Icetill Explorer is one of those cards players keep asking about. Here is, in plain words, what its official text says, the rulings published by Wizards of the Coast, and the combos players actually run.
Official card text
You may play an additional land on each of your turns. You may play lands from your graveyard. Landfall — Whenever a land you control enters, mill a card.
Complete guide
Icetill Explorer is a versatile Insect Scout that turns your graveyard into a second hand for your mana base. By allowing extra land drops and rewarding them with a mill effect, it creates a powerful engine for decks focused on the long game. Whether you are recovering lost lands or digging for resources, this creature ensures your land drops never stop.
Expanding Your Horizons
The primary function of Icetill Explorer is to break the standard one-land-per-turn rule. While it is on the battlefield, you gain a static ability that permits an additional land play during your turn. This effect is cumulative; if you have other cards providing similar benefits, they stack, allowing for three or more land plays per turn. Additionally, it grants you the ability to play land cards directly from your graveyard, meaning any land that was milled, discarded, or destroyed is now accessible.
Navigating the Rules
Playing a land from the graveyard follows all the normal timing rules for playing lands. You can only do this during your main phase when the stack is empty and you have priority. It is important to note that Icetill Explorer does not let you use activated abilities of lands in your graveyard, such as cycling. The Landfall ability is a triggered ability that goes on the stack whenever a land enters under your control, whether it came from your hand, your library, or your graveyard.
When to Scout Ahead
This card is best played when you have ways to get lands into your graveyard or when you need to accelerate your mana production quickly. Because the Landfall ability mills a card, Icetill Explorer actually helps fuel its own second ability by potentially putting more lands into the graveyard for you to play on subsequent turns.
Interaction examples
Solemn SimulacrumIf you have Icetill Explorer on the battlefield and cast Solemn Simulacrum, the Golem's enter-the-battlefield ability lets you search for a basic land and put it onto the battlefield. This triggers the Explorer's Landfall ability, milling one card. Because the Explorer also allows an additional land play, you can then play a land from your hand or graveyard as your second land for the turn, triggering Landfall a second time.
Eternal WitnessSuppose your Icetill Explorer mills an important non-land card due to a Landfall trigger. You can use Eternal Witness to return that specific card from your graveyard to your hand. Meanwhile, any lands that were milled alongside it remain available for you to play directly from the graveyard thanks to the Explorer's static ability, ensuring you don't lose value from the mill effect.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Icetill Explorer
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
The effect of Icetill Explorer’s first ability is cumulative with similar effects. For example, if you control both Icetill Explorer and Exploration (an enchantment with “You may play an additional land on each of your turns”), you’ll be able to play three lands during each of your turns.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
Icetill Explorer’s second ability doesn’t change the times when you can play those land cards. You can still play lands only during your main phase when you have priority and the stack is empty.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #3· Wizards of the Coast
Icetill Explorer’s second ability doesn’t allow you to activate abilities (such as cycling) of land cards in your graveyard.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Popular combos
Real combos played by the community, sorted by popularity.
Glacial Chasm + Icetill Explorer
- 1Play Glacial Chasm either from your hand or from your graveyard.
- 2When Glacial Chasm enters the battlefield, its second ability triggers, causing you to sacrifice another land you control.
- 3Play any land from your graveyard.
- 4At the beginning of your next upkeep, Glacial Chasm's cumulative upkeep ability triggers, allowing you to choose not to pay the cost and sacrifice it instead.
- 5Repeat.
Springheart Nantuko + Spelunking + Golgari Rot Farm + Icetill Explorer
- 1Play Golgari Rot Farm. When it enters untapped due to Spelunking, Golgari Rot Farm and Springheart Nantuko trigger.
- 2Holding priority, activate Golgari Rot Farm by tapping it, adding
. - 3Resolve the Golgari Rot Farm trigger, returning it from the battlefield to your hand.
- 4Resolve the Springheart Nantuko trigger, causing you to pay
to create a token copy of Icetill Explorer. - 5Because of the additional Icetill Explorer token, you can play an additional land this turn.
