I was playing MTG with my lady and came across this scenario:
She had a creature with 2 +1/+1 counters, and 2 Ordeal of Nylea.
She attacks with the creature, both triggers hitting the stack.
I play Murder while the triggered abilities on the stack, killing the creature.
Since the creature isn't around anymore, I believe the triggered abilities will fizzle, meaning she doesn't get the lands as no +1/+1 counters are placed as the creature is dead.
Can anyone confirm my resolution?
Your conclusion is correct: no counters will be placed, and the creature's controller will not get any lands.
Strictly speaking, each Ordeal's first triggered ability does not "fizzle". They still resolve as always, but the actions they try to take are impossible so they don't actually do anything. The creature is dead, so no counters can be placed on it, and the Ordeal is already in the graveyard, so it can't be sacrificed.
Since the Ordeal can't be sacrificed, its last ability cannot trigger, so the player can never get lands in a scenario like this.
Your opponent does not get the lands. When the Murder resolves, this rule comes into effect:
303.4c If an Aura is enchanting an illegal object or player as defined by its enchant ability and other applicable effects, the object it was attached to no longer exists, or the player it was attached to has left the game, the Aura is put into its owner’s graveyard. (This is a state-based action. See rule 704.)
The two Ordeals are placed in the graveyard. Then the +1/+1 counter triggers resolve (though no counters are actually placed on anything), but there's no Ordeal to sacrifice and so the second ability never triggers.
Your opponent will not get to sacrifice Ordeal of Nylea or search for lands.
Although an ability does still resolve if the source leaves the battlefield, in this case, that ability resolving will not cause all of its effects to happen.
The triggers from Ordeal of Nylea will still resolve even though the source has left the battlefield.
112.7a Once activated or triggered, an ability exists on the stack independently of its source. Destruction or removal of the source after that time won’t affect the ability.
So you will still follow the instructions on the ability:
put a +1/+1 counter on it [the creature that attacked].
This instruction will not do anything because the creature is not on the battlefield anymore.
You will then go to the next instruction:
Then if it has three or more +1/+1 counters on it, sacrifice Ordeal of Nylea.
This will check how many counters were on it when it was last on the battlefield, which is only 2, so it won't pass the check.
608.2g If an effect requires information from the game (such as the number of creatures on the battlefield), the answer is determined only once, when the effect is applied. If the effect requires information from a specific object, including the source of the ability itself, the effect uses the current information of that object if it’s in the public zone it was expected to be in; if it's no longer in that zone, or if the effect has moved it from a public zone to a hidden zone, the effect uses the object’s last known information.
Even if all that weren't the case, your opponent would be unable to sacrifice Ordeal of Nylea because it is already in the graveyard by the time they are instructed to do so.
