The problem starts with new players
I myself have recently started playing Faf (a little less than a year)
Until you have 100 games it is impossible to get on any map except dual gaps or astro crater, you will be kicked from the lobby
On YouTube there are many clear guides on how to play dual gape, but no one explains how to play, for example, active maps 10 by 10
Ladder for beginners is too complicated at all, you still do not know the features of all units, each action takes 3 times longer, and your opponent will most likely already have hundreds of games and will easily kill you
And then people just get used to dual gaps, they know how to play it and there is always a lobby, so they play further
In most major online games, new players are assisted by experienced clans. But now the clans are not interested in this because it makes no sense for them to train new players. We have no clan activity. I think if we could give motivation to the clans to actively recruit and train new players (for example for clan tournaments or other events), then the situation could change