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Cloud (SSBU): Difference between revisions
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Disregarding the changes to landing lag, Cloud's infamous aerial game has also been toned down. [[Neutral aerial]] has a new animation that significantly reduces its range, making it less safe and effective for spacing. [[Down aerial]]'s lingering hitbox ends earlier and has more ending lag, making it much harder to follow up in midair and riskier to use to combat juggling. His notorious [[up aerial]] has seen the most substantial nerfs: its increased startup with no animation change significantly reduces its range in front of him, the clean hit has smaller hitboxes, and the whole move has less power and a lowered autocancel window; these changes almost completely remove its ability to start combos on grounded opponents, and reduce its incontestability as well as its previously respectable KO power. | Disregarding the changes to landing lag, Cloud's infamous aerial game has also been toned down. [[Neutral aerial]] has a new animation that significantly reduces its range, making it less safe and effective for spacing. [[Down aerial]]'s lingering hitbox ends earlier and has more ending lag, making it much harder to follow up in midair and riskier to use to combat juggling. His notorious [[up aerial]] has seen the most substantial nerfs: its increased startup with no animation change significantly reduces its range in front of him, the clean hit has smaller hitboxes, and the whole move has less power and a lowered autocancel window; these changes almost completely remove its ability to start combos on grounded opponents, and reduce its incontestability as well as its previously respectable KO power. | ||
Cloud's already poor grab game was also hindered even further; despite his faster pummel and his slower animations now matching his grabs' startup, down throw has lost its already lacking combo potential, and the universal nerfs to grabs have slightly reduced dash grab's | Cloud's already poor grab game was also hindered even further; despite his faster pummel and his slower animations now matching his grabs' startup, down throw has lost its already lacking combo potential, and the universal nerfs to grabs have slightly reduced dash grab's already lackluster range and made his own grabs slower and laggier, especially compared to the rest of the cast. Finally, other minor nerfs were to his smash attacks, as [[forward smash]] has slightly more ending lag and has less range, and [[down smash]]'s power was reduced. | ||
Despite these changes, the changes to game physics have dramatically beneffited Cloud. The reductions to [[landing lag]] benefit Cloud arguably more than any other character, as his aerials' lower landing lag now give him a more conventional combo game since he can follow up from them more consistently (most notably with his forward, back and up aerials, the latter despite its stricter autocancel window), and combined with his Buster Sword's respectable range and excellent mobility, this also drastically benefits his spacing game (most infamously with his [[back aerial]], now widely considered the best in the game). On that note, much like the returning cast, Cloud now sports even faster mobility, making him harder to catch and easier for him to keep up with the cast. The changes to [[air dodge]] mechanics improve his edgeguarding game and keep his juggling prowess mostly intact despite his other nerfs, and the reintroduction of directional air dodges allow him to extend his notoriously weak horizontal recovery when his Limit Meter is not fully charged, and now make him much harder to gimp if he is grabbed during Climhazzard. The ability to [[dash-canceling|dash cancel]] into any ground move and the introduction of [[spot dodge]] canceling both allow Cloud to make even better use of his ground attacks to approach and KO, making his ground game more imposing. | Despite these changes, the changes to game physics have dramatically beneffited Cloud. The reductions to [[landing lag]] benefit Cloud arguably more than any other character, as his aerials' lower landing lag now give him a more conventional combo game since he can follow up from them more consistently (most notably with his forward, back and up aerials, the latter despite its stricter autocancel window), and combined with his Buster