Precon Upgrade Guide
Sneak Attack Upgrade Guide
What to cut, what to add, and how to play the Dimir Rogues and mill precon from Zendikar Rising, commanded by Anowon, the Ruin Thief.
Zendikar Rising
Sneak Attack
Mill as a means to an end rarely closes games alone. Out of the box, before any upgrades. How we rate precons
Buy Sneak Attack on TCGplayer →Quick verdict
Sneak Attack is a Rogue deck that mills opponents with combat damage and then uses what lands in their graveyards. Anowon, the Ruin Thief pumps your other Rogues and mills a card for each point of damage they deal, drawing you a card whenever a creature comes off the top. The deck has plenty of cheap unblockable Rogues, but its reanimation spells are expensive, its mana base is full of tapped lands, and it has very little cheap interaction, which leaves it below the power of most precons.
TurnZero HQ rates Sneak Attack a 3 out of 5 on difficulty and a 2 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 Sneak Attack decklist page, and every other precon we cover is on the precon directory.
How the precon plays
Anowon, the Ruin Thief is a four-mana 2/4. Other Rogues you control get +1/+1, and whenever one or more Rogues you control deal combat damage to a player, that player mills a card for each point of damage. If at least one creature card is milled this way, you draw a card. Every Rogue that connects mills, and creature-heavy opponents give you cards back.
Getting through is the easy part. Slither Blade , Triton Shorestalker , Changeling Outcast , Invisible Stalker and Marang River Prowler can't be blocked, and Soaring Thought-Thief mills each opponent two cards whenever your Rogues attack. Prowl cards like Notorious Throng , Latchkey Faerie and Stinkdrinker Bandit get cheaper once a Rogue has hit.
The milled creatures are the second half of the plan. Lazav, Dimir Mastermind can become a copy of any creature card put into an opponent's graveyard, Whispersteel Dagger lets you cast creatures from that player's graveyard, and spells like Extract from Darkness and Rise from the Grave put the best of them onto your side.
What works out of the box
Anowon, the Ruin Thief ↗
Pumps every other Rogue and turns their combat damage into mill and card draw.
Soaring Thought-Thief ↗
Mills each opponent two cards whenever your Rogues attack, and gives Rogues +1/+0 once an opponent has eight or more cards in their graveyard.
Invisible Stalker ↗
A two-mana Rogue with hexproof that can't be blocked. With Anowon out it is a 2/2 that mills two cards every turn and is hard to remove.
Notorious Throng ↗
With prowl paid, it makes a Faerie Rogue for each point of damage dealt to opponents this turn and gives you an extra turn.
Whispersteel Dagger ↗
When the equipped creature hits a player, you may cast a creature spell from that player's graveyard this turn with any mana.
What needs improvement
The reanimation is expensive. Necromantic Selection and Fated Return cost seven mana, Endless Obedience six, and In Garruk's Wake nine, in a deck whose creatures mostly cost one to three. Necromantic Selection also destroys every creature, which includes your own Rogues.
Six lands always enter tapped, including Dimir Guildgate , two gain lands and Submerged Boneyard , and the deck has almost no cheap interaction. Murder , Price of Fame , Soul Manipulation and Silumgar's Command are most of it, and apart from Price of Fame aimed at a legendary creature, none of them costs less than three mana.
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. Fix the tapped lands
A deck of one- and two-mana Rogues wants to cast two spells a turn early, and tapped lands make that hard.
What to look for Lands that make blue and black and usually enter untapped.
Cut, for example
Dimir Guildgate Always enters tapped and does nothing else.
Jwar Isle Refuge Always enters tapped for 1 life. The life rarely matters.
Submerged Boneyard A dual land that always enters tapped with no other upside.
Add, for example
2. Cheaper reanimation
Milling an opponent's best creature only helps if you can bring it back soon. The deck's reanimation costs six or seven mana, which is often more than the creature you take.
What to look for Reanimation costing three mana or less that can take a creature from any player's graveyard.
Cut, for example
Necromantic Selection Seven mana, and it destroys every creature, including your Rogues, before you get one back.
Fated Return Seven mana to reanimate one creature. Indestructible is nice, but the cost is too high.
3. Add Rogues that mill or draw
Anowon only pumps Rogues and only triggers off Rogues. Slots spent on non-Rogue creatures and defensive spells could be more bodies for the plan.
What to look for Cheap Rogues that mill when they enter or attack, or creatures that draw a card when they connect. Ninjas that swap in for an unblocked Rogue also fit.
Cut, for example
Scourge of Fleets Seven mana, not a Rogue, and its bounce counts Islands, which a two-color deck has only some of.
Aetherize A four-mana defensive trick that returns all attacking creatures to hand. It does nothing for the Rogue plan.
Add, for example
Thieves' Guild Enforcer ↗
A one-mana flash Rogue. Each opponent mills two cards whenever it or another Rogue enters, and it gains deathtouch and +2/+1 once an opponent has eight cards in their graveyard.
Ingenious Infiltrator ↗
Ninjutsu for two mana by returning an unblocked attacker, and it draws a card whenever a Ninja you control deals combat damage to a player.
4. Add cheap interaction
The deck can't stop an opponent's spell for less than three mana and its creature removal usually costs three or more. Two-mana answers let you keep developing Rogues and still respond.
What to look for Counterspells and creature removal costing two mana, ideally at instant speed.
Cut, for example
Spinal Embrace Six mana, castable only during combat, to borrow a creature for one turn.
Stolen Identity Six mana for a copy of one creature or artifact. Cipher can repeat it, but it is slow.
Add, for example
Counterspell ↗
Two mana to counter any spell.
Drown in the Loch ↗
Two mana to counter a spell or destroy a creature with mana value up to the cards in its controller's graveyard. A mill deck fills that graveyard fast.
Infernal Grasp ↗
Two mana at instant speed: destroy target creature, and you lose 2 life.
Win conditions
The deck wins by attacking with unblockable Rogues every turn. Anowon and Obelisk of Urd naming Rogue make each one larger, Notorious Throng with prowl gives you an extra turn, and Scytheclaw or Bonehoard can turn a single connecting creature into a large hit. Milling a player out is a backup in long games. The upgrades make the reanimation cheaper and add interaction so the Rogues keep attacking.
Who should buy this precon
A moderate pick for a player who likes evasive creatures and stealing opponents' cards. Choosing which creature to reanimate and when to cast prowl spells takes some practice. Out of the box it is weaker than most precons, so plan on the mana and interaction changes above before taking it to a stronger table.
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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