I like how the goal was to make games shorter, or least to not go further than 1.5 hours. Then immediately being presented with a 2 hour session, I'm loving this series.
I don't know why you were so down on the monkey. Up to this point, massive boards of defenders has been a big poart of the meta. The monkey either punches down a wall and soaks up a bunch of defenders, or he is a clock twice as fast as Flying Men which appears to be the standard.