Can you use the Repeat on Existential Dread to target the same unit and return it to hand?

Question

Accepted Answer

Yes. If you pay Existential Dread's Repeat and choose the same attacking enemy unit for both executions, the spell will first stun it and then, on the second execution, see it is already stunned and return it to its owner's hand. If the unit was already stunned when the spell was played, the first execution will return it and the second execution will find the object no longer on the board and do nothing.

You may pay Repeat on Existential Dread and choose the same attacking enemy unit for the additional execution(s). If the unit is unstunned when the spell begins resolving, the first execution will stun it and the subsequent execution will return it to hand because it is now stunned. If the unit is already stunned when you play the spell, the first execution will return it to hand and the second execution will not affect it because it has moved to a non-board zone and is no longer the same game object [820.1.d.1] [820.2] [423.1.a.1] [359.3.e.4] [359.3.e.5] [FAQ:unleashed#22].

You play Existential Dread and pay its Repeat additional cost; during Make Relevant Choices you may choose the same attacking enemy unit as the target for each execution of the spell per [820.2] [820.1.d.1]. The spell resolves as a single item and executes its instruction(s) in order; treat the Repeat execution(s) as additional copies of the same instruction executed sequentially during resolution [820.1.d.1]. If the chosen unit is NOT stunned at the time the spell begins resolving: the first execution stuns that attacking enemy unit (it becomes Stunned immediately) [423.1.a.1]. Because the first execution stunned the unit, the second execution now sees that the unit is already Stunned and follows the alternate clause on Existential Dread's text: return it to its owner's hand instead. If the chosen unit IS already stunned before the spell resolves: the first execution will follow the 'already stunned' branch immediately and return the unit to its owner's hand. When the second execution runs, that previously chosen object is now in a non-board zone and is no longer the same game object, so the second execution's attempt to affect it does nothing [359.3.e.4] [359.3.e.5]. If the unit leaves the board between the first and second internal executions for any other reason, the same 'no longer the same object' logic applies and later executions that targeted that original object will be unable to affect it [FAQ:unleashed#22].

Unit already stunned before playing Existential Dread: first execution returns it to hand, second execution does nothing because the object is now off-board and not the same object [359.3.e.4]. Some other effect removes or moves the unit between the internal executions (e.g., a Reaction played by the unit's controller): subsequent executions targeting the original object will be unable to affect it if it moved to a non-board zone [359.3.e.4] [359.3.e.5]. If the unit is targeted multiple times via Repeat but different choices were made for those executions (legal under [820.2]), then the results will apply separately to each chosen target in the execution order. If an intervening effect changes whether the unit is an "attacking enemy unit" between finalization and resolution but it remains the same object on the board, the targeting relationship persists while it remains on the board per [FAQ:unleashed#22]; the spell will still attempt to affect that chosen object as it resolves.

Mechanically, Repeat causes the spell's instructions to be executed additional times when the spell resolves; choices for those additional executions are made during Make Relevant Choices as you play the spell [820.1.d.1] [820.2]. You may therefore choose the same legal target for multiple executions of Existential Dread. When the spell actually resolves, its first internal execution will stun the chosen attacking enemy unit if it was not already stunned. Because the second execution happens after the first (the effect is performed again), it will see the unit is now stunned and follow the card's specific "If it's already stunned, return it to its owner's hand instead" clause, returning the unit to hand. This is consistent with Repeat functioning as duplicating the instruction text for resolution [820.1.d.1] and with stunned being a binary state that prevents being stunned again but does not prevent choosing a stunned unit [423.1.a.1]. If instead the unit was already stunned before the spell resolved, the first execution will return it to hand (per the card text). Once returned to hand it has changed to a non-board zone and is no longer the same game object, so any later internal execution that targeted the original object will not affect the returned card [359.3.e.4] [359.3.e.5] and the official clarification about target relationships confirms the distinction between objects that remain on-board and those that move off-board [FAQ:unleashed#22]. In short: yes — picking the same attacking enemy unit for both executions can stun it first and then return it to hand, provided the object remains on the board long enough for the second execution to see it as stunned.