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Nicanzil, Current Conductor LCI 0236 · uncommon

Nicanzil, Current Conductor · {G}{U} · Legendary Creature — Merfolk Scout · 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. · Power / toughness: 2/3 · "This water can guide you anywhere, if you know how to ask."

Nicanzil, Current Conductor · {G}{U} · Legendary Creature — Merfolk Scout · 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. · Power / toughness: 2/3 · "This water can guide you anywhere, if you know how to ask."

Price
from $0.182 printings
Win rate
52.6% GIH 13,202 instances · Premier Draft
Nov 9–Dec 25, 2023 · 17Lands
Draft
◆ Key pickExplore repeatedly to improve draws and grow creatures, then force through damage with an evasive reward.

Game-in-hand win rate, all deck colors. 6,938 wins in 13,202 card-in-hand instances.

11,781 distinct games · 3,980 distinct drafts · games recorded Nov 9–Dec 25, 2023.

17Lands file dated Dec 27, 2023 · 100-instance minimum · 17Lands public data ↗

Play

River Herald Expedition · Blue–GreenRiver Herald Expedition plan →

Explore repeatedly to improve draws and grow creatures, then force through damage with an evasive reward. Use Scout’s Map to explore: revealing a land can put a land from your hand into play tapped; a nonland grows Nicanzil.

How this changes your picks

Rules-derived
Take it when
Explore repeatedly to improve draws and grow creatures, then force through damage with an evasive reward. Look for support such as Cenote Scout and Waterwind Scout.
What to take next
Use Scout’s Map to explore: revealing a land can put a land from your hand into play tapped; a nonland grows Nicanzil.
Wrong pick
Explore is not always a counter. If your plan needs a bigger creature, account for revealing a land instead.
Mana & splash
Count the colored sources needed to cast this card on time; a synergy payoff is not a reason to weaken an otherwise consistent mana base.

More

One-pick Draft
Explore repeatedly to improve draws and grow creatures, then force through damage with an evasive reward. Use Scout’s Map to explore: revealing a land can put a land from your hand into play tapped; a nonland grows Nicanzil.

Draft data

52.6%when drawn (GIH)

−2.8 pp vs 55.3% average · 13,202 instances

Premier Draft · Nov 9–Dec 25, 2023 · average from 823,614 games

#193 of 251 nonland cards by win rate · last seen around pick 5.4 on average (83,758 packs).

23 of 27 multicolor cards · 9 of 10 multicolor uncommon cards.

Taken at pick7.312,470 picks
Makes the deck41.8%12,470 picks with known usage
When played51.8%26,823.2 matchesBenched 54.8%
35,781.8 matches
When drawn52.6%13,202 instances

Pick and maindeck observations: Nov 9–Dec 25, 2023. Played/benched cells use matches when available; the drawn cell uses game instances.

○ Opening hand 55.2% · 5,440 instances
● Drawn later 50.7% · 7,762 instances

In hand 52.6% · 13,202 instances
Unseen in deck 50.7% · 17,541 instances
+1.8 percentage points when drawn

Compared with multicolor cards

Win rate when drawn52.6%13,202 instances23 of 27
Opening hand55.2%5,440 instances16 of 27
Drawn later50.7%7,762 instances27 of 27
In the deck51.5%31,016 instances23 of 27
Without seeing it50.7%17,541 instances18 of 27
Improvement when drawn+1.8 pp13,202 instances / 17,541 instances24 of 27
When benched54.8%35,781.8 matches21 of 27
Makes the deck41.8%12,470 picks with known usage25 of 27
Pick (last seen)5.483,758 packs26 of 27
Taken at7.312,470 picks25 of 27

Ranks require 100 observations for that metric; comparisons are descriptive, not a pick order. Pick ranks put earlier picks first.

Best decks for it

no-splash decks only · card-level in-hand rates · 100 minimum

River Herald Expedition UG54.7%7,666 instances

Each tick is this card’s all-decks rate (52.6% · 13,202 instances). A high card rate does not prove that splashing it will improve your deck.

Best with

Adjusted associations, ranked by confidence.

Pathfinding Axejaw+3.7 pp12,275 games with both in the deck · 3,246 both drawn
How to read this

Observational, not a causal bonus. Both cards must be in the deck. Drawn means opening hand or normally drawn; each card counts once per game. Game-level approximate intervals do not account for repeated games by the same drafter.

At least 100 games in each of four drawn/not-drawn groups; adjusted for game length and screened by the lower confidence bound. Do not add these points to a card’s win rate.

Where it sits in the set

Above 23% of 251 nonland cards with 100+ instances, in win-rate order.

30% or lowerWin rate94% or higher

17Lands public datasets ↗ · CC BY 4.0 ↗ · Nov 9–Dec 25, 2023

Collect

2 printingsScryfall USD, snapshot Oct 25Pack odds →

Pick a printing for its prices and pull odds.

Prices

LCI 0236 · Regular printingListings ↗
FinishFound inPrice
Nonfoildraft · set · Commander Deck Display · Commander Deck Explorers of the Deep · Commander Deck Set of 4$0.22
FoilCollector Booster · draft · set$0.29

Foil in a Collector Booster · Modeled · About 1 in 31 packs (3.26%) · 32.8% per display · MTGJSON model Oct 25, 2026 · How it’s modeled →

Foil in a draft · Modeled · About 1 in 1,656 packs (0.06%) · 2.2% per display · MTGJSON model Oct 25, 2026 · How it’s modeled →

Nonfoil in a draft · Modeled · About 1 in 40 packs (2.51%) · 59.9% per display · MTGJSON model Oct 25, 2026 · How it’s modeled →

Foil in a set · Modeled · About 1 in 552 packs (0.18%) · 5.3% per display · MTGJSON model Oct 25, 2026 · How it’s modeled →

Nonfoil in a set · Modeled · About 1 in 29 packs (3.51%) · 65.7% per display · MTGJSON model Oct 25, 2026 · How it’s modeled →

How to pull it

Official rates for the whole category, not this card.

BoosterSlotPer packCategory
Draft BoosterCommon or traditional foil33%Traditional foil of any rarity
Draft BoosterUncommons100% per positionUncommons
Set BoosterUncommons100% per positionUncommons
Set BoosterTraditional foil of any rarity100%Traditional foil of any rarity
Set BoosterWildcards100% per positionWildcards
Collector BoosterTraditional foil uncommons100% per positionTraditional foil uncommons

Wizards · Collecting The Lost Caverns of Ixalan ↗ · Oct 29, 2026

Details & sources

Legal in
Standard · Historic · Timeless · Pioneer · Modern · Legacy · Vintage · CommanderLimited eligibility depends on the event and its booster pool.
Illustration
Fariba Khamseh, LCI 236 · Scryfall ↗
More like this
River Herald Expedition cards → · Regular printing printings →
Sources
Wizards · Collecting The Lost Caverns of Ixalan · Oct 29, 2026
Scryfall USD, snapshot Oct 25
Comprehensive Rules ↗