Sure, they're
supposed to be out every game, but why go through the trouble of counting them out and getting an extra pile out if they won't be used? Well this is sort of my philosophy. A
different discussion promises to devolve into a discussion of edge cases, which I'd rather have here, for when curses might be relevant in strange circumstances. So, here it goes...
Definitely get the curses out:Witch
Swindler
Torturer
Embargo
Sea Hag
Familiar
Mountebank
Tournament
Young Witch
Jester
Ill-Gotten Gains
Get out the curses for sure, but they probably won't be used:Ambassador
Fairgrounds
Watchtower (It happened to me one game. I felt like I had a lead and I used my extra buys with WT in hand to run out the curses, which ended up being one empty pile. Of course, I'm probably opening up a Pandora's Box of situations where engines might want a third pile to drain...)
I wouldn't get out the curses here, but maybe there are edge cases?Masquerade (apart from pins, where running a third pile may be relevant)
Harvest
Menagerie
Tribute
Possession
Vagrant
That last list is probably where the discussion is headed. Maybe you should take this as a challenge to find a case where buying a curse would actually be a good idea. You could come up with a particular edge case, but it might take a little persuading to make me get out the curses IRL.
...let the pedantry commence!