The WRL format isn't engaging for higher level play, the chances are, all of the teams within division A will go to knockouts, so it's just a waiting game - does the tournament feel as epic as ECS2? Well no because the higher tier play has taken a backseat for other divisions and makes the tournament feel more casual, it's even worse because you're waiting for knockouts and by the time knockouts has arrived, the tournament just seems a bit boring because you've been waiting so long for the knockouts which would inevitably would have the same teams as week 1.
ECS2 was probably the best tournament when it came to hype, and it delivered, it was a fantastic tournament with (I believe) the most teams ever participated when including the ECL. Why was it good? Because the matches you wanted to see were happening on week one, rather than 5 weeks down the line when everyone has became lazy and half arsed because of the ladder stage. You have to find the correct balance between including lower divison teams but also making higher divison matches (the main event) more exhilarating. The current WNL format doesn't find that balance, and with higher division play taking a backseat, it causes the tournament to feel more casual.
It's actually quite sad that these new formats have been getting better for including teams but been detrimental to the actual competitive aspect of the tournament and makes it seem far more casual. I understand that the community isn't as big as it was, but currently there's no excitement with the current tournament formats, the main event SHOULD have special treatment because it's players who've been developing their skill overtime and newer teams should strive to be like that rather than just seeing divison A as another division which isn't all that exciting. ECS2 made me want to play Warband for 150 hours in two weeks because it was really entertaining to watch when I were a noob. Much like people spend 4000 hours on CSGO trying to improve because they have been watching higher tier play.
You could just have every other tournament be a really hype competitive ECS tournament mainly catered to higher level teams, then the next tournament be a league tournament so lower division teams can improve. I don't really think the lower division teams really care if they get into division A or not, because it's not all that exciting. Having tournaments which show the hype around being a higher level team is a must, how that can be done I'm unsure, but even though you're not including all the lower division teams, the hype would make lower division teams want to play more and start doing training matches together outside tournaments, ready to improve for the next league tournament.
League tournaments can be like the tournament before the tournament to see what level lower division teams are at, so they can improve and all that with the 'main main' tournament be an ECS style tournament where they can go through qualifiers and see if they're good enough based on these league tournaments. I don't bloody know, something that makes the competitive scene less stale would be nice. The WRL league format is just glorified scrims, where no one cares about the result.