Its in big games where they get powerfull
You have to work on making gaps now. To counter it.
And indeed add the fliers and the dragon
Yea, they get even more powerful in big games. But the one who place them have little chance of scoring them if they are not placed very late in the game. It’s lots of opportunities to eliminate an abbot with the dragon, the plague or the towers in a big game. Then another player can claim it with a flier, portal or the city of Carcassonne.
We are planning a really big game during this week with both the German and Dutch/Belgian monasteries. I will come back with a report of how it went.