Well, sure enough -- I hadn't looked far enough back for documentation about an "improvement" that actually hinders long term game play.
Thanks for pointing that out Enevhar.
My take on it ===
Whichever chapter the most advanced city in a fellowship has reached (not the wonder tech being unlocked, just flagged for the chapter), any wonder rune from that chapter or lower should be randomized in the group tourney reward bucket.
We are already limited to getting runes we have unlocked from map provinces or the various tourney provinces that have rune shards as rewards.
If you need runes for wonders you already have, target more tourney provinces that have rune shards as possible rewards and work with your fellowship / KP swap partners to get them from bonus chests on those wonders in other cities.