I played a game today where I started with a lucky opening of 5/2 and bought and Apprentice and an Embargo. Other good $5's were Festival and City, City less so because no pile would be emptied fast. I chose Apprentice over the also available Trade Route for strong end game possibilities with Festivals (and perhaps a Trade Route or 2) for multiple Buys. Maybe going Festival first and Apprentice later would have been right, I don't know, I chose the Apprentice, since I'm an avid trashing afficionado.
I was lucky enough to shuffle my Embargo into turn 3 and I embargoed the Apprentices. To my surprise, my opponent still bought one and took the Curse. I guess one Curse isn't so much, especially with the trasher that he got.
This made me wonder: What cards are so good that you'd buy them even when they're embargoed? I can compile a list of crucial Cursers here (Mountebank, Witch), but I'd like to see your views and maybe discover some less obvious ones.
I think the reverse question is much more insightful though and I'll make it bold to stress the importance:
Which "essential" cards do you refrain from buying when they're embargoed?
In other words: Which cards are very nice to have, but not nice enough to warrant getting even one Curse over? This would obviously have to be some borderline cards like for instance... Cutpurse?
As always, looking forward to your replies.