I was playing 2p irl last night, and the first cards I saw were Witch, Masquerade, Militia, Throne Room, Golem, Nobles, and Alchemist. I realized too late that there was a pin on the board, but there weren't any other trashers anyway.
I opened Witch/nothing, and I believe he opened Potion/Masq. The next reshuffle, I got my own Masq. and he started building an Alchemist/Golem/Throne Room engine. Since I started with Witch, I got one more, and started a Throne Room/Village/Nobles/Witch thing. Half-way through the game we started doing the Militia first, Masq. second combo which hurt us both a lot. He could only top-deck a couple Alchemists to keep them safe.
Then things took a strange turn. He got a huge chain going with Golem, Throne Rooms, and Alchemists, and gave me back or trashed all of his curses. By the end of the game, he beat me by 15 VP, and I had one curse.
I had never heard of Masq. beating Witch, but it was really good. Any thoughts out there?