Precon Upgrade Guide
Grand Larceny Upgrade Guide
What to cut, what to add, and how to play the Sultai theft precon from Outlaws of Thunder Junction, commanded by Gonti, Canny Acquisitor.
Outlaws of Thunder Junction
Grand Larceny
Casting stolen cards from an opponent's library needs some reading of the table. Out of the box, before any upgrades. How we rate precons
Buy Grand Larceny on TCGplayer →Quick verdict
Grand Larceny plays your opponents' decks against them. Every time your creatures connect, Gonti, Canny Acquisitor steals a card off the top of that player's library and lets you cast it with any mana, at a discount. The theft engine is fun and the box has plenty of cheap unblockable creatures to feed it. What slows it down is a cluster of seven-mana cards and expensive artifacts, a mana base full of lands that enter tapped, and one board wipe that hits your own team harder than anyone else's.
TurnZero HQ rates Grand Larceny a 3 out of 5 on difficulty and a 3 out of 5 on power, as it comes in the box. That is our editorial read, not an official Wizards rating. The full hundred cards are on the Grand Larceny decklist page, and every other precon we cover is on the precon directory.
How the precon plays
Gonti, Canny Acquisitor is a five-mana 5/5 with two abilities. Spells you cast but don't own cost one less. Whenever one or more of your creatures deal combat damage to a player, you look at the top card of that player's library and exile it face down, and you can play it for as long as it stays exiled, spending any type of mana on it. The trigger cares about one or more creatures connecting, so one unblockable 1/1 is all it takes.
That is why the deck carries Slither Blade , Triton Shorestalker and Silhana Ledgewalker , small creatures that get through every turn. Felix Five-Boots makes combat-damage triggers happen an additional time, so Gonti steals two cards per player, and Edric, Spymaster of Trest and Ohran Frostfang draw cards off the same hits.
The bigger theft cards come from the same idea. Thief of Sanity , Fallen Shinobi and Silent-Blade Oni each take something when they connect, and the ninjas can come in through ninjutsu by returning one of those unblocked 1/1s to your hand. Hostage Taker and Gonti, Lord of Luxury steal on entry, and Villainous Wealth ends a long game by casting a pile of one opponent's library for free.
What works out of the box
Gonti, Canny Acquisitor ↗
Steals the top card of a player's library every time your creatures connect, and makes the stolen spells cheaper. One unblockable creature is enough to keep it running.
Felix Five-Boots ↗
Combat-damage triggers from your creatures happen an additional time. Gonti, Edric, and every ninja in the deck get twice the value from the same hit.
Fallen Shinobi ↗
Ninjutsu in for four mana off an unblocked 1/1, then play the top two cards of that player's library for free. Few cards in the deck swing a game faster.
Hostage Taker ↗
Exiles a creature or artifact when it enters, and you can cast that card yourself while it is exiled. It is removal and a threat in one card.
Edric, Spymaster of Trest ↗
Every creature that deals combat damage to an opponent draws its controller a card. Your small unblockable attackers each become a card a turn.
Thief of Sanity ↗
A three-mana flier that picks the best of three cards from a player's library each time it connects, and you can cast it with any mana.
What needs improvement
The top of the curve is crowded. Mind's Dilation , Sage of the Beyond , Diluvian Primordial , Thieving Amalgam and Heartless Conscription all cost seven or more, and Chaos Wand asks for four mana every time you use it. A deck whose engine is cheap evasive creatures should spend its early mana putting those creatures down, and the lands make that harder: Temple of Deceit , Temple of Malady , Temple of Mystery , Fetid Pools , Dimir Aqueduct and Opulent Palace all enter tapped.
Interaction is also uneven. Culling Ritual destroys every nonland permanent with mana value 2 or less, which takes out your own Sol Ring , signets, and most of your unblockable creatures. Putrefy , Feed the Swarm and Baleful Mastery are good, but the deck has only Plasm Capture to stop a spell.
Upgrade ideas
Each upgrade below starts from something the deck does poorly and says what a replacement card has to do. The cards named are examples, not the only answer: if you own something else that does the same job, or a newer printing does it better, it goes in the same slot. Make one change at a time and play a few games between them, so you can tell which change helped. The general method is in how to upgrade a Commander precon →
1. More cheap creatures that connect
Gonti only needs one creature to deal combat damage, and the ninjas need an unblocked attacker to return. Every cheap evasive creature is another way to start that chain on turn two or three.
What to look for Creatures costing one or two mana that can't be blocked, or cards that make your small creatures unblockable. Low power is fine; the damage is not the point.
