I just realized this is completely rigged to help Cats.
75% of participants are for Team Dog. Since Cats only have 25%, that means 50% of our team will end up being matched against each other, and since those matches don't count towards our total score, we end up losing 50% of our team to balance the teams out, which also potentially means that our bests players will face each other, which would leave the so-so ones to play the matches that do count. If it was a true war, Cats would be obliterated in a planck.