Kaheera The Orphanguard Eligibility In Deck Build

[Bmorse643]

I was just wondering if I can use Kaheera the Orphanguard as my companion if Xenagos God Of Revels is present in my deck. I was unsure if I can use Xenagos since his creature type is listed as a god on the card. However he's is also technically not a creature card until your devotion to green or red is 7 or more.
This is a gray area that I would appreciate some clarification on. Can I use Kaheera The Orphanguard if I have Xenagos God of Revels In my deck? Thank you in advance comrades.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

You cannot. Devotion is an effect that only works on the battelfield. Within the confines of your deck (which Kaheera is checking to determine its legality as a companion) Xenagos is an enchantment, a creature, and a god. God =/= dino, cat, nightmare, or beast, therefore no, kaheera is not a legal companion if you are playing xenagos.

[Bmorse643]

Thank you for the reply! It's much appreciated.

[spacemonaut]

Xenagos, God of Revels is always a creature anywhere except on the battlefield, as noted in its rulings:

The type-changing ability that can make Xenagos not be a creature functions only on the battlefield. It's always a creature card in other zones, regardless of your devotion to red and green. It's always a creature spell while it's on the stack. (2020-11-10)

This means he cannot be part of a Kaheera deck due to not meeting Kaheera's type requirements. The guidance TheAmericanSpirit provides is not correct: this has nothing to do with Devotion, and instead has everything to do with where abilities are allowed to function. (Devotion is not an effect at all, it's just a game state value like life total or number of cards in someone's hand, and is available anytime to any card that needs to check it.)

Abilities of a permanent by default only function while that permanent is on the battlefield, per CR 113.6. As it notes, there are several exceptions. If we want to know if an ability functions elsewhere, we need to check that list of exceptions.

113.6 Abilities of an instant or sorcery spell usually function only while that object is on the stack. Abilities of all other objects usually function only while that object is on the battlefield. The exceptions are as follows:

113.6a Characteristic-defining abilities function everywhere, even outside the game. (See rule 604.3.)
113.6b An ability that states which zones it functions in functions only from those zones.
(etc etc, there's a dozen of these)

The closest exception is the one mentioned in 113.6a. There's a variety of static abilities called characteristic-defining abilities, which is defined in CR 604.3—these get to function in all zones, and they set set a card's subtypes, power, toughness, and/or colors. An example of a characteristic-defining ability is seen on Tajuru Paragon which is always "also a Cleric, Rogue, Warrior, and Wizard", even in your deck. However, a static ability has to meet some requirements in order to be considered characteristic-defining, and Xenagos fails at requirements 1 and 5:

604.3a A static ability is a characteristic-defining ability if it meets the following criteria: (1) It defines an object's colors, subtypes, power, or toughness; (Xenagos's ability defines its card types, not its subtypes.) (2) it is printed on the card it affects, it was granted to the token it affects by the effect that created the token, or it was acquired by the object it affects as the result of a copy effect or text-changing effect; (3) it does not directly affect the characteristics of any other objects; (4) it is not an ability that an object grants to itself; and (5) it does not set the values of such characteristics only if certain conditions are met. (Xenagos's ability is conditional.)

(You'll see Tajuru Paragon's ability satisfies all five criteria.)

This means Xenagos's ability does not meet any of the exceptions to 113.6, and therefore functions only on the battlefield, as the ruling states.