Expansion card questions: Piercing reads “an attack with the piercing keyword discards any tough status cards from the target of the…

Question

Piercing reads “an attack with the piercing keyword discards any tough status cards from the target of the attack before dealing damage.” Is dealing damage the conditional or being an attack? Could Wolverine use claws to play Tackle and pierce a tough, even though Tackle won’t be doing damage in this instance because it’s kicker was not met?

Answer