What happens? Does Gambler have to play face up? And if so, how is this any worse than playing him against Sorceror? If Gambler has to play face up to Oracle, he essentially has no reason to "bluff," just as he has no reason to bluff versus Sorceror since Sorceror would then know whether to switch or not. It's great that they fixed Oracle Vs. Sorceror because those are two classic aliens, but Gambler seems to require two exceptions, Oracle and Sorceror, despite the card only saying, "Do not use with Sorceror." I'm tempted to ignore both logical exceptions and just use the timing rule when Gambler faces either to see which alien can use his power. In fact, the timing rule actually suits Gambler Vs. Sorceror even better because in half of their battles, Gambler can declare the value after the switch. Perhaps that would be the best way to play it in all battles, actually, to avoid having to make him powerless sometimes, since Sorceror can still call the bluff. But I'm still confused with Oracle. One of them is essentially going to be without power. Either Gambler plays face up and can't bluff, or he plays face down and Oracle can't foresee. A little help?

For some reason, I can't edit my first post, so I'll double post.

In fact, without needing to resort to the timing rule at all, a simple change to Gambler to make him Sorceror-compatible would be to change "you may use this power to keep yours facedown" to "you may use this power to keep the card you played facedown," in which case whether the switch has occurred or not, the card you played (which, whether switched or not, Sorceror does not know).

Unfortunately, this still leaves me completely confused as to how Oracle and Gambler work, but if I can figure that out, it'll be nice to have 50 aliens that all get along well together. I never liked having exceptions, aliens that can't play together.

Against Oracle, Gambler plays his card facedown and declares what it is. Oracle must accept it or call his bluff before he chooses his own card.

What makes you say that? Why should Oracle's power not work against Gambler? Perhaps Gambler's power should not work against Oracle's? I am thinking you have to invoke the timing rule like in Filch Vs. Clone and just accept that the two powers can't be used in the same encounter, as unelegant as that is. Still makes me wonder why, if this is the case, the timing rule wasn't used for Gambler Vs. Sorceror, too, even without my suggestion change.

Adam said:

For example: Oracle uses his power against Gambler. Gambler plays a 06 (facedown) and says that it's a 14. Oracle can either accept or call the bluff. In either case, the card's value is set in stone (whether a bluffed 14 or a called 06) before Oracle chooses his card. Gambler still gets to bluff, while Oracle still gets to know what the enemy's card is before picking his own.

Ahhh, thanks for the detailed example. That makes perfect sense. Still took a second to register, but I'm a bit slow.

Gambler technically does not declare what his card it until the Reveal stage, after seeing what his opponent played. Oracle is used during the Planning stage. Oracle works just fine... it's Gambler that doesn't really work so well against him.