Spara's Bodyguard
When Spara's Bodyguard enters the battlefield, you may choose a creature card in your hand. If you do, it perpetually gains "This creature enters the battlefield with an additional shield counter on it." Otherwise, put a shield counter on Spara's Bodyguard. (If it would be dealt damage or destroyed, remove a shield counter from it instead.)
At the beginning of each combat, Spara's Bodyguard gets +1/+1 until end of turn for each shield counter among other creatures you control.
Illustrated by Ilse Gort
This printing
If a permanent that would be dealt damage has more than one shield counter on it, that damage is prevented and only one shield counter is removed.
Shield counters don't prevent players from sacrificing creatures.
If a permanent with a shield counter is dealt unpreventable damage, that damage will be dealt and a shield counter will still be removed.
"Shield" is not an ability that creatures have and shield counters are not keyword counters. If a creature with a shield counter loses its abilities, the shield counter will still protect it as normal.
Removing a shield counter in this way isn't the same as regenerating a creature.
A creature with a shield counter on it may still be destroyed by state-based actions if it has damage marked on it equal to its toughness or has been dealt unpreventable damage by a source with deathtouch.
