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Say I have a Shambling Vent. I animate it, then play Dauntless Bodyguard targeting it. At the end of turn, Shambling Vent returns to being a land. Next turn, opponent uses a land destruction spell on Shambling Vent. Can I sacrifice Dauntless Bodyguard to give Shambling Vent indestructible, thereby countering the land destruction spell?

Relevant text of Dauntless Bodyguard:

Sacrifice Dauntless Bodyguard: The chosen creature gains indestructible until end of turn.

The question hinges on whether this ability still works given that Shambling Vent isn't a creature at the time Dauntless Bodyguard is sacrificed.

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Yes, it can. As long as the first ability of Dauntless Bodyguard resolved at a time the land was also a creature, it will track that permanent.

700.7 If an ability of an object uses a phrase such as “this [something]” to identify an object, where [something] is a characteristic, it is referring to that particular object, even if it isn’t the appropriate characteristic at the time.

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  • You're right about the rules but I think your conclusion is wrong. In the OP's scenario, Shambling Vent has already stopped being a creature when the ability is activated.
    – Cadence
    Jul 8, 2022 at 21:07
  • In the example provided along with rule 700.7, a delayed triggered ability that references "that creature" is created, and it works even if that object is no longer a creature by the time the ability triggers. The instance in question is about an activated ability instead of a delayed trigger, but otherwise it's essentially the same issue. The important thing is that the referenced object is defined earlier, and the later ability still refers to the same object.
    – murgatroid99 ♦
    Jul 9, 2022 at 0:36
  • @Andrew How does rule 700.7 not apply here? The characteristic of "creature" has been removed, but the object was previously chosen.
    – JonTheMon
    Jul 12, 2022 at 16:37

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