OFB-11!

Well, I'm really not ready to use the word "better." In my opinion, the 9 templates mentioned have more in common with each other than other randomly selected templates. That is, they require relatively similar skills. Anarchy and M200 (as well as Panic/Balance and others that were not included in the pool) require somewhat different skills. SMK, however, also stands out a bit, but I still see it as closer to the standard templates.
However, diversity is also good in its own way. My comment should not be taken as criticism. I just wanted to answer the question of how else you could select 9 templates. Perhaps with this set, even more participants would disagree :)

All templates can be divided into two groups: contact and non-contact:
The first group includes MM6, Spider, M200, MT-Diamond (in my opinion), and HM12 with some reservations; the rest are all non-contact. Accordingly, some require the ability to play a contact game with minimal troops and artifacts, while others do not. In my experience, people prefer closed templates because many (mistakenly) see their advantage there, either that they will be able to gain an advantage or, conversely, that it will be more suitable for them. What am I getting at? The fact that to progress as a player and develop your skills, you need to step outside of your comfort zone. And those who constantly play the same thing, and with the same opponent, are more likely to regress than to improve.))