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nope, if the spell or ability says 'target something' then it needs a target to resolve, if any of the targeting requisites aren't met, the spell/ability fails.

if a spell says 'deal 3 damage to target creature' the spell will fail if any of the following happens before it resolves:

-the creature is moved to a different zone
-the creature's type is changed to something else

also, if a spell specifies 'destroy 3 target creatures' then that means '3 targets', not 'up to 3'....if someone removed one of the 3 targeted creatures before the spell resolved then the entire spell would fail and the other 2 targets wouldn't be affected.

thought so, thanks for clarifying.

[QUOTE=Seras]also, if a spell specifies 'destroy 3 target creatures' then that means '3 targets', not 'up to 3'....if someone removed one of the 3 targeted creatures before the spell resolved then the entire spell would fail and the other 2 targets wouldn't be affected.[/QUOTE]

No, all of the spell/ability's targets have to be illegal for the whole thing to be countered. If at least one legal target is left, it will effect that target if it can and still have whatever other effects it's supposed to.

If one of Hex's targets is sacrificed, for example, before Hex resolves, it will still destroy the other five creatures.

Similarly, if you play Electrolyze targeting two creatures, and one of them then gains protection from red before it resolves, it will still damage the other creature and draw you a card.

608. Resolving Spells and Abilities
...
608.2b If the spell or ability specifies targets, it checks whether the targets are still legal. A target that’s no longer in the zone it was in when it was targeted is illegal. Other changes to the game state may cause a target to no longer be legal; for example, its characteristics may have changed or an effect may have changed the text of the spell. If the source of an ability has left the zone it was in, its last known information is used during this process. The spell or ability is countered if all its targets, for every instance of the word “target,” are now illegal. If the spell or ability is not countered, it will resolve normally. However, if any of its targets are illegal, the part of the spell or ability’s effect for which it is an illegal target can’t perform any actions on that target or make that target perform any actions. The effect may still determine information about illegal targets, though, and other parts of the effect for which those targets are not illegal may still affect them.

Example: Aura Blast is a white instant that reads, “Destroy target enchantment. Draw a card.” If the enchantment isn’t a legal target during Aura Blast’s resolution (say, if it has gained protection from white or left the battlefield), then Aura Blast is countered. Its controller doesn’t draw a card.

Example: Plague Spores reads, “Destroy target nonblack creature and target land. They can’t be regenerated.” Suppose the same animated land is chosen both as the nonblack creature and as the land, and the color of the creature land is changed to black before Plague Spores resolves. Plagues Spores isn’t countered because the black creature land is still a legal target for the “target land” part of the spell. The “destroy target nonblack creature” part of the spell won’t affect that permanent, but the “destroy target land” part of the spell will still destroy it. It can’t be regenerated.