Skip to content
Commander Nexus
  1. Commander Nexus
  2. Commanders
  3. Nicanzil, Current Conductor

Command zone

Nicanzil, Current Conductor

Nicanzil, Current Conductor

Legendary Creature — Merfolk Scout

Nicanzil wants a deck that gets a reward every time it plays a land. It also suits a deck that keeps making its creatures bigger turn after turn.

  • Mana costgreenblue
  • Blue, Green ()
  • Power / toughness2 / 3
  • RarityUncommon

Whenever a creature you control explores a land card, you may put a land card from your hand onto the battlefield tapped.

Whenever a creature you control explores a nonland card, put a +1/+1 counter on Nicanzil.

Build a deck with Nicanzil Find it in the app

Cards That Fit Nicanzil, Current Conductor

Picked for what they do in Nicanzil's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Nicanzil's color identity.Mana ValueThe total amount of mana a card costs, all added up. A card costing two generic and one green has a mana value of three. Wizards renamed this from "converted mana cost" in 2021, so older cards and articles may still use the old name.Sol RingOpen the full glossary

plan6

The 6 Cards

plan6

The 6 Cards

plan6

The 6 Cards

Rulings for Nicanzil, Current Conductor

explain how Nicanzil works in tricky situations. They come from Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic.RulingThe official answer to how a card works in a tricky situation. Most rulings are written by Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic, and a few are notes from Scryfall, the card database Magic players use. A ruling explains a card. It does not change what the card says.Open the full glossary

Wizards of the Coast 10 Nov 2023

If a creature leaves the battlefield before an effect instructs it to explore, it still explores. Abilities like Nicanzil's that trigger whenever a creature you control explores will still trigger.

Wizards of the Coast 10 Nov 2023

If a resolving spell or ability instructs a specific creature to explore but that creature has left the battlefield, the creature still explores. If you reveal a nonland card this way, you won't put a +1/+1 counter on anything, but you may put the revealed card into your graveyard. Effects that trigger "whenever a creature explores" trigger as appropriate.

Wizards of the Coast 10 Nov 2023

If an ability instructs a creature to explore, its controller reveals the top card of their library. If it's a land card, they'll put it into their hand. Otherwise, they'll put a +1/+1 counter on that creature, then choose to either leave that card on top of their library or put it into their graveyard.

Wizards of the Coast 10 Nov 2023

If no card is revealed, most likely because that player's library is empty, the exploring creature receives a +1/+1 counter.

Wizards of the Coast 10 Nov 2023

In some unusual cases, noncreature permanents may explore. For example, if the creature card returned by Defossilize is somehow not a creature once it's on the battlefield, it can still explore. You'll take all the same actions, and you may end up putting a +1/+1 counter on the permanent. (Note that some effects target a creature, and those effects would still require a legal target to have it explore.)

Wizards of the Coast 10 Nov 2023

Nicanzil, Current Conductor's triggered abilities care about the characteristics of the card as it was revealed while a creature explored. It doesn't matter what happened to the card after that.

Wizards of the Coast 10 Nov 2023

Nicanzil's first ability won't resolve until after you're done exploring. You may put any land card from your hand onto the battlefield, including the land card you explored (if it's still in your hand) or one that was already in your hand.

Wizards of the Coast 10 Nov 2023

Once an ability that causes a creature to explore begins to resolve, no player may take any other actions until it's done. Notably, opponents can't try to remove the exploring creature after you reveal a nonland card but before it receives a counter.

Wizards of the Coast 10 Nov 2023

Some spells or abilities might cause a creature to explore multiple times in a row. If you reveal a nonland card when a creature explores and leave it on top of your library, then the creature explores again immediately afterwards, you'll reveal the same card again.

9 rulings, all written by Wizards of the Coast. Read the originals on Gatherer ↗

Similar Commanders

Commanders that share the most with Nicanzil, and what they share.

Color identityEvery color of mana symbol on a card, in its cost and in its rules text. Your commander's color identity sets the limit for your whole deck: every other card has to fit inside it. A deck led by a green and white commander cannot play a card with any blue in its color identity.Open the full glossaryUGPlayers write colors as letters: U for blue, G for green. Blue is U because B was already taken by black.LandfallLandfall decks reward you each time a land enters the battlefield for you, then find ways to play extra lands. You can normally play only one land a turn, so cards that let you play more, or pull lands out of your deck, make everything happen more often.Open the Landfall pageExploreWhen a creature explores, you reveal the top card of your library. If it is a land, it goes to your hand; if not, the creature gets a +1/+1 counter and you may put that card into your graveyard.Open the Explore pageExtra Land DropLets you put down more than one land in a turn. The normal limit is exactly one, so this both accelerates your mana and switches on everything that triggers when a land enters play. Exploration, Azusa, Lost but Seeking, Oracle of Mul DayaOpen the Extra Land Drop pageRampAn effect that accelerates your mana, giving you a reusable mana source beyond the usual one land per turn. Cultivate Rampant GrowthOpen the Ramp pageCounter EngineAdds +1/+1 counters over and over rather than once. A counter here is a small permanent marker that raises a creature's power and toughness for good. It is not a counterspell, which is a different thing entirely. Something that adds them every turn makes your whole board bigger and keeps it that way. Hardened Scales, Corpsejack MenaceOpen the Counter Engine page+1/+1 Counters+1/+1 counter decks put small markers on their creatures that make each one permanently bigger, and keep adding more every turn. Each +1/+1 counter adds one to a creature's power (the damage it deals) and toughness (the damage it can take).Open the +1/+1 Counters page+1/+1 CountersPuts +1/+1 counters on creatures, permanently raising their power and toughness. Unlike a temporary boost that wears off at end of turn, these markers stay put and stack up over a long game. Hardened Scales, The Great HengeOpen the +1/+1 Counters pageMap TokensCards that explore or make Map tokens. Exploring reveals your top card: a land goes to your hand, and anything else gives the exploring creature a +1/+1 counter.Open the Map Tokens page