[Micah]

It's true that the domes are in normal caster order, but it's not too hard to get a few different casters in on the act and use casters at the front and back of the casting order. Since you are ending the game you don't need to worry about saving any gems, so dropping 10 or more domes isn't unreasonable, likewise, the attacker doesn't really need to keep any forces in reserve because the 3rd party will be a turn behind them in any assaults on the attacker's VPs, so they can have their entire army present at the final VP, or half their army split among 2 VPs, etc.

Regardless, the uncertainty of losing units in the attack force makes a proper counterattack virtually impossible, since you don't know if the unit you have set to cast a vital buff will get knocked out of your combat group, or the unit that's casting astral travel with all of your chaff, etc. I would much rather an opponent got a few turns' worth of bonus gems than running into that situation, at least then I have some time to deal with it instead of facing an immediate end to the game unless I make what would normally be a terrible tactical blunder (splintering my army on a bunch of domes) AND pull it off successfully. It is, realistically speaking, not able to be countered.

As to people throwing in the towel early and unbalancing the game...well, that's why I stick to vet games, I have no interest in dealing with that sort of behavior. I don't think it makes for a compelling argument about what the community standards should be, since those sorts of actions are pretty universally frowned upon.