If a unit with Guardian Angel or Zhonya's Hourglass is killed by an effect that would banish it instead (like Smite), does the unit get banished or saved?

Ruling: The owner of the unit determines the order in which replacement effects apply. If they choose to apply the protective gear's effect first, the unit is saved and not banished.

Sequence:

• The unit would die from lethal damage
• Multiple replacement effects apply to the same "die" event (the gear's protection and the banish effect)
• The owner of the unit chooses which replacement effect to apply first per Rule 372
• If the gear's effect is applied first, it replaces the death event entirely (gear is destroyed, unit is healed/exhausted/recalled)
• Since the "die" event no longer occurs, the banish replacement effect has no valid event to modify and does not apply

Nuances:

• Turn order does not matter for this interaction; only the owner of the affected unit decides the order
• Once a replacement effect fully replaces an event, other replacement effects waiting for that event no longer apply