How to build Lieutenant Commander Data

Lieutenant Commander Data takes a +1/+1 counter whenever anyone at the table casts a noncreature spell, and turns three counters and one mana into a card. This list is mostly cheap noncreature spells, so he grows on every turn and you choose each turn whether the counters become cards or commander damage.

Most of his counters come from your own spells

Across the 184 preconstructed Commander decks on this site, leaving out the collector's editions, the median one runs 32 noncreature spells in its hundred cards, and the range is 18 to 48. An opponent's opening seven holds about two of them, and each card drawn after that is a noncreature spell roughly one time in three. Three opponents drawing a card a turn find about one noncreature spell a round between them. The table helps him, but it does not carry him.

So the list carries him. 58 of its 99 cards are noncreature spells, and 20 of those cost a mana or less. Mox Amber, Mishra's Bauble and Urza's Bauble cost nothing at all, and Gitaxian Probe can be paid for with 2 life. Mox Amber then taps for blue as long as Data is out, because he is a legendary creature. Sapphire Medallion takes the generic mana off every blue spell, which turns the twelve noncreature spells that cost into a single blue each, Remand, Memory Lapse and Cyclonic Rift among them. Four spells in one turn is four counters, which is a card with one left over.

A counterspell aimed at a noncreature spell is two counters, and Remand makes it three

Data triggers on the cast, so his counter is on him before anyone can respond, and countering the spell later takes nothing back. When an opponent casts a noncreature spell and you answer it with Counterspell, two spells were cast and he takes two counters. Negate, Swan Song, An Offer You Can't Refuse, Force of Negation and Fierce Guardianship can only target noncreature spells, so every one of them that resolves was a two counter exchange.

Three of the counterspells go further, because they send the card back instead of to the graveyard. Remand returns it to its owner's hand and Memory Lapse puts it on top of their library, so the same card gets cast a second time and Data takes a third counter off it. Delay exiles it with three time counters and suspend, and when the last one comes off its owner can cast it again for free. Narset's Reversal copies an instant or sorcery for you and returns the original to the hand it came from. The copy is never cast, so it does not count, but the original will be. The opponent pays for one card twice, and Data is paid both times.

Glen Elendra Archmage is the same exchange on a body. and sacrificing her counters a noncreature spell, so each activation follows a counter he has already taken, and Baral, Chief of Compliance lets you loot every time one of these counters works.

The cost takes any three counters, and a -1/-1 counter is one of them

The draw asks for three counters from among creatures you control. It does not say +1/+1 counters, and it does not say Data's.

That matters most for Glen Elendra Archmage. She has persist, so the first time she is sacrificed she comes back with a -1/-1 counter, and the second time she stays dead. Data's draw can take that -1/-1 counter as one of its three. Take it alongside two of his and she has no counter on her again, so persist works the next time as well. Each lap costs for the counterspell, for the card and two of Data's counters, and she never runs out.

Dominion Saboteur can enter as a copy of Data, minus the legendary supertype, and it arrives with every counter he has. From then on each noncreature spell puts a counter on both of them, and both piles pay for the same draw. Walking Ballista is the other place to keep counters, where each one is a point of damage or a third of a card, and you choose which at the moment you need it.

Romulan Bird-of-Prey is a bank that only fills while it is shut. Whenever you cast a noncreature spell it takes two charge counters, but only while it is not a creature. At eight it becomes a 4/4 flyer, and its charge counters are now on a creature you control, so Data can take them. Taking three drops it below eight, it stops being a creature, gets its hexproof back and starts filling again. In practice every noncreature spell you cast puts three counters within reach of the draw instead of one.

With Mr. Spock out, one mana and three counters is two cards

Mr. Spock, Science Officer replaces every draw you make with two. Data's ability is a draw, so the same three counters and the same single mana now buy two cards. Brainstorm becomes six cards in and two back, and Gitaxian Probe, Mishra's Bauble and Urza's Bauble each draw two. Reliquary Tower and Thought Vessel are in the list for this reason. Once Mr. Spock lands your hand can pass seven in a single turn, and discarding at your end step throws away cards the counters already paid for.

Proliferate adds one to him and one to every other permanent you pick

Proliferate gives each permanent you choose another counter of each kind already on it. Flux Channeler proliferates whenever you cast a noncreature spell, so each of those spells is two counters on Data, one from his trigger and one from the Channeler. Inexorable Tide proliferates on every spell you cast, creature spells included. Tezzeret's Gambit, Experimental Augury and Contentious Plan draw and proliferate in a single card. Karn's Bastion proliferates from the land slot, and Contagion Engine does it twice for .

