I think something else to consider is that the map selection on war2 has become significantly simplified due to a small player base. For the last many years Gow + Chop and sometimes something like NWTR or HSC have been the dominant maps. Chop is great for many people but for some people it is off putting. Most chop players have like 5k-20k games played on that map at this point, making it difficult for someone like me to compete. If I have a neighbor, I lose like 90% of the time, making it less fun for me.
I've never given it an honest try either, but that's because I'm a lazy player. I'd rather not click on every peon to power chop for optimal gameplay, I'd rather not have super high APM to compete every game, and that's probably because of personal war2 fatigue. This is just me but I can only assume that at least some other people fall into this category too. It's not that chop is necessarily a bad map, because it's not, but the barrier to entry is high because the community is 'pretty good' to 'great' at that map. It's one of the primary reasons why I won't play. I'd probably be pretty good at it eventually and become like a tier 2 player at it, but I'm satisfied with Gow and customs like archers.