Can Defy counter Piercing Light if I pay to repeat it multiple times, and how do repeat costs work with counter spells?

Ruling: Yes, Defy can counter Piercing Light even if you pay repeat costs. Defy and similar counter effects only check the printed cost on the card (2 energy, 1 power), not the total cost including repeat. If countered, you lose all costs paid with no refund.

Sequence:

• Declare Piercing Light and choose how many times to pay the repeat cost
• Pay the total cost: base cost plus any repeat costs chosen
• Piercing Light finalizes on the chain
• Opponent can respond with Defy (which only checks the printed 2 energy/1 power cost)
• If Defy resolves, Piercing Light is countered and none of its effects occur

Nuances:

• Repeat can normally only be paid once per instance of the keyword
• Effects like Temporal Portal can grant additional instances of repeat to a spell
• If a spell has multiple instances of repeat (one printed, one granted), you can pay for each separately
• All costs are paid when the spell finalizes on the chain, before opponents can respond
• Repeat doesn't create multiple spells—it's still one spell that resolves once but executes its effect multiple times