Apothecary
Apothecary | |
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Info | |
Cost | |
Type(s) | Action |
Kingdom card? | Yes |
Set | Alchemy |
Illustrator(s) | Ryan Laukat |
Card text | |
+1 Card +1 Action Reveal the top 4 cards of your deck. Put the revealed Coppers and Potions into your hand. Put the other cards back on top in any order. |
Apothecary is an Action card from Alchemy. It is a cantrip, since it always gives +1 Card/+1 Action; it then lets you draw any Copper or Potion cards from the top 4 cards of your deck into your hand. It is great when combined with some other source of nonterminal +Cards to draw cards other than Copper and Potion; without that, an Apothecary strategy can get high-value cards early, when your deck is mostly Copper, but will stall extremely quickly.
Contents |
FAQ
Official FAQ
- You draw a card first. Then reveal the top four cards, put the Coppers and Potions into your hand, and put the rest back on top of your deck.
- If there aren't four cards left in your deck, reveal what you can and shuffle to get the rest. If there still aren't enough cards, just reveal what there is.
- Any cards that are not Copper and are not Potion go back on top of your deck in an order you choose.
- You cannot choose not to take all of the Coppers and Potions.
- If after revealing four cards there are no cards left in your deck, the cards you put back will become the only cards in your deck.
Other Rules clarifications
Strategy Article
original article on the forums by Mean Mr Mustard
Apothecary is an elite, tricky engine card. It can contribute to strategies that end games extremely quickly, rivaling Governor, Apprentice and even Chapel.
Functions and Shortcomings of Apothecary
Apothecary is a non-terminal action that allows the user to draw a card, reveal the top four cards in the deck, put all revealed Coppers and Potions into the hand and rearrange the remaining cards on top of the deck in any order, for the low cost of Victory cards, the pure Apothecary engine slows and later will stall out once a critical mass of green cards populate the deck. Eventually, playing Apothecaries multiple times per turn will leave a clump of useless victory cards on top of the deck in a sort of Rabble effect and the starting Copper will be far too spread out to constitute, by itself, a working economy. Without some other Kingdom support this scenario will develop in almost any game long before the winning amount of VP can be achieved.
. A deck with a high proportion of Copper and Apothecaries cycles quickly and can produce great buying power but as the deck fills with other types of cards, notablyApothecary Deck Styles
There are a multitude of ways to play Apothecary, and as every Kingdom is virtually unique it is impossible to incorporate every possible Apothecary strategy into one definitive article. This article will instead define and discuss three broad and somewhat overlapping Apothecary-based strategies: the Fast Cash Deck, the Cycling Deck and the Engine Support Deck. Each of the deck styles plays upon different aspects of Apothecary and the rest of the Kingdom.
The purpose of the Fast Cash deck is to generate and quickly in order to buy important high cost cards like Goons, King's Court, and Mint. The Apothecary is not necessarily the driving engine for the long game, but rather a means to an end. The better cards become the focus of the deck, with Apothecary in a secondary role of cycling out weaker cards and forcing reshuffles. This deck can open Potion/Silver but usually harmed by adding additional Silver. Get in, get out and use powerful early purchases to accelerate the end game.
The Cycling Deck is a Copper engine strategy that uses high Apothecary density and anti-Rabble techniques to plow through accumulating piles of clutter that naturally form during heavy Apothecary use. Apothecary/Native Village is an example of this style of deck, but using a mix of other Kingdom cards like Warehouse, Wishing Well, Salvager, Farming Village, Golem, Vault, Coppersmith and Cartographer can work just as well. Any Kingdom that can effectively deal with Rabble or Ghost Ship should be fertile Apothecary ground. This deck opens Potion/- rather than Potion/Silver but prefers to open Potion/Cantrip.
The Engine Support deck uses Apothecaries to prepare the way for important powerful combinations like Village/Torturer or King's Court/King's Court/X. Village and King's Court-based engines can be a bit unreliable and Apothecary can help stabilize a deck by removing unwanted coppers and rearranging the deck order to better serve current and future needs. This deck may open Potion/Silver or not open with Potion; buying key trashing or engine cards may take precedence. Buy the Potion before the second reshuffle or not at all.
Apothecary Openers
Though not always true, in many cases it is not overly beneficial to buy Silver while building an Apothecary-based deck. There are terminal and non-terminal actions that can be much better. Apothecary pairs very well with Ambassador and should probably be considered the dominant strategy in most Kingdoms. Other good openers are Shanty Town, Lookout, Scheme, and Steward. Opening Potion/Copper is suspect at best.
Apothecary Within Alchemy
Apothecary functions well in an Alchemy-heavy Kingdom, supporting other powerful Potion-cost cards. Scrying Pool benefits from Apothecary in a couple of important ways. Apothecary allows the user to rearrange the actions for a strong Scrying Pool draw while removing the Copper that will block the draw. With an Apothecary or two it becomes fairly easy to buy both Golem and Possession; Golem can in turn help Apothecary by clearing out unwanted cards left on the deck and by keeping the chain going. A few Apothecaries will help an Alchemist engine by seeking out the important Potion needed to top-deck Alchemists and by making it easier to draw the whole deck. Apothecary, through superior cycling, may also help win the Familiar curse war and get more uses out of University early in the game.
When to Avoid Apothecary
The number one reason to not play Apothecary is when there is a dominant strategy that does not require or want Apothecary. There are some very solid engine strategies involving cards like Menagerie, Chapel, Grand Market, Embassy, Spice Merchants or Fool's Gold that, depending on the Kingdom, may conflict with or be too fast for Apothecary to deal with. This is a board by board judgement call, and the ability to correctly size up a Kingdom is a distinguishing mark of the better player.
There are some hard counters that should be taken into account as well. Embargo can make a Potion buy dangerous. Swindler may strip out Coppers and replace them with Curses, Rabble can complicate matters and Possession can punish a heavy Apothecary user by using the tactical advantage Apothecary grants against the Possessed by stripping out good cards while leaving behind a pile of junk for the next draw. By doing so the Possessor effectively gains a second free turn.
In Conclusion
While learning to master this card be prepared to lose some games. It is very easy to gain three Provinces with Apothecary but that is often enough to stop an Apothecary deck in its tracks. Being able to spot ways to overcome Apothecary's shortcomings and maximizing the tactical potential of Apothecary's multiple abilities and characteristics is the key to building solid, fast Apothecary-based decks.
Synergies/Combos
- Most other -cost cards
- Cellar, Warehouse, Farming Village, Wishing Well, and other ways to get green off the top of your deck
- Coppersmith
- Native Village
- Goons
- Beggar, Cache
Antisynergies
Versions
English versions
Digital | Text | Release | Date | |
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+1 Card. +1 Action. Reveal the top 4 cards of your deck. Put the revealed Coppers and Potions into your hand. Put the other cards back on top in any order. | Alchemy 1st Edition | May 2010 | ||
+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. | Alchemy 2nd Edition | physical set unreleased |
Other language versions
Trivia
Secret History