"Instant Death" over-rides "Miss if prot. from ailments"

A crude code did get some results, however...

Code:

B9 80 3C     LDA $3C80,Y
89 04        BIT #$04       (Is Can't Suplex set in Misc/Special enemy byte?)
F0 04        BEQ $3C5A      (If not, branch)
4C 1B 3B     JMP $3B1B      (flag Miss)
60           RTS
4C 8c 3c     JMP $3C8C        Jump to X-Zone effect

...it seems that missing the opponent by these means is also over-riden by the skill causing instant death. In other words, Oblivion is successfully missing enemies marked "Can't Suplex", but Death is still being inflicted. I tried flagging the Death stat to the actual Suplex skill (whose code is untouched) to see if there was anything wrong with my coding, and I got the same results: Sabin failed to Suplex his opponent, and his opponent perished.

It seems I will have to pursue other options. I could fumble around with Reflect???'s code (in which invalid targets are simply not targetted) or I could try a code which sets the Death stat itself on condition that the attack hits (Metamorph seems a healthy launching point), but I'm not sure how status effects work.