It is when an alliance that has global+ accounts also includes gunpowder and medieval (sometimes even lower) players in a war to dilute their war strength and match an opponent that cannot 5 star their global accounts. It is very effective if you do not want war to be challenging.
We have trouble matching teams, but the top Korean alliances have to heavily sandbag just to match us. I can promise you that they aren't sandbagging to get easy matchups. They are sandbagging to get any matchup.
Why over-complicate this? If you have sufficient NTGs for coalitions, then you may participate in the war. If you don't, then you sit this war out and join in the next. Leadership is a forgotten skill.
I think splitting the alliance is a very rational response to these impossibly long search times. We finally got a match with a full lineup and it was with a higher ranked alliance that had to resort to sandbags in order to match.
1st Dynasty has always been a Great War alliance (autocorrect believes that they are also aging war veterans). Perhaps the reason that KA is now stronger is because what was once a single alliance is now spread over five.
Ah geez, Wind Warriors. Now I feel bad. It is like making fun of a special needs child. But then again, I suppose that every team that matches Wind Warriors in war feels like a bully when it is over.