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[tlloyd]

Yes - there is one.

I have to admit I was underwhelmed when IGG was revealed. Why would I waste a $5 buy on a copper, just to give the other guy a curse? Oh, I also get the ability to add - more copper - to my deck? No thank you.

Now I don't claim that this setup was the only circumstance in which IGG is worth it (I got beat rather thoroughly by an IGG/Apprentice strategy), but in this game I think IGG was the dominant strategy (I'll post the Councilroom link once its available).

Key characteristics of the Kingdom:
- Trashing for treasure cards, but for nothing else (Mint)
- Significant VP available for $5 hands (Duke)
- It also helped that I started $5/$2, so I could add a curse to my opponent's deck before his first reshuffle.   

Here's how it played out:
- After opening IGG/- (should have been IGG/copper), I bought nothing but IGGs if I had $5+ or silvers otherwise. I handed out 8 curses this way, and fairly quickly.
- My initial plan was to dish out as many curses as I could, even at the expense of taking extra coppers if necessary, and then to quickly thin down with Mint (perhaps an early Mint would also have let me dish out curses faster).
- Then I realized that a theoretical deck with an infinite amount of copper would be fairly competitive at a Duke/Duchy race, especially if the opponent was bogged down in curses, so I used IGG's gain-copper ability every time I could. I wasn't diluting my deck, I was actually pushing it closer to the $1/card average I needed (it might actually have been higher at some points given the IGGs and a few silvers.
- At one point my opponent bought a Duchy, and fearing to lose the Duke/Duchy race I left the last two IGGs and plowed into the Duchy pile. Then the Duke pile. A couple times I had enough IGGs in my hand at one time to buy a Province with the extra coppers.

As I had planned, my deck was very reliable at getting one Duke or Duchy every turn. This Kingdom was very conducive to this type of slow-and-steady "tortoise" strategy. A different kingdom might have made a massive-final-turn "hare" strategy more feasible.

Of course I didn't play the strategy optimally - heck, I didn't even see it until a few turns in. And my opponent made a few misplays (usually trashing five coppers by buying Mint is a strong move, but not if the majority of your remaining deck at that point is curses).

I also wonder what other Kingdom would be similarly conducive to an IGG strategy. I never used Mint, but maybe I should have. Moneylender would be an alternate coin-only trasher. And I think Gardens may have been even stronger than Duke/Duchy (I very-nearly emptied the copper pile).

Thoughts?

[biopower]

Not just trashing only for Treasure, but trash for benefit (as opposed to pure trashing, e.g. Remake but not Steward) could still be worth getting the IGGs. It's like you're trashing copper for Gold, but the opponent is trashing curses for no benefit whatsoever.

If 3-piling is beneficial, emptying the IGGs will also empty the curses, which lets you 3-pile faster. For example, in a City game, buying IGGs after the Cities are out may let you gain the VP advantage and also end the game relatively quickly.

[DG]

They are probably best in a kingdom with grand markets, thrones, and develop.

[jonts26]

IGG/Gardens is elite. I haven't had the chance to play it in the wild yet, but I have messed around with it on the simulator, and it is awesome.

[HiveMindEmulator]

Honestly, I think if there is no trashing, IGG/Duchy is already good without the Duke. IGG forces everyone to have poor overall deck value, making it hard to get provinces, so the game will almost surely end on piles, and if you're on the better end of the duchies and curses, you'll win. I should note that, unlike with gardens, you don't want to gain copper at every opportunity as they still dilute deck value. IGGs are, in fact, worth more than copper (they are $2 as needed).

[Davio]

Anyone ever tried IGG with Watchtower, trashing the IGGs?

Side-effect could be that your opponent also has WT in hand, which makes buying this a bonehead move.