Apothecary

Basic Info

• Type: Action
• Cost: 2+P (requires Potion)
• Effect: +1 Card / +1 Action / Reveal the top 4 cards of your deck. Put the Coppers and Potions into your hand. Put the rest back in any order.

Rating

A unique cantrip that "filters" Coppers and Potions out of your deck. Beyond bare cantrip (Market's Village mode), it pulls Coppers/Potions into your hand for effective +3 cards in early game.

Biggest strength: explodes in Copper-heavy decks. With 7 starting Coppers, average 2-3 Coppers fly into hand per fire.

Tier A. Best on Alchemy boards before deck thinning. Late-game it tames toward bare cantrip but Potion-pulling stabilizes Potion strategies.

How to Play

Open Potion + Copper-friendly. Apothecary turns 3-4.

Mid: Fire each turn; Copper-rich = high draw.

Late: After thinning, Apothecary acts as Potion filter to keep Potion in play.

Draw Math

Apothecary reveals top 4 and pulls Coppers/Potions:

• Deck 20 / 10 Coppers → ~2 pulled (+2)
• Deck 20 / 7 Coppers → ~1.4 pulled
• Deck 20 / 3 Coppers → ~0.6 pulled

Strong early; tapers as Coppers thin.

Key Combos

Apothecary + Potion: Pulls itself / supports Potion-heavy plans.

Apothecary + Alchemist: Cantrip stacking.

Apothecary + Familiar: Witch effect + Apothecary thins/draws.

Apothecary + Vineyard: Action + score base.

Apothecary + Scrying Pool: Filter Coppers up = Pool sees more Actions.

Apothecary + Smithy: Smithy +3 + Apothecary Coppers = economy boost.

Synergies

• Potion: Required.
• Alchemist: Same draw lane.
• Familiar: Attack + thinning.
• Vineyard: Action density.
• Scrying Pool: Filtered Coppers up boosts Pool.
• Copper-keep strategies: Maximizes Apothecary.

Counters & Bad Matchups

• Copper-totally-trashed: Chapel-thin decks make Apothecary near-cantrip.
• Pure BM: Wasted Potion.
• Heavily thinned decks: Late-game weak.

Advanced Tips

Apothecary thrives on "Coppers stay." If your plan trashes all Coppers (Chapel), skip Apothecary.

2-3 Apothecaries chain via +1 Action, dumping Coppers into hand each turn.

Order returned cards: stack Actions for next turn's draw, push Estates back to bottom logic doesn't apply since they go on top — replace with Action/Treasure for advantageous order.

Early Apothecary is among the strongest opens — 2+P at turn 3-4 detonates Copper-rich early game.

Vineyard + Apothecary: Action density + Apothecary draw fuels both.

Apothecary vs Alchemist: Apothecary is +1 / Alchemist is +2; together perfect. Buy both ideally.