Monkey King has never had a chance to begin with

His inclusion doesnt make sense without including Li Dao and opening up Khuresh. His whole purpose is that he invades southern Cathay from Khuresh and Li Dao always pushes him back.

We knew from the start that this DLC will only include a single Cathay LL, so it was always going to be either Yuan Bo or Yin-Yin.

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I assume Monkey King will come together with Li Dao and Yin-Yin in CoC-style Cathayan focused DLC later down the track, which also opens up Khuresh.

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Now the only question is - will Yuan Bo start in Cathay or will he have second start postion like Eltharion and Malus? 3rd Cathayan lord in Cathay would be a dissapointment, considering Cathay is extremly safe space when AI cannot invade you via Sea Lanes.