much.
There seems to be something you can buy that will change your stats, but I only see that on the death screen and so I'm not sure if that's just a "Loadout" that you set before the game starts.