The Battlefield

Glacial Chasm

8.83 TIX

Icetill Explorer

$20.61

AI DraftFeb 26, 2026

Glacial Chasm + Icetill Explorer

Overview

Icetill Explorer lets you play extra lands (including lands from your graveyard). When you play Glacial Chasm this way, its "When this land enters, sacrifice a land." triggered ability will trigger; if you control no other lands when that trigger resolves, you must sacrifice Glacial Chasm itself (Ruling [2008-08-01]). If Glacial Chasm remains on the battlefield it prevents all damage to you and stops your creatures from attacking, and at each upkeep its cumulative upkeep triggers require you to put an age counter on it and then may pay 2 life per age counter to keep it ; paying life is part of resolving that triggered ability and is governed by cost rules .

Step 1

You may play Glacial Chasm as a land during your turn because Icetill Explorer allows you to play an additional land each turn and allows you to play lands from your graveyard (if you cast it from your graveyard, it still "enters" the battlefield when played).

Step 2

As Glacial Chasm enters the battlefield, its triggered ability “When this land enters, sacrifice a land.” triggers. If you control Icetill Explorer, Explorer’s Landfall ability ("Whenever a land you control enters, mill a card.") will also trigger from this same event.

Step 3

Those triggered abilities are put on the stack and will resolve in due course; when the Glacial Chasm "sacrifice a land" trigger resolves, you must choose a land you control and sacrifice it. If you control no other lands at that moment, Ruling [2008-08-01] makes you sacrifice Glacial Chasm itself.

Step 4

Because the land has entered the battlefield, any land-entering triggers (including Explorer’s landfall) will have seen that event and will trigger/mill even if Glacial Chasm is later sacrificed as part of its own ETB-trigger resolving.

Step 5

If Glacial Chasm remains on the battlefield after its ETB-trigger resolves, its continuous effects apply: "Creatures you control can't attack" and "Prevent all damage that would be dealt to you." Those continuous effects apply while it’s on the battlefield (see layering and continuous-effect application principles in if other effects are present).

Step 6

At the beginning of each of your upkeeps, Glacial Chasm’s cumulative upkeep triggers. Each time it triggers you put an age counter on it and then may pay 2 life for each age counter on it to keep it; if you don’t pay (or can’t), you sacrifice it . The choice and payment (paying life) happen as part of that triggered ability’s resolution under cost rules .

Step 7

Because Glacial Chasm prevents damage but cumulative upkeep requires paying life as a cost, damage prevention does not stop the life payment required by cumulative upkeep (the upkeep cost is a separate cost, see and ; life is referenced by rule header ).

Step 8

If you sacrifice Glacial Chasm (by its ETB trigger or by failing to pay cumulative upkeep), it goes to the graveyard and, if you still control Icetill Explorer and have remaining land plays available that turn, you may be able to play it again from your graveyard on a later main phase (subject to how many lands you may play that turn, including extra land allowances stacking per Ruling [2025-07-25]).

Resolution

You can play Glacial Chasm using Icetill Explorer's abilities (extra land drop and playing lands from your graveyard). When Glacial Chasm enters the battlefield it will cause its "sacrifice a land" triggered ability and Icetill Explorer's landfall trigger (if applicable) to trigger. If you don't control any other lands when the sacrifice-trigger resolves, you must sacrifice Glacial Chasm itself (Ruling [2008-08-01]). If Glacial Chasm remains on the battlefield it prevents all damage to you and creatures you control can't attack, and on each upkeep its cumulative upkeep triggers will add an age counter and require you to pay 2 life per age counter or sacrifice it ; the choice to pay the life is made as part of that triggered ability's resolution under the cost rules .

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