Block doesn't go down until after your attack. (While this was unintentional, it's something I'm aware of and try to balance around.)
Lanterngeists need to attack while Burned for the extra Lingering turns to set up, I think? I remember having some difficulty getting it to work, so I'll give the code a look again soon, along with the Hard Win Streaks (which should work, I've got no idea why they wouldn't).
The enemies in the Tower actually slowly gain more HP, Attack, Defense, and Block Strength as you go. An NPC explaining this would be a good idea; I'll place one in the next patch. (That's the likely explanation of the Genji Crab's damage calculation- he might've just had a different Defense total, the base for a Genji Crab is 35.)