Movement
What Happens When a Unit or Gear Is Recalled?
Relocate the permanent to its controller's Base without treating the Recall as a Move or changing its state.
RiftPal explanation · Answer first
The short answer
RecallRecall means moving a permanent back to its controller's Base.View in Glossary relocates a PermanentA Main Deck game object that remains on the board after being played. Unit and Gear are permanent types. Runes, battlefields and legends are not permanents simply because they stay on the board.View in Glossary to its controller's BaseYour Base is your personal location where your units can be played and return to during the game.View in Glossary . It is not a Move, so it does not trigger abilities that watch for movement, and effects that restrict movement do not stop it.
RiftPal explanation
How it works
Card reference
Possession
RecallRecall means moving a permanent back to its controller's Base.View in Glossary keeps the PermanentA Main Deck game object that remains on the board after being played. Unit and Gear are permanent types. Runes, battlefields and legends are not permanents simply because they stay on the board.View in Glossary on the board. Unless the Recall effect says otherwise, the permanent keeps its ReadyReady means a card or rune is available to be used for something that requires it to Exhaust. Ready objects are kept upright.View in Glossary or ExhaustTo Exhaust something, turn it sideways to show that it has been used for an action or cost that requires it to Exhaust.View in Glossary state, marked DamageDamage represents harm marked on a unit and stays marked until it is healed.View in Glossary and other statuses.
Spell
Possession
[Action] (Play on your turn or in showdowns.) Choose an enemy unit at a battlefield. Take control of it and recall it. (Send it to your base. This isn't a move.)
A required Move to an invalid destination is corrected into a RecallRecall means moving a permanent back to its controller's Base.View in Glossary . This commonly matters in multiplayer when a battlefield cannot accept that unit. Do not turn every failed Move into a Recall: if a separate effect simply prevents the Move, the unit can stay where it is.
Unattached non-unit gear at a battlefield is recalled during the next cleanup. Gear attached to a unit shares that unit's location and is not recalled merely for being at the battlefield. If its top-most unit is recalled, the gear changes location with it and remains attached. If the gear detaches and remains at the battlefield, it is then eligible for the cleanup Recall.
In practice
Example
An exhausted unit with 2 damage is recalled from a battlefield. Put it in its controller's Base still exhausted and with 2 damage marked. The Recall does not trigger an ability that says "when a unit moves."