When Irelia with Marching Orders attacks and uses Repeat, does she die after the first instance of damage (if she takes lethal damage) or does she survive to complete both instances before dying?

Question

Accepted Answer

If Irelia is chosen as the friendly unit for Marching Orders with Repeat paid, and she takes lethal damage from the first execution, she dies after that first execution. The second execution will not act on her because she is no longer the same game object on the board, so that instance's instruction cannot execute on her.

The spell's instructions are executed once per payment of Repeat, sequentially. If Irelia is killed by the first execution, she is moved to a non-board zone and is no longer the same game object; the subsequent execution cannot operate on her, so she does not survive to be hit again by the second execution. [820.1.d.1] [820.2] [359.3.e.3] [359.3.e.9]

You play Marching Orders and pay its base cost and the Repeat cost, so its instructions will be executed twice when it resolves [820.1.d.1] [820.2]. During the Make Relevant Choices step you choose targets for each execution (you may choose the same targets for both executions) [820.2]. The spell resolves and executes its first instance: the chosen friendly unit and the chosen enemy unit deal damage to each other according to their Mights. If Irelia takes lethal damage from that first instance, she is destroyed and moved to a non-board zone (trash). That ends her existence as that same game object on the board [359.3.e.3]. Now the spell executes its second instance. Because Irelia is no longer the same game object on the board (she's in a non-board zone), the spell cannot act on her. The instruction that would have affected her is ignored to the extent it cannot be followed [359.3.e.9] [359.3.e.11].

If Irelia were moved to a base (a board zone) rather than a non-board zone, she would remain the same game object and could still be affected by the second execution (targets on-board remain chosen) [359.3.e.3]. If a replacement effect prevented her from going to trash (e.g., an effect that sends a unit elsewhere or prevents death), that replacement must be considered — if she remains the same game object on the board the second instance can still target/affect her. If the controller chose different targets for the second execution during the Make Relevant Choices step, the second execution will act on those chosen targets instead [820.2].

Repeat causes the spell’s instructions to be executed an additional time(s) when the spell resolves; choices for those additional executions are made during the Make Relevant Choices step as you play the spell [820.1.d.1] [820.2]. That means when you paid Repeat on Marching Orders you (or the spell) had targets chosen for each execution. When the spell resolves its instructions are executed sequentially. The first execution deals damage normally; if Irelia is dealt lethal damage as a result, she is destroyed and moved to a non-board zone (trash). Once she is in a non-board zone she is no longer the same game object on the board and any targeting/relationship the spell had to that object is severed [359.3.e.3] [FAQ:unleashed#22]. When the spell attempts its second execution, it cannot operate on a game object that no longer exists on the board; any parts of the instruction that require that object will be ignored or not execute to the extent they are impossible, per the partial-follow rules [359.3.e.9] [359.3.e.11]. Therefore, Irelia dies after the first execution and does not 'survive through' to be damaged again by the second execution unless some effect kept her on the board (e.g., a replacement effect that prevented her from going to trash) or you had targeted a different friendly unit for the second execution when making choices [820.2].