To be fair, aside from losing a broken throw and 1 guaranteed setup, Akira and Hayate pretty much just got better. Ein is another story...
But the point is, it's understandable to have low expectations at this point but you might as well not expect the worst ALL the time. At least being neutral. Ein got a buff, that alone should be a beacon of hope.
Taking away every pressure tool he had and giving him 5 more points of damage on the izuna wasn't really a fair trade, by my standards.
Especially when you consider that almost every single character in the game got a damage buff on their i12 throw going into 5U.