- 6Repeat.
Springheart Nantuko + Golgari Rot Farm + Horizon Explorer + Icetill Explorer
- 1Play Golgari Rot Farm. When it enters untapped due to Horizon Explorer, Golgari Rot Farm and Springheart Nantuko trigger.
- 2Holding priority, activate Golgari Rot Farm by tapping it, adding .
- 3Resolve the Golgari Rot Farm trigger, returning it from the battlefield to your hand.
- 4Resolve the Springheart Nantuko trigger, causing you to pay to create a token copy of Icetill Explorer.
- 5Because of the additional Icetill Explorer token, you can play an additional land this turn.
- 6Repeat.
Springheart Nantuko + Spelunking + Gruul Turf + Icetill Explorer
- 1Play Gruul Turf. When it enters untapped due to Spelunking, Gruul Turf and Springheart Nantuko trigger.
- 2Holding priority, activate Gruul Turf by tapping it, adding
. - 3Resolve the Gruul Turf trigger, returning it from the battlefield to your hand.
- 4Resolve the Springheart Nantuko trigger, causing you to pay to create a token copy of Icetill Explorer.
- 5Because of the additional Icetill Explorer token, you can play an additional land this turn.
- 6Repeat.
Springheart Nantuko + Spelunking + Simic Growth Chamber + Icetill Explorer
- 1Play Simic Growth Chamber. When it enters untapped due to Spelunking, Simic Growth Chamber and Springheart Nantuko trigger.
- 2Holding priority, activate Simic Growth Chamber by tapping it, adding
. - 3Resolve the Simic Growth Chamber trigger, returning it from the battlefield to your hand.
- 4Resolve the Springheart Nantuko trigger, causing you to pay to create a token copy of Icetill Explorer.
- 5Because of the additional Icetill Explorer token, you can play an additional land this turn.
- 6Repeat.
Springheart Nantuko + Golgari Rot Farm + Amulet of Vigor + Icetill Explorer
- 1Play Golgari Rot Farm. When it enters, Amulet of Vigor, Golgari Rot Farm and Springheart Nantuko trigger.
- 2Resolve the Amulet of Vigor trigger, untapping Golgari Rot Farm.
- 3Holding priority, activate Golgari Rot Farm by tapping it, adding .
- 4Resolve the Golgari Rot Farm trigger, returning it from the battlefield to your hand.
- 5Resolve the Springheart Nantuko trigger, causing you to pay to create a token copy of Icetill Explorer.
- 6Because of the additional Icetill Explorer token, you can play an additional land this turn.
- 7Repeat.
Springheart Nantuko + Gruul Turf + Horizon Explorer + Icetill Explorer
- 1Play Gruul Turf. When it enters untapped due to Horizon Explorer, Gruul Turf and Springheart Nantuko trigger.
- 2Holding priority, activate Gruul Turf by tapping it, adding .
- 3Resolve the Gruul Turf trigger, returning it from the battlefield to your hand.
- 4Resolve the Springheart Nantuko trigger, causing you to pay to create a token copy of Icetill Explorer.
- 5Because of the additional Icetill Explorer token, you can play an additional land this turn.
- 6Repeat.
Springheart Nantuko + Amulet of Vigor + Simic Growth Chamber + Icetill Explorer
- 1Play Simic Growth Chamber. When it enters, Amulet of Vigor, Simic Growth Chamber and Springheart Nantuko trigger.
- 2Resolve the Amulet of Vigor trigger, untapping Simic Growth Chamber.
- 3Holding priority, activate Simic Growth Chamber by tapping it, adding .
- 4Resolve the Simic Growth Chamber trigger, returning it from the battlefield to your hand.
- 5Resolve the Springheart Nantuko trigger, causing you to pay to create a token copy of Icetill Explorer.
- 6Because of the additional Icetill Explorer token, you can play an additional land this turn.
- 7Repeat.
Legal formats
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Meta decks with Icetill Explorer
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