Sword's respectable range and excellent mobility, this also drastically benefits his spacing game (most infamously with his [[back aerial]], now widely considered the best in the game). On that note, much like the returning cast, Cloud now sports even faster mobility, making him harder to catch and easier for him to keep up with the cast. The changes to [[air dodge]] mechanics improve his edgeguarding game and keep his juggling prowess mostly intact despite his other nerfs, and the reintroduction of directional air dodges allow him to extend his notoriously weak horizontal recovery when his Limit Meter is not fully charged, and now make him much harder to gimp if he is grabbed during Climhazzard. The ability to [[dash-canceling|dash cancel]] into any ground move and the introduction of [[spot dodge]] canceling both allow Cloud to make even better use of his ground attacks to approach and KO, making his ground game more imposing. | ||
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==Update history== | ==Update history== | ||
Aside from a single nerf to [[Blade Beam]] in update 3.0.0, Cloud was buffed via game updates. While updates 2.0.0 and 3.1.0 provided only negligible improvements, update 7.0.0 buffed Cloud much more in comparison. Most notably, his inconsistent KO potential (one of his biggest weaknesses) was alleviated in a few ways: clean dash attack became a viable KOing option thanks to its higher knockback, up smash is faster overall and its sweetspot gained more knockback, and [[Limit Charge]] fills the Limit Gauge much faster. | Aside from a single nerf to [[Blade Beam]] in update 3.0.0, Cloud was buffed via game updates. While updates 2.0.0 and 3.1.0 provided only negligible improvements, update 7.0.0 buffed Cloud much more in comparison. Most notably, his inconsistent KO potential (one of his biggest weaknesses) was alleviated in a few ways: clean dash attack became a viable KOing option thanks to its higher knockback, up smash is faster overall and its sweetspot gained more knockback, and [[Limit Charge]] fills the Limit Gauge much faster. In addition, Cloud received a few quality of life buffs: forward smash's hits connect more reliably, [[Climhazzard]] snaps to an edge earlier, and his shield was enlarged as part of a near-universal buff. | ||
Lastly, update 13.0.1 decreased [[Finishing Touch]]'s overall lag to the point that it is not only safer to use, but also much easier to perform from setups at certain percentages. | |||
Overall, Cloud fares better than he did at the launch of ''Ultimate''. | Overall, Cloud fares better than he did at the launch of ''Ultimate''. | ||
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|uairname=Lift Up ({{ja|リフトアップ|Rifuto Appu}}) | |uairname=Lift Up ({{ja|リフトアップ|Rifuto Appu}}) | ||
|uairdmg={{ShortHopDmgSSBU|11}} (clean), {{ShortHopDmgSSBU|8}} (late) | |uairdmg={{ShortHopDmgSSBU|11}} (clean), {{ShortHopDmgSSBU|8}} (late) | ||
|uairdesc=Thrusts the sharp edge of the Buster Sword's blade upward while holding it parallel to the ground. It has [[sex kick]] properties. It comes out on frame 8, works as an excellent combo starter on landing, being able to combo into most of Cloud's moves especially at low percentages, while its late hit can set up KO confirms into Limit Cross Slash and Finishing Touch. It can also autocancel in a short hop and its large, lingering hitbox makes it an effective anti-air and punishment tool. It also boasts respectable knockback by itself, with its clean hit KOing near the upper blast line at 140%. Unlike in ''SSB4'', however, it is very difficult to land on grounded opponents, as its hitbox does not extend much beyond the Buster Sword itself. | |uairdesc=Thrusts the sharp edge of the Buster Sword's blade upward while holding it parallel to the ground. It has [[sex kick]] properties. It comes out on frame 8, works as an excellent combo starter on landing, being able to combo into most of Cloud's moves especially at low percentages, while its late hit can set up KO confirms into Limit Cross Slash and Finishing Touch. It can also autocancel in a short hop and its large, lingering hitbox makes it an effective anti-air and punishment tool. It also boasts respectable knockback by itself, with its clean hit KOing near the upper blast line at 140%. Unlike in ''SSB4'', however, it is very difficult to land on grounded opponents, as its hitbox does not extend much beyond the Buster Sword itself. It resembles the lifting animation from the beginning of Omnislash. | ||
