Courtyard

Courtyard
Info
Cost
Type(s)	Action
Kingdom card?	Yes
Set	Intrigue
Illustrator(s)	Harald Lieske
Card text
+3 Cards Put a card from your hand onto your deck.

Courtyard is an Action card from Intrigue. It is a terminal draw card; its initial draw equals Smithy's, but its mandatory top-decking afterward makes it functionally very different.

FAQ

Official FAQ

• The card you put on top does not have to be one of the 3 you just drew.

Strategy

Courtyard is a cheap terminal draw card with a bonus that offers some added flexibility. Because you must topdeck one card after drawing three, Courtyard only increases your net hand size by one, and is therefore rather weak (functionally a Moat) if you’re forced to rely on it as your primary source of draw. However, there are a number of situations in which the ability to see a third card and exchange a card between your hand and deck makes it worthwhile.

Courtyard can be a good choice of draw card for the early game and is sometimes a reasonable opening buy, since it allows you to cycle through your deck and afford more expensive cards without the risk of drawing another Action card dead: if you do, you can simply put it back on top for next turn. This is particularly useful when it’s an even higher priority than usual to get through your early shuffles quickly without missing out on playing important cards, e.g. with Travellers. At this stage of the game, Courtyard’s topdecking effect also allows for some beneficial transfer of payload between hands, creating a smoothing or spiking effect depending on the price points you are aiming for, and can help you engineer desirable collisions, e.g. a trasher with its preferred target. If deck control is not feasible, Courtyard’s price point control can be very useful in a money strategy throughout the game. More commonly, deck control is feasible and you’ll prefer to add stronger draw cards later to facilitate this, but a Courtyard or two can continue to play a role by enhancing your deck’s reliability alongside the small amount of draw provided. For example, seeing an extra three cards early in the turn can help to ensure that you can find enough early villages to support your more powerful terminals; alternatively, if you have overdraw, it may be helpful to play Courtyard late in the turn and leave a useful engine component (e.g. a spare village, or a desirable target for an effect like Citadel or Mastermind) topdecked for your next hand.

The ability to topdeck a card of your choice can also be useful mid-turn, forming a synergy between Courtyard and effects that interact with that card. For instance, with sufficient village support, you can topdeck an expensive card before playing Chariot Race, guarantee a hit with Vassal, or target a card to trash with Lookout.

External strategy articles

Note: Article(s) below are by individual authors and may not represent the community's current views on cards, but may provide more in-depth information or give historical perspective. Caveat emptor.

• theory's 2012 article

Versions

English versions

Print	Digital	Text	Release	Date
		+3 Cards Put a card from your hand on top of your deck.	Intrigue	July 2009
		+3 Cards Put a card from your hand onto your deck.	Intrigue (Second Edition)	October 2016

Other language versions

Language	Name	Print	Digital	Text	Notes
Chinese	庭院 (pron. tíngyuàn)
Czech	Hradní nádvoří
Dutch	Binnenplaats			+3 Kaarten Leg een kaart naar keuze uit je hand gedekt op je trekstapel.	(2009)
Finnish	Sisäpiha
French	Cour
German	Burghof			+3 Karten Lege eine deiner Handkarten auf deinen Nachziehstapel.	2. Edition (2021)
Hungarian	Palotaudvar (lit. palace yard)
Italian	Cortile di Campagna (lit. country courtyard)
Japanese	中庭 (pron. nakaniwa)			+3 カードを引く 手札1枚を山札の上に置く。
Korean	안마당 (pron. anmadang)
Norwegian	Slottshage (lit. castle gardens)
Polish	Dziedziniec			+3 karty Odłóż kartę z ręki na wierzch swojej talii.	(2016)
Russian	Внутренний Двор (pron. vnutryenniy dvor)			+3 Карты Положите карту из руки на верх вашей колоды.
Spanish	Patio			+3 Cartas Pon una carta de tu mano encima de tu mazo.	(2009)
	Patio			+3 Cartas Pon una carta de tu mano encima de tu mazo.	Segunda Edición (2016)

Trivia

Official card art.

Secret History

Almost all of the Dominion cards, from the main set and all of the hypothetical expansions, were designed by me. Which is just the way I like it. This one was not though. In the early days of Dominion, one of my friends printed/cut/sleeved his own copy, and along the way he added like a dozen cards. I played with them and liked a few that I hadn't thought of yet, and well this is one of them. I had previously tried "+1 Action, +2 Cards, put two cards from your hand on top of your deck," but nixed that for causing too much AP. This card does cause a little AP, but is much better.

That friend by the way is Kelly Bailey, and he posts on these boards as cheepicus. Hi cheepicus.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, The Secret History of the Intrigue Cards

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