First off, this was directed at another comment and should be read as a response to said comment, context makes a difference in every conversation.
Going yuan Dynasty pays for itself with granaries (food and tax) and speed boost which applies to villagers as well as military. You get yuan mostly for economic gain it doesn’t cost you anything if in five minutes it’s actually net gain. The fire Lancers are just a bonus.
I don’t care and it is not useful to know what happens in “pro team-games” not really a thing, nobody is being paid for said games. If you’re talking about team games played by streamers, you are selecting very small subset of total games to make your case for the viability of a unit, among players who obsess over perfect timing and one unit difference in army size winning or losing a battle.
You get spirit way when you go imperial, meaning you receive the cheaper unique units without investment unless you take the Great Wall gatehouse which is rarely the first choice.
The spirit way can fit 12 production buildings around it,
when would you ever build 12 stables to produce fire Lancers? There’s plenty of space for archery ranges.
Being in yuan Dynasty, which naturally grants movement speed, also naturally applies to fire lancers, meaning if you are making fire lancers, they are not slow. The aoe damage is not a joke, it does enough damage to armored units to turn the tide of a tight battle, works brilliantly against light units.
This obsession with dogging on China is absurd.
The arguments are weak and baseless, filled with gaps in reason and weak, fallacious supporting evidence and conjecture.
Play another game, try to have fun