Cut, for example
Mind's Dilation Seven mana before it does anything, and it only triggers on each opponent's first spell per turn. Too slow for a deck that wants to be attacking early.
Sage of the Beyond A seven-mana 5/5 flier whose discount applies only to spells cast from outside your hand. Gonti already discounts the stolen spells.
Chaos Wand Three mana to cast and four more per activation, for a random instant or sorcery. That mana is better spent on creatures that steal through combat.
Add, for example
Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive ↗
Your creatures with power or toughness 1 or less can't be blocked. Most of the deck's ninjutsu enablers and several thieves qualify.
Changeling Outcast ↗
A one-mana 1/1 that can't be blocked. It is every creature type, so it also counts as a Rogue or Ninja for anything that cares.
Mist-Cloaked Herald ↗
One mana for an unblockable 1/1. It turns on Gonti and ninjutsu from turn two onward.
2. Ramp into Gonti on turn four
Gonti costs five mana in three colors, and the box's mana artifacts are on the slow side. Two-mana land ramp puts Gonti down a turn earlier and fixes colors while it does.
What to look for Two-mana spells that put a land onto the battlefield, ideally ones that can find dual lands with basic land types. See how much ramp a Commander deck needs.
Cut, for example
Prismatic Lens Taps for colorless, or for any color only if you pay an extra mana. It fixes poorly for a three-color deck.
Darksteel Ingot Three mana for one mana of any color. Indestructible rarely matters, and a two-mana ramp spell does the same job a turn earlier.
3. Replace the lands that enter tapped
Six of the deck's lands always or usually enter tapped. A deck that wants a one-drop on turn one and a ninjutsu activation by turn three loses a lot to a slow land.
What to look for Two-color lands in black, green, or blue that can enter untapped from the first turn. Lands with basic land types also work with Farseek and Nature's Lore.
Cut, for example
Dimir Aqueduct Enters tapped and returns a land to your hand. It is card advantage later, but a lost tempo the turn you play it.
Temple of Deceit Always enters tapped. The scry 1 is a small bonus for a turn of lost mana.
Add, for example
Watery Grave ↗
Enters untapped for 2 life and taps for blue or black. It is an Island and a Swamp, so Farseek can fetch it and it turns on Drowned Catacomb.
Overgrown Tomb ↗
Enters untapped for 2 life and taps for black or green. As a Swamp and a Forest it turns on Woodland Cemetery and can be fetched by Nature's Lore.
Breeding Pool ↗
Enters untapped for 2 life and taps for green or blue. It turns on Hinterland Harbor and can be fetched by either ramp spell above.
4. Swap the self-hurting removal for clean answers
The deck's mass removal hits its own cheap creatures and mana, and it has only one way to stop a spell. Cheap instant-speed answers protect the theft engine without breaking it.
What to look for Removal and counterspells costing two mana that target only what you choose. Instants are better, since you can hold them up while your creatures attack.
Cut, for example
Culling Ritual Destroys every nonland permanent with mana value 2 or less, including your Sol Ring, signets, and most of your unblockable creatures.
Stolen Goods Four mana to cast one random nonland card from an opponent's library. Gonti and the ninjas already do this for free through combat.
Add, for example
Assassin's Trophy ↗
Two mana at instant speed to destroy any permanent an opponent controls. The basic land they get back is a small price.
Infernal Grasp ↗
Two mana at instant speed to destroy a creature for 2 life. Simple and reliable.
Counterspell ↗
Two mana to counter any spell. It gives the deck a way to stop a board wipe aimed at your attackers.
Win conditions
Most games are won with the opponents' own cards. Small unblockable creatures connect every turn, Gonti, Canny Acquisitor and the ninjas pile up stolen spells, and those spells plus Hostage Taker and Brainstealer Dragon eventually outgrow the table. Villainous Wealth is the big finisher in a long game, and Ukkima, Stalking Shadow with Cazur, Ruthless Stalker add an unblockable clock that hits back when Ukkima leaves the battlefield.
Who should buy this precon
A good pick for a player who likes taking things from other people and is comfortable reading unfamiliar cards mid-game. Casting a stolen card means tracking what is exiled face down and whose it is, which adds some bookkeeping, so it suits someone with a few Commander games behind them more than a first-time player.
Checked against the printed decklist on October 10, 2026.
Track how the upgrades actually perform.
TurnZero HQ keeps a win rate per deck version, so you can change a few cards, play some games, and see the difference instead of guessing.
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