|dairname=Under Stab ({{ja|アンダースタッブ|Andā Sutabbu}}) | |dairname=Under Stab ({{ja|アンダースタッブ|Andā Sutabbu}}) | ||
|dairdmg={{ShortHopDmgSSBU|13}} (clean aerial sourspot, grounded opponent), {{ShortHopDmgSSBU|15}} (aerial sweetspot), {{ShortHopDmgSSBU|8}} (late) | |dairdmg={{ShortHopDmgSSBU|13}} (clean aerial sourspot, grounded opponent), {{ShortHopDmgSSBU|15}} (aerial sweetspot), {{ShortHopDmgSSBU|8}} (late) | ||
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Cloud's reputation started to improve around the summer of 2019 thanks to the efforts of players such as {{Sm|Kola}} and {{Sm|Sparg0}}, both of whom managed to see consistent national-level success and wins, as well as Cloud's noteworthy buffs in update 7.0.0 that improved his KO power. This perception continued to improve during the [[COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on competitive Smash|COVID-19 pandemic]] thanks to the efforts of Sparg0, who used both Cloud and the then-newly released {{SSBU|Pyra}} and {{SSBU|Mythra}} to eventually claim the top spot on the [[Wi-Fi Warrior Rank v7]]. When offline competitive play returned, Sparg0 established himself as one of the best players in the world, eventually winning his first major at {{Trn|Smash Ultimate Summit 4}} using mostly Cloud. Since then, most of his tournament performances have been with Cloud, leading many to agree that, while the character was still worse than his ''Smash 4'' counterpart, he was still just as viable in ''Ultimate''{{'}}s metagame. As such, Cloud was ranked 10th on the first tier list as a top tier character. | Cloud's reputation started to improve around the summer of 2019 thanks to the efforts of players such as {{Sm|Kola}} and {{Sm|Sparg0}}, both of whom managed to see consistent national-level success and wins, as well as Cloud's noteworthy buffs in update 7.0.0 that improved his KO power. This perception continued to improve during the [[COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on competitive Smash|COVID-19 pandemic]] thanks to the efforts of Sparg0, who used both Cloud and the then-newly released {{SSBU|Pyra}} and {{SSBU|Mythra}} to eventually claim the top spot on the [[Wi-Fi Warrior Rank v7]]. When offline competitive play returned, Sparg0 established himself as one of the best players in the world, eventually winning his first major at {{Trn|Smash Ultimate Summit 4}} using mostly Cloud. Since then, most of his tournament performances have been with Cloud, leading many to agree that, while the character was still worse than his ''Smash 4'' counterpart, he was still just as viable in ''Ultimate''{{'}}s metagame. As such, Cloud was ranked 10th on the first tier list as a top tier character. | ||
Following the first tier list, players began questioning whether Cloud should really be considered a top tier character. These players pointed out | Following the first tier list, players began questioning whether Cloud should really be considered a top tier character. These players pointed out how no other Cloud players came remotely close to Sparg0 in terms of skill level and results; {{Sm|Barnard's Loop}} noted how Sparg0 took up 50% of all Cloud results in 2023, with only one other player -- {{Sm|YOC}} -- taking up more than 5%.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/LoopBarnard/status/1758548672923504713|title=Cloud's representation in 2023}}</ref> In addition, Sparg0 was the only player ranked on the [[LumiRank 2023]] who primarily played Cloud, while all other players ranked with Cloud only used the character as a secondary and to a lesser degree of success. On the other hand, with the metagame favoring characters with more patient and campier playstyles, players pointed out how Cloud served as a good counter to some of those characters, which was most apparent with Sparg0's flawless record against {{SSBU|Steve}} and {{SSBU|Mr. Game & Watch}} for that year. As such, even with the discourse surrounding Cloud's representation he was ranked 13th on the second tier list as an A-tier, with the drop mainly being the result of the meteoric rise of {{SSBU|Snake}} and Mr. Game & Watch on the tier list. | ||
=={{SSBU|Classic Mode}}: A Ride? Not Interested.== | =={{SSBU|Classic Mode}}: A Ride? Not Interested.== | ||
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Cloud was one