Gorgon, thundering hooves
ATK 15
DEF 17
Concealed - optional

Cosmic: While Gorgon is visible, characters cannot ready.

The Rock of Eternity

At the start of your attack step, ready each JSA character you control that was exhausted as your attack step started and exhaust each character you control.

My problem is if the JSA player has all his characters exhausted before the attack step and Gorgon on turn 7 hits the table with his cosmic ability on the inhuman players side.

What would occur at the attack step? Both cards are bending the rules so what would take priority? Would the JSA player not be able to ready his characters even though the rock of eternity's says they should or would gorgon's cosmic ability stop them all from readying at all?

cannot trumps can. the characters would not ready

A Golden Rule is that CAN'T always trumps CAN in rulings. Thus Gorgon prevents the JSA from readying.

Gorgon wins this fight. Gorgon says that they can't ready. That means that they can't ready, even if you use a card effect to ready them.

Cheers guys just making sure... Poor JSA guy gets maimed on turn 7 if rock is face up then.

If Gorgon has the counter on.

There is a values assign to particular words. These are Cannot and can
Cannot atm has a value of 2 and can has a value of 1.

Therefore
Cannot > Can

and since this rule is true for this game and all the characters are exhausted. None of them ready at all.

Simple example that demostrated this
Your opponent has a stun character, he has played Lazurus Pit (PIT) on his character this turn. (cannot be KO'ed etc) you play finishing move (FM) on that stunned character trying to KO it (can remove the character from play). Pit overrides finshing move, unless you put it on the chain, no chain is the incorrect term and useage in this game, The STACK (e.g Computer science java stack) like he activates PIT(cant be KO) then you activate FM in response.

EG, FIFO (first in first out stack)

Opponent plays PIT act.

Current Stack

PIT act.

then you play FM in response to PIT act.

Current stack

FM
PIT act.

First effects resolve FM removing the character from play

current stack

PIT act.

Then PIT act. resolves targetting no one and fizzles

current stack

*empty*

heh, I got into a situation where I had Gorgon visible with cosmic counter and an attack was made legal(with a different character), exhausting the attacker, then the defender bounced to hand (from some effect) and the attacker could not ready via Gorgon.

Just wondering, does this have any underlying insight into the unstoppable-force/immovable-object debate?

I like Grant Morrison's Superman's answer.

P.S. Oh, and on this subject ... THE EGG CAME FIRST! Eggs as we know them evolved long before chickens! The first creature genetically similiar enough to be called a "chicken" came from an egg, as had its parents and their parents before them. Why is this still a "puzzle"?!