Do you have to survive a melee attack for this to trigger? Or will it still trigger on the death of the wielder?

I'm starting to think that "defending" implies that you've survived the attack.

Can anyone weigh in on this?

This is after defending. So if you die while defending, then it would make sense that it cannot trigger

Yeah I thought the same, thanks for the clarification. Doesn't hurt to check these things!

Yeah, if for no other reason than Shield of Margath would have left play by the time the trigger condition is reached, it wouldn't work.

Looking at the order of combat , you are defending before the damage is calculated In fact I would say you are defending at the point you take defense into consideration. Ergo damage is caused after the roll (and rerolls) but before damage, so you would be able to get swansong damage on your opponent on a death blow

If not then you are inferring at no point before the damage is done are you actually defending and that defending occurs after the damage is done, which really doesnt make sense for a whole lot of other effects including applying your defense score itself.

No. You become a defender during step 2 of combat (rule 10.2).

Shield of Margath specifically says AFTER defending. 85.8 tells us that this would be immediately after you defending, which I interpret as the moment you are no longer a defender, which would be the end of the attack. You are still a defender through step 11, so you can't deal the Shield of Margath any sooner than that, and damage is suffered in step 9, so you can be defeated before you are done being a defender. At that point, your unit and upgrade cards are removed from the game, so there is no Shield of Margath left to trigger.

15 minutes ago, Budgernaut said:

No. You become a defender during step 2 of combat (rule 10.2).

Shield of Margath specifically says AFTER defending. 85.8 tells us that this would be immediately after you defending, which I interpret as the moment you are no longer a defender, which would be the end of the attack. You are still a defender through step 11, so you can't deal the Shield of Margath any sooner than that, and damage is suffered in step 9, so you can be defeated before you are done being a defender. At that point, your unit and upgrade cards are removed from the game, so there is no Shield of Margath left to trigger.

Sorry misread the card itself and thought it said "when defending" my mistake , nothing to see here , move along /blush

22 hours ago, Budgernaut said:

No. You become a defender during step 2 of combat (rule 10.2).

Shield of Margath specifically says AFTER defending. 85.8 tells us that this would be immediately after you defending, which I interpret as the moment you are no longer a defender, which would be the end of the attack. You are still a defender through step 11, so you can't deal the Shield of Margath any sooner than that, and damage is suffered in step 9, so you can be defeated before you are done being a defender. At that point, your unit and upgrade cards are removed from the game, so there is no Shield of Margath left to trigger.

Lawyered. I had to double take to see it wasn't @Tvayumat ...

22 hours ago, syrath said:

Sorry misread the card itself and thought it said "when defending" my mistake , nothing to see here , move along /blush

I know that feeling all too well...

No harm intended.