Courtyard

Basic Info

• Type: Action
• Cost: 2
• Effect: +3 Cards. Put a card from your hand on top of your deck.

Rating

Intrigue's flagship draw + topdeck card. Cost 2 for +3 Cards (Smithy-grade) is breakthrough efficiency. The downside — putting one card back on deck — is often actually a feature.

Biggest strength: "Smithy at cost 2." Smithy is cost-4, +3 Cards, terminal. Courtyard is cost-2, +3 Cards (effective net +2), terminal. The cost ratio is unbeatable. Putting a Copper or Estate back on deck is essentially a non-cost.

The "next-turn guarantee" angle is huge: topdecking a card you can't use this turn locks it in for next turn. Estate-back after Province buy, engine-piece reservation, key-card "lock-in" — wide-ranging applications.

Overall A to S tier. BM boards: top-tier. Engine boards: solid sub-draw. Courtyard BM is widely cited as Dominion's fastest BM variant.

How to Play

Early: top contender for the 2-cost slot on 4/3 splits. Even at $3 the Silver-vs-Courtyard call is close. Courtyard 1 on T1, Courtyard 2 on T2 (over Silver) is also strong.

Mid: Courtyard → coin → Province. Topdeck residual Estates to recycle through next-turn Courtyards.

End: draw Provinces while topdecking key cards (Silver, Gold) for guaranteed next-turn buys.

Courtyard BM (Big Money)

Dominion's fastest BM variant. Standard plan:

1. T1-T2: 1-2 Courtyards.
2. T3-T5: Add Silvers, push for Province.
3. T6-T10: Gold + Province.

Strengths:

• +3 draw boosts $8 hit-rate.
• Topdeck guarantees next-turn key cards.
• $2 cost lets it slot at $3 (Silver alt).

Benchmark: Courtyard BM, alongside Witch BM and Torturer BM, is among the highest-tier fast BM. Average ~16 turns to 4 Provinces, fastest sub-12.

Topdeck Tactics

The art is "what to put back":

1. Strong cards needed next turn: Gold, Market, draw sources.
2. Useless residuals: Estates, Coppers (loop them through Courtyard).
3. Action collisions: split terminals across turns.
4. Gardens-strategy Estates: maintain Gardens VP.

Example: hand Estate + Silver + Courtyard 2nd. Topdeck the Estate to cycle.

Key Combos

Courtyard + Library: Library to refill, Courtyard to filter, topdeck residual.

Courtyard + Lab: Cantrip + terminal draw stack.

Courtyard + Market: +1 Action / +1 Buy padding.

Courtyard + Mining Village: Action support.

Courtyard + Swindler: Reshape opponents while ordering own deck.

Courtyard + Throne Room: TR + Courtyard = +6 Cards / 2 topdeck.

Courtyard + Festival: Festival's +Action / +Buy / coin pairs with +3 draw for hot turns.

Courtyard + Smithy: Terminal collision, but Villages allow combining. Smithy doesn't topdeck — different roles.

Synergies

• Silver / Gold: BM core.
• Throne Room: Doubles draw.
• Lab (Base): Cantrip stack.
• Market (Base): Universal padding.
• Mining Village: Actions.
• Festival: Action + buy + coin.
• Library (Base): Hand sizing.
• Gardens (Base): Estate-maintained Gardens.
• Swindler: Mutual deck shuffling.

Counters & Bad Matchups

• Heavy terminal supplies: Smithy / Torturer / Militia collisions.
• Militia boards: Hand reduction kills +3 draw.
• Heavy curser boards: Curses dilute draw.
• No thinning: Estate loop without exit.
• No trashing: Deck bloats, Courtyard's draw thins out.

Advanced Tips

Courtyard → draw → Courtyard chain: with Villages for +Action, two Courtyards = +5 Cards / 2 topdeck (effective +4).

"Reservation" trick: Topdeck Gold for guaranteed next-turn $8.

Estate-after-Province: Buy Province at $8, topdeck residual Estate. Loop through next Courtyard.

Second Courtyard timing: BM = early 2nd; engine = 1 usually enough.

Courtyard + 1 Silver: Topdeck Silver for guaranteed next-turn +$2.

3-pile-out: Courtyard pile (10) depletes surprisingly fast. Estate + 1 pile + Courtyard pile-out wins.

Courtyard ≠ Smithy: Smithy = +3 to discard. Courtyard = +3 / 1 back (effective +2). Engine = Smithy edge; BM = Courtyard edge.