With Flux Channeler out and the Bird-of-Prey part way charged, one noncreature spell is five counters. Data takes one from his own trigger, the Bird-of-Prey takes two from its own, and the proliferate puts one more on each of them. You choose what proliferate touches, so leave out Glen Elendra Archmage's -1/-1 counter, which would only shrink her. The Ozolith is worth including, for the reason in the next section.

Hold one mana for every three counters when removal is coming

Every counter on Data is lost when he leaves the battlefield, and his draw can be used at any time. So when a removal spell or a sweeper goes on the stack, answer it by drawing. A Data on nine counters with three mana open becomes three cards before he goes, or six with Mr. Spock out. The removal still resolves, but what it removes is a 2/2.

The Ozolith keeps whatever you could not spend. When a creature you control leaves with counters on it, those counters move onto the Ozolith, and at the beginning of combat on your turn you can move all of them onto a creature. Recast Data and give him back what he had. Proliferate grows the Ozolith while it waits. Data is also an artifact card, so if you let him go to the graveyard instead of the command zone, Academy Ruins can put him on top of your library and you skip the tax on his next cast.

Lightning Greaves and Whispersilk Cloak stop targeted removal before it starts, and because his ability targets nothing, shroud never gets in the way of a draw. Shore Up and Slip Out the Back cover the turns he has no equipment, though neither can target him while it is on. Slip Out the Back also leaves a +1/+1 counter behind.

Twenty one damage or seven cards

Every counter is a point of power or a third of a card, and the list is built so you can pick. Twenty one counters spent are seven cards, or fourteen with Mr. Spock. Kept, they are twenty one commander damage the first time he connects. Rogue's Passage, Whispersilk Cloak and Key to the City make him unblockable, and Distortion Strike does it twice from one card, because rebound casts it again on your next upkeep and that second cast is another counter. Blackblade Reforged costs to equip to a legendary creature and gives +1/+1 for each land you control. On turn seven, with seven lands and six counters, it makes him a 15/15, and two connected attacks kill a player.

The habit this list is built around is simple. Draw with the counters while the table still holds answers, and turn him sideways once it has spent them. A pod with open mana and removal in hand makes counters worth more as cards. A pod that has used its answers makes each counter you keep a turn off the clock.

Engulf the Shore leaves him behind once he outgrows your Islands

Engulf the Shore returns every creature with toughness no higher than the number of Islands you control. Twenty eight of the thirty five lands here are Islands, the twenty seven basics and Mystic Sanctuary, so the number keeps pace with your land drops. Data starts at 2 toughness and gains one for every noncreature spell anybody casts, so once he has outgrown your Island count the sweep sends the rest of the table's creatures home and leaves him where he is. It is an instant, so casting it is a counter as well.

The other two sweepers miss him in different ways. Aetherspouts only takes attacking creatures, so on an opponent's turn it cannot reach him. Cyclonic Rift with overload at seven mana returns every nonland permanent you do not control, which leaves your whole side alone, Data and the Ozolith included.

Howling Mine pays the table nine cards for every one it pays you

Symmetrical card draw looks made for a commander who feeds on the whole table, and it is a bad trade. An extra card in an opponent's hand is a noncreature spell about one time in three, and Data needs three counters for a card, so each card you hand an opponent is worth roughly a ninth of a card to you and a whole one to them. Howling Mine and Kami of the Crescent Moon both make that trade every turn. The list runs Rhystic Study and Mystic Remora instead, which pay you for what the table casts without paying the table first.

Thirty five blue sources, and four lands that make colourless

Thirty one of the lands tap for blue, and Arcane Signet, Fellwar Stone, Mox Amber and Coldsteel Heart bring the count to thirty five. That finds a blue source by turn two in 97.4 percent of games on the play, a turn before Data needs one. Ten cards want , Counterspell and Mr. Spock, Science Officer among them, and the list finds the second blue by turn three 89.5 percent of the time, a shade under the usual target of ninety. Only Counterspell and Narset's Reversal among them cost two, and on turn three you are casting Data anyway.

Rogue's Passage, Reliquary Tower, Karn's Bastion and Academy Ruins make only colourless mana, and each does a job no Island can. Tolaria West is the one land that always enters tapped, and its transmute finds any card with mana value zero, which here means a land, Mox Amber, either Bauble or Walking Ballista.

