When attacking with a unit and using Ride The Wind as an action to move Yasuo into the same battlefield, does Yasuo's 'when I attack' effect still trigger?

Question

Accepted Answer

No. Moving Yasuo, Remorseful into the battlefield with Ride The Wind during another unit's attack does not cause Yasuo's "when I attack" ability to trigger, because Yasuo was not declared as the attacking unit when attack was initiated.

Yasuo's "when I attack" trigger will not be placed on the chain solely because you moved him into the same battlefield with Ride The Wind during an ongoing attack. The trigger only occurs when Yasuo himself is declared to attack.

You (or your opponent) declare attackers; only units declared as attackers get "when I attack" triggers placed on the chain. During the Showdown (or in response to the attack trigger), you may play Ride The Wind to move and ready a friendly unit, which is legal to play in showdowns per the card text. Moving Yasuo, Remorseful into the battlefield does not retroactively make him an attacker — his attack-trigger condition was never fulfilled, so no "when I attack" trigger for him is placed on the chain. If Yasuo had been the unit declared as the attacker when the attack was initiated, his "when I attack" trigger would have been placed on the chain at that time; subsequent movement away or back can affect that trigger's execution as shown in the example [359.3.f.2].

If you move Yasuo, Remorseful into the battlefield before attackers are declared (i.e., move occurs earlier in the turn or before the attack declaration), and then you declare Yasuo as an attacker, then his "when I attack" trigger will be placed on the chain normally. Conversely, if some effect simultaneously makes Yasuo an attacker as part of the same action that moves him (an effect that actually declares him to attack), then his trigger would be placed because the trigger condition was fulfilled; merely moving him with Ride The Wind does not by itself fulfill "when I attack." See [359.3.f.3] for when information is referenced from the trigger condition and [359.3.f.2] for the Yasuo example.

The core point is that "when I attack" is a trigger tied to the event of that unit being declared as an attacker. Playing Ride The Wind during a Showdown to move Yasuo, Remorseful into the same battlefield does not satisfy the "when I attack" trigger condition for Yasuo because he was not declared to attack. The rules and examples make this explicit: information referenced from a triggered ability's trigger condition is captured when that trigger condition is fulfilled, and the Yasuo example in the rules shows that the attack trigger is tied to Yasuo having attacked in the first place ([359.3.f.3]). The [359.3.f.2] example of Yasuo being moved away after his attack trigger was placed further illustrates that the trigger originates from Yasuo being declared as an attacker; moving him before he is declared does not create that trigger. Therefore, unless Yasuo was actually declared as an attacker, merely moving him into the battlefield with Ride The Wind will not put his "when I attack" ability on the chain.