Ruling Using Attacks

[Suraako]

Consider this situation:

Entei SW is in my opponent's hand and I have Shiftry ex active. I use Skill Hack to try to copy Blaze Roar. But I obviously don't have two Fire energy attached to it. Can Shiftry ex still use Blaze Roar if I get a tails on the coin flip? You know how some attacks say "Discard ... or this attack does nothing"? (Like Charizard SW for example). What if that phrase is missing? If you don't have those Energy attached, but are still able to perform the attack, can you still use it?

I know that the answer is probably no since Skill Hack says "You must be able to do anything else required for that attack," but is discarding 2 Fire energy really required to do the damage? This may be splitting hairs a bit, but that's what I do

 

[Chairman Kaga]

An Energy discard from the Attacking Pokemon is always a requirement. If you can't do it, the attack does nothing.

In this case, however, the discard is contingent on a coin flip. So if you flip heads, you're not required to discard any Energy and the attack succeeds. If you flip tails, then you must be able to do the Energy discard or the attack does nothing. This is true whether you're copying the attack or if Entei is doing the attack himself.

Also don't forget that Entei has an errata ("discard 2 Fire Energy CARDS").

There is a ruling on Charizard SW that addresses this topic:

Q. What happens if I have only two Double Rainbow Energy on Charizard and try to attack with "Blast Burn" and flip tails?
A. Since the tails flip requires you to discard four energy CARDS (not "four energies"), if you cannot discard four cards the attack does not do any damage. But if you flip heads, then you would be okay with discarding the two DRE cards. (Dec 6, 2007 PUI Rules Team)

 

[Suraako]

Thanks CK, an elaborate answer as usual.