Does Sett's recall ability heal/remove the effect of Watcher?

Question

Accepted Answer

No — a Recall alone does not heal or remove statuses/effects on a unit. Recall moves the unit to base but leaves Damage, Exhausted, Buffed, and applied Layer alterations unchanged unless the Recall explicitly says otherwise.

If Sett’s ability only recalls a unit (i.e., moves it to base) and does not also contain instructions that heal or remove effects, it will not heal or remove whatever effect Thousand-Tailed Watcher applied. Recalls do not change Damage, Exhausted Status, Buffed Status, or applied Layer alterations unless the Recall's source explicitly states otherwise [453].

Identify what Sett’s ability actually does. If it only 'recalls' a unit (send it to base), treat it as a Recall instruction. Apply the Recall rule: a Recall does not change the state of the Permanent being recalled; Damage, Exhausted Status, Buffed Status, and applied Layer alterations remain unchanged unless the Recall explicitly says otherwise [453]. If the effect you're asking about is a replacement effect (it uses 'would' or 'instead'), then Replacement Effect rules apply and could alter how events execute — but that’s separate from what a plain Recall does [369.1] [370.1]. Also check whether the effect depends on battlefield presence or the presence of another permanent (an aura). Moving to base can remove battlefield-based relationships even though the unit’s internal statuses remain [359.3.e.4].

If Sett’s Recall ability also includes explicit healing or 'remove effect' instructions, those instructions will execute and can heal/remove effects despite the general Recall rule [453]. If the Watcher effect is a Replacement Effect that triggers when the unit would die (or similar), Replacement Effect rules could interact with the Recall or other events; consult [369.1] and [370.1]. If the effect on the unit is provided by an aura or another battlefield-only source, moving the unit to base may cause that aura's effect to cease because the relationship to the source no longer exists (see targeting/zone-change rules) [359.3.e.4]. If the unit is moved to a non-board zone and then returned, it becomes a different object and prior relationships/effects may not apply (see examples in [359.3.e.4]).

Recalls, by themselves, do not heal or remove statuses or applied Layer changes on the recalled Permanent. The Core Rules explicitly state that "Recalls do not affect the state of the Permanent being recalled" and that "Unless otherwise stated by the source of the Recall, Damage, Exhausted Status, Buffed Status, and applied Layer alterations will all remain unaffected by a Recall" [453]. That means if Sett’s ability merely says to Recall a unit, that action will send the unit to base but will not heal damage, remove exhaustion, remove buffs/debuffs, or otherwise alter applied layers on that permanent.

There are two important exceptions to watch for. First, if Sett’s ability itself also contains explicit instructions to heal or remove effects, those instructions will execute and can change the unit’s state (the phrase "unless otherwise stated by the source of the Recall" in [453] covers this). Second, if the effect on the unit is a Replacement Effect (identifyable by wording like "would" or "instead"), Replacement Effect rules apply and could alter how events resolve; such interactions are governed by the Replacement Effects rules [369.1] [370.1].

Finally, some effects depend on the unit being at a battlefield or being in relation to another permanent (an aura or targeting relationship). Moving a unit off a battlefield can sever those relationships even though the unit’s internal Damage/Exhausted/Buffed statuses remain unchanged — see the rules about zone changes and targets [359.3.e.4].

Conclusion: Absent any explicit healing/removal text in Sett’s ability, a Recall will not heal or remove whatever effect Thousand-Tailed Watcher applied; the unit will keep its current Damage, Exhausted, and Buffed states after being recalled [453].