Yeah, Courtyard is often a better card than Smithy. An optimized play of BM-Courtyard beats BM-Smithy
This surprises a lot of people -- it's only a
cost, how can it be better?
Well choosing which card to have on your next turn, and cycling out the junk that might have been at the top of your deck, is actually really helpful.
The reason Courtyard gets away with costing so little is because the benefit does not stack. If you play X number of Courtyards on your turn, it's almost exactly the same as if you played (X-1) Moats and then 1 Courtyard to end it off. Only the last Courtyard really "counts" in terms of the topdecking benefit, so that's why it can be so cheap.
Word to the wise: There are very often situations where you want to spend a
or
buy to get a Courtyard. If you only buy Courtyard when you have
, you're underestimating the card's value. This is a common mistake for players under level 35 or so