Nicanzil, Current Conductor card art

Nicanzil, Current Conductor

Legendary Creature — Merfolk Scout MV 2

Tracked across real Commander games played through TurnZero HQ.

What it does

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.

Rulings

9 official rulings, in the order Wizards published them.

  • 2023-11-10

    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.

  • 2023-11-10

    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.

  • 2023-11-10

    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.)

  • 2023-11-10

    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.

  • 2023-11-10

    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.

  • 2023-11-10

    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.

  • 2023-11-10

    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.

  • 2023-11-10

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

  • 2023-11-10

    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.

Rulings are Wizards of the Coast's own, mirrored from Scryfall and refreshed nightly.

In the 99

Every deck whose current list includes Nicanzil, Current Conductor, whatever its commander.

Decks running it 3
Games played 0
Win rate — Fewer than 5 completed games — not enough to publish a rate yet.
Confirmed on board 0 Games where a board photo caught it actually in play.

Most played under

Commander Decks Games Win rate
Hakbal of the Surging Soul 3 0 —

Colors it shows up in

  • Simic 3 decks

Every version of Nicanzil, Current Conductor

2 printings, newest first. Prices are the market figures Scryfall publishes, refreshed nightly — a printing with no figure shows a dash rather than a zero, because Scryfall genuinely publishes none for some of them.

Prices from Scryfall, which tracks the TCGplayer and Cardmarket markets. They move daily and are a guide rather than a quote. Search TCGplayer for Nicanzil, Current Conductor — a name search across every version, for the printings TCGplayer publishes no direct link to.

Aggregated from Commander games tracked in TurnZero HQ. Every figure counts decks and games only — no individual deck list, player or playgroup is identified. Win rates are withheld below 5 completed games, where the sample is too small to mean anything.