If Yasuo, Remorseful attacks a battlefield, deals 6 damage to a unit with his ability, then is moved away with Ride the Wind, does the damaged unit heal or does the damage stick?

Question

Accepted Answer

If Yasuo, Remorseful's attack-trigger has already resolved and dealt 6 damage to the unit, that damage remains. Damage is only removed by a heal effect or when a game effect explicitly instructs Healing; simply moving Yasuo, Remorseful away with Ride The Wind after the damage was dealt does not clear it. If Ride The Wind is played in reaction before the triggered damage resolves and causes the trigger to lose its valid reference (so it mistargets), then no damage would be dealt in the first place. [418] [359.3.f.2] [FAQ:unleashed#20]

Damage sticks if it was already dealt. If the move happens before the damage resolves such that the trigger no longer has a valid reference, the trigger can mistarget and no damage will be dealt. [418] [359.3.f.2] [FAQ:unleashed#20]

If the trigger resolved and dealt 6 damage before Ride The Wind moved Yasuo, Remorseful: The damage is on the unit and remains until a heal effect or other explicit damage-clearing instruction is applied. Healing is a Limited Action and only occurs when a game effect instructs it or at specific points in the turn. [418] If Ride The Wind was played in reaction before the trigger resolved and that causes the trigger to lose its reference to “here” (or otherwise become illegal): The triggered ability can mistarget and do nothing, meaning no damage is dealt. See the example in 359.3.f.2. [359.3.f.2] [FAQ:unleashed#20] If the damage in question was Combat Damage assigned during the Combat Damage Step rather than Yasuo's triggered effect: Combat damage is assigned and then dealt during the Combat Damage Step; moving units after damage is dealt does not retroactively clear it. See Combat Damage Step rules. [460.2]

If the movement sends Yasuo, Remorseful or the targeted unit to a non-board zone before the trigger resolves, the targeting relationship may be severed and the trigger may not be able to resolve as intended; see [FAQ:unleashed#22]. If control of Yasuo, Remorseful changes after the trigger was placed on the chain, the triggered ability still resolves using the information it referenced at resolution unless the ability's own references were changed as described in [359.3.f.4]. [FAQ:unleashed#22] [359.3.f.4]

Short answer: The damage stays. Under the rules, clearing damage is Healing, and Healing only happens when a game effect instructs it or at specific points in the turn [418]. Moving Yasuo, Remorseful with Ride The Wind after his triggered ability has resolved does not itself clear damage from the unit that was dealt 6 damage, so that damage remains until explicitly healed. If, instead, Ride The Wind is played in reaction before the triggered ability resolves such that the trigger no longer has the location reference it needs (for example, Yasuo is no longer ‘here’), the trigger can mistarget and deal no damage—this is illustrated by the example in 359.3.f.2 and the analogous clarification in [FAQ:unleashed#20]. Note also that if the 6 damage was part of combat damage assigned during the Combat Damage Step, combat damage is assigned and then dealt as specified in the Combat Damage Step rules; moving units after damage is dealt does not retroactively remove that damage [460.2]. Finally, moving a unit to a non-board zone can sever targeting relationships entirely; see [FAQ:unleashed#22] for that distinction. [418] [359.3.f.2] [359.3.f.4] [FAQ:unleashed#20] [460.2]