The core list

Data and the ninety nine around him, every card costed at its cheapest paper printing. Hover any name to see the printing behind its price.

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The cheap rung casts its draw spells twice, and bracket 4 adds a loop

Neither rung touches the engine. Data, Mr. Spock, Science Officer, Glen Elendra Archmage, Dominion Saboteur, Romulan Bird-of-Prey, Flux Channeler and Inexorable Tide are in all three lists, so the deck does the same thing at every bracket. What moves is how much of it is free, and what happens to the counters when Data dies.

Ten swaps take the core list from at least $552 to at least $120. Rhystic Study, Fierce Guardianship and Cyclonic Rift are the three Game Changers, and with them gone nothing holds the list above bracket 2. Mox Amber, The Ozolith, Force of Negation and Sensei's Divining Top are most of the rest of the saving. The replacements lean on one idea. Think Twice, Deep Analysis and Chemister's Insight are draw spells you cast once from your hand and again from the graveyard, so each is two counters on Data from one card. Chromatic Star and Chromatic Sphere cost a mana each and draw a card on the way out. Mana Leak and Spell Pierce take the counterspell slots, and Aetherize stands in for the Rift as a sweeper he survives on your opponents' turns.

The real loss is The Ozolith. Without it, counters that are on Data when he dies are gone, and Swiftfoot Boots only stops the targeted half of the removal. So the budget list plays the respond to removal habit harder. Keep a mana open for every three counters, and cash them in earlier than the core list would.

Going up costs ten swaps, at least $1,200 and nine Game Changers. Mana Vault, Chrome Mox, Ancient Tomb and Lotus Petal put Data out on turn one or two, and the two that cost nothing are counters for nothing as well. Force of Will can be cast by exiling a blue card, so it is a free noncreature spell, and aimed at another noncreature spell it is two free counters. Mana Drain, The One Ring, Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Mystical Tutor are the rest. Hullbreaker Horror is the reason this rung is bracket 4 and not a stronger 3. Whenever you cast a spell it can return a nonland permanent to its owner's hand, so with Sol Ring and any zero mana artifact you tap Sol Ring for two, cast the artifact and return Sol Ring, then recast Sol Ring for one and return the artifact. Every lap is one more colourless mana and two more counters on Data, so the loop ends when you choose, with as many cards as you like or a Walking Ballista as large as you like. The core list already holds three zero mana artifacts and this rung adds two more, so the third piece is rarely far away. Bring it to a table that expects turn one fast mana and free counterspells, and nowhere else.

FAQ

Does Lieutenant Commander Data get a counter when an opponent casts a spell?

Yes, as long as it is a noncreature spell. His trigger reads whenever a player casts one, so every instant, sorcery, artifact, enchantment and planeswalker cast by anyone at the table counts, yours included. Creature spells never count, and that includes artifact creatures.

Does Lieutenant Commander Data keep the counter if the spell gets countered?

Yes. The trigger happens when the spell is cast and resolves before the spell does, so countering it afterwards does not take the counter back. Counter a noncreature spell with a counterspell of your own and he takes two.

How much does this Lieutenant Commander Data deck cost?

At least $552 for the core list, with every card bought at its cheapest paper printing. That is a floor, because four new Star Trek cards in it have no price yet. The budget rung costs at least $120 and keeps the whole engine, and the bracket 4 version costs at least $1,200.

Can Lieutenant Commander Data remove -1/-1 counters to draw a card?

Yes. The cost is three counters of any kind from among creatures you control, in any mix. A -1/-1 counter on a persist creature, a +1/+1 counter on Walking Ballista and his own counters all pay for it, and removing the -1/-1 counter from Glen Elendra Archmage lets her persist again.

Do copied spells put a counter on Lieutenant Commander Data?

Only when the copy is cast. A copy that is simply put on the stack, from Narset's Reversal or from storm, is not cast and does not count. A spell cast again through rebound, flashback or suspend is cast, so it does.

When can I play Lieutenant Commander Data in Commander?

He becomes playable when Star Trek reaches shops on 13 November 2026. Until then deck checkers reject him because the card is unreleased, which is a question of dates and not a ban.

Is Lieutenant Commander Data good?

He is a strong engine at a table that casts spells and a slow one at a table that casts creatures. Preconstructed decks run anywhere from 18 to 48 noncreature spells, so against three creature decks most of his counters come from you. That is why this list runs 58 noncreature spells of its own, and why it treats him as a card engine first and an attacker second.