The advantage of RDWC is in being able to manage the nutrient requirements of your plants with relative ease, your concerns about fert burn or starving are really misplaced. You've seen ATU's results, she's got her feeding regimen pretty well dialed from my view, I wish I did as well.
Heavy defoliation works very well for my indoor grows, personal results may vary. What ATU's showing us is textbook flower site preparation that I also try to follow.