If Yasuo deals damage to a unit when attacking, then is moved back to base before combat resolves, does the damaged unit heal or does the damage persist?

Question

Accepted Answer

If Yasuo, Remorseful's attack trigger dealt damage to a unit, that damage remains marked on the damaged unit. Moving Yasuo, Remorseful back to base does not by itself clear that damage; damage is only removed by Healing effects or at points/effects that instruct Healing [142.2] [418.3.a].

The damage persists. Once the attack trigger resolved and dealt damage, that damage is a marked value on the unit and will not be automatically healed just because Yasuo, Remorseful moved back to base. The marked damage will remain until it is healed by a game effect or is handled by the game's cleanup/killing rules [142.2] [418.3.a] [428.1.a.2].

The attack trigger resolves and deals damage to the chosen unit; dealing damage marks that damage on the unit [460.2.d] [142.2]. That marked damage remains on the unit as a tracked value; it is not tied to the continued presence or location of the source once dealt [142.2]. Moving Yasuo, Remorseful back to base after the damage was dealt does not remove or heal that marked damage, because healing only happens when a game effect instructs it or at specific healing points [418.3.a]. Later, during cleanup or when a heal effect is applied, that marked damage can cause a passive kill if it meets lethal conditions or be removed by a healing effect [428.1.a.2] [418.3.a].

If the attack trigger never resolved (for example it was countered before dealing damage), no damage would be marked and there would be nothing to persist. If the damage dealt was entirely prevented by a replacement/prevent effect, it is considered as not dealt and nothing is marked [see examples about prevention in the FAQs]. If the damaged unit is moved to a non-board zone before the damage was dealt, target/relationship rules and object identity can change (see [FAQ:unleashed#22] for similar interactions).

Damage in this game is a tracked, marked value on the Unit once it is dealt; it is not a separate game object and persists on the unit until it is removed by Healing or resolved by cleanup (e.g., causing a passive Kill if lethal) [142.1] [142.2] [428.1.a.2]. Moving the source of the damage (in this case Yasuo, Remorseful) back to base after the damage has been dealt does not itself remove that marked damage. Healing is a limited action — damage is only cleared when a game effect tells you to Heal or at specific healing points in the turn [418.3.a]. Therefore, if Yasuo, Remorseful's attack trigger resolved and dealt damage to a unit, that damage remains on the unit even if Yasuo, Remorseful is moved back to base before combat finishes [460.2.d] [142.2] [418.3.a]. If the damage brings the unit to lethal by the time cleanup occurs, the unit can be passively killed in cleanup as a result of that marked damage [428.1.a.2]. Note the caveats: if the trigger never resolved or the damage was prevented, then nothing is marked; and if the affected unit left the board to a non-board zone before damage was dealt, object identity/targeting rules from the FAQs could change the interaction [FAQ:unleashed#22].