How to successfully utilize your "Dominion Wall"?

[Endoperez]

KissBlade said:
Actually this is a pretty common newbie mistake I think since when I first started playing I used to take dominion pretty high as well. Now I just use dominion 3 or 4 instead. The only time dominion really matters is with races like Abysia or Caelum who needs temperature scales and even that's pretty easy to swing with temples and such.

I haven't dared to take that low dominion in a long, long time. In small maps, high-dominion opponent would force me to use resources on temples, and in long games, stealth preachers and raiders would mean that I couldn't benefit from my scales. Of course, I usually take positive scales and tend to rely on them, so your mileage may vary...
One of Gandalf's "experimental" (i.e. interesting concept that probably doesn't work) is to take VERY negative scales with a nation that doesn't rely too much on its capital, let your dominion die out almost everywhere, and use the points for something good. Like triple-bless. Of course, one'd have to be Mictlan to be able to increase dominion fast enough when it's needed, and even that's risky.