How do I not play a league if there isnt a certain amount of teams

[animal31]

I want to create a playoff between 6 to 9 teams, where 6 teams are promoted to a very wide competition

 

However, I have it set up so that if there are certain conditions met, the entire league may only have 6 playoff teams

 

In that event, I want to promote them all, without having to have them play any games

 

I cant figure out how to create empty stages. If I create a hidden stage 1, I can set a requirement for stage 2 to only be created when stage 1 has 7 or more teams, but the other one breaks the competition, as it doesnt get set up