[JimMorrison]

While you get less events overall with Order+Luck, I'm not so sure it "minimizes" the benefits of a Luck scale. Granted, you are less likely to strike it rich early in the game, but the synergy simply matures later in the game - and there is a synergy.

I fought a D3 Abysia a few games ago, and it was hell. Of course, I was Caelum (under other circumstances, Caelum is devastating to Abysia), so H3+D3 meant that many provinces have 10-20 supply. With no national access to Nature, all my little birdies were diseased by the time I had taken just a handful of territories. So I think that the disincentive towards attacking Abysia, as well as the protection afforded from counter attacks (he was the aggressor, I annihilated his main force, and then fell apart in his Dominion), are factors that shouldn't be discounted.

Ironically, I think that the D3 with Abysia requires a specific strategy, involving high starting Dominion, rapid Dominion pushing early in the game, and then a second year rush of your most likely neighbor. If you can manage a build and a strategy that has you annex another capital very early on, then I think you find that those creation points can and should pay off in other areas. Obviously G3 is awesome for concerted Blood hunting, but the difference in D3 from G3 is 240 points, which is (almost) the difference between Imprisoned and Awake, for example.

Also bear in mind, 2D is relatively slow pop loss, and shields you from the worst of the negative events, while affording you most of the benefit of a Death scale. Even those who have Nature magic, will find that they have to invest a sizable amount of gems into keeping their forces supplied in your Dominion, or starve.