If the Matsuri is placed outside TC range, an Ayyubid dark age barracks rush can burn it down with spears for significant economic damage.

Samurai barely do any damage to Desert Raiders because Desert Raiders have 5 melee armor; Samurai are just a meat shield.

The Yari Cavalry with bonus damage against cavalry does affect Desert Raiders as well naturally. So it just made it so difficult for you to actually get maximum value from the dervishes due to you having to deal with even better than regular horsemen. Combine that with potentially the movement speed once a Daimyo Estate is up and suddenly you're feeling very scared to leave the confines of your base.

Sengoku does it exceptionally well with some of the fastest horsemen in the game and some of the best horsemen in the game on top of it, makes it so difficult for the Ayyubid to do anything other than try to fast castle.

Being ahead in terms of the age up start as Sengoku compared to Ayyubid is a generally horrible position for Ayyubid to be in, because Sengoku is an absolute powerhouse in castle age with access to the mounted samurai as well as plenty of bonuses like the Sake Brewery.