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[Thisisnotasmile]

Just had this game. Both my opponent and I oppened 5/2, and he opened Wharf/Pearl Diver to my IGG/Pearl Diver. After a few turns I realised he had completely underestimated the power of IGG and decided that I had a bit of time to play about with the board and not worry too much about playing optimally. The game itself probably isn't that interesting, but I saw a number of pretty fun synergies on the board and tried to pull as many of them off as I could during the match. Some of my favourites include:

The "OH MY GOD WHERE DID HALF OF MY DECK JUST GO???"

   Thisisnotasmile plays a Counting House.
   ... putting 6 Coppers from the discard pile into the hand.
   Thisisnotasmile plays an Ill-Gotten Gains.
   ... getting +$1.
   ... gaining a Copper in the hand.
   Thisisnotasmile plays an Ill-Gotten Gains.
   ... getting +$1.
   ... gaining a Copper in the hand.
   Thisisnotasmile plays 9 Coppers.
   Thisisnotasmile buys a Mint.
   ... trashing 9 Coppers and 2 Ill-Gotten Gains from the play area.

The "Oh look, that Mint's going to come in handy afterall!"

  Thisisnotasmile plays a Mint.
   ... revealing an Ill-Gotten Gains and gaining another one.
   ... ... MidnightOtter gains a Curse.
   Thisisnotasmile plays a Silver.
   Thisisnotasmile plays an Ill-Gotten Gains.
   ... getting +$1.
   ... gaining a Copper in the hand.
   Thisisnotasmile plays an Ill-Gotten Gains.
   ... getting +$1.
   Thisisnotasmile plays a Copper.
   Thisisnotasmile buys an Ill-Gotten Gains.
   ... MidnightOtter gains a Curse.

and The "What do you mean strictly-worse-than-Silver?"

   Thisisnotasmile plays a Mine.
   ... trashing an Ill-Gotten Gains.
   ... gaining a Gold in hand.

I'm not saying that any of these interactions are particularly spectacular by themselves, but I found it pretty satisfying pulling off all of these things during a single game. I feel that the first two of these synergies are particularly complementary as the Mint buy not only removes a LOT of crap from my deck, but also facilitates the double-IGG-gain turn later on.

Anyhow, just wanted to share that, as I had a lot of fun pulling these off during the game when I spotted these interactions.

[Davio]

Don't forget about this one!

You play a Thief
.... RandomPlayer reveals a Silver and an Ill-Gotten Gains
.... You trash RandomPlayer's Ill-Gotten Gains
.... You gain the trashed Ill-Gotten Gains
.... ... RandomPlayer gains a Curse
.... RandomPlayer discards a Silver.

This causes a difference in the number of cards in both piles (IGG and Curses), which may be really important for endgame conditions and Duchy rushes.

There are other cards that cause these kinds of differences, regular Cursers (like Witch) obviously, but also Trader and Ambassador.

[guided]

I've found IGG is stronger than I first suspected, in general. What really sealed it for me was this win as 2nd player against a 5/2 Chapel opening: http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20111111-142707-6cb1bc24.html - Other than a Chapel I bought nothing but IGGs and basic VP/treasure cards.

I look at being dumped into a huge hole by bad luck as an opportunity to try weird crap I would probably never attempt in a normal game. And sometimes it works!

[Deadlock39]

I have gone with the IGG rush every time I have seen it on the board since it has been out, and I don't think I have lost a single game where it was present. (Confirmed with Councilroom except that it got ignored in the very first game I saw it.)  This isn't exactly a huge data point, but it feels extremely strong to me.  It has come out on top of Witch, Ghost Ship, and Ambassador for me.

[Titandrake]

I recently went with IGG rush (on an unregistered account unfortunately, so I don't have the log) and lost, albeit to a deck that ran Scheme/Treasure Map that got it to work after I had bought ~3 IGG (oh, and it was also a Colony game). Surprisingly it was still close, I think 85-79 or something like that. Probably should have tried rushing a 3rd pile instead of transitioning to a Colony game.

[Axxle]

[Omitted] plays an Ambassador.
... [Omitted] reveals an Ill-Gotten Gains.
... returning it to the supply.
... Axxle gains an Ill-Gotten Gains.
... ... [Omitted] gains a Curse.

That made me laugh just a little

[Marcus316]

Well, I'm not exactly a top player, but IGG just worked for me:

http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201111/29/game-20111129-203754-09412445.html

[tlloyd]

This one was fun: http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20111125-225459-f7c9cd26.html.
I opened IGG, and my opponent immediately commented that my opening was "aggressive but unwise" or something to that effect. I think the results speak for themselves. What surprises me most about IGG is that the copper-gaining ability is usually a big plus. If IGGs are depleted, then curses probably will be too (though not in this game, due to the Ambassador). That's two piles, which means that whoever can rush Duchies fastest is likely to win (if the curse split hasn't already decided the outcome). Every extra copper pushes your deck toward $1/card, which is all you need to rush Duchies. I used to think you should only take the extra copper(s) if it would allow you to reach $8, but now I'm thinking the better strategy is to take the copper every single time - which should help you win the IGG race AND then the Duchy race.

[Deadlock39]

Copper gain is excellent, but I do only take it if I need it to hit $5 or $8.  It would be interesting to see if one of the simulators can determine if/when gaining extra Coppers when you don't need them for your buy is the right choice.  The IGGs you have stuffed your deck with are psudo-silvers, so I would think at least in the early stages, the extra copper is not the right choice.

[Davio]

After the IGGs have gone, I often find myself in the lucky position of being able to get $8 (with help from the Copper-gaining ability) for a Province. I often wonder if I should take the Province, delaying the game, or continue Duchy rushing instead...

[Geronimoo]

According to simulations you want to get the Copper from IGG only if it will allow a better buy that turn.

When executing the rush strategy (first buy all IGG's then start greening) it depends if you want only Duchies or Provinces as well:
-if your opponent is building a strong engine like Fishing Village/Wharf, you'll probably want to try to three-pile as quickly as possible (so no Provinces)
-if your opponent is just going Envoy + money, it's better to get some Provinces first (I guess it's because there aren't enoguh green cards on the board to compensate the curses)