I would say that there are two types of professional types of 9 ball pool players:
- Those who have mastered the break
- Those who have not mastered the break
For those who have mastered the break (consistent at making a ball on the break, having cue ball in position with clear shot to next ball, and a good spread of the balls), if the tournament is using a template rack, they enjoy a huge advantage. Hard to defeat them when you rarely get to the table to shoot. These players can run several racks in a row when a template rack is used. There are probably a handful of these players on the planet.
For those who have not mastered the break, they are more likely to win with a more nuanced skill-set of shot making, safety play, strategy, and a knack to get out of difficult situations. So the "traditional" (non-template) rack can even the odds between those two types of player a bit.
I don't know why matchroom changed the racking, but I like that it evened out the playing field a little. Players that were winning x - 0 or x - 1 weren't winning with those lopsided margins on the crappy triangle rack. That being said, it was a crock that referees were arbitrarily telling players that they were breaking too soft. Either use the 3 point rule or shut up!