Apothecary also helps by pulling Coppers out of your draw pile, making you more likely to draw any pair of non-Copper cards (in particular Tournament and Province) together. Or its sorting ability can be used with another drawing card (like an extra Apothecary or Tournament) to get the needed card into your current hand.
Something like Baron can also help you get a Province fast, but it doesn't help you once you have the Province, which is what makes Apothecary much better in this role. I'm still not sure it's the best. It does require you to buy a Potion, which means you can't open with a Tournament or $4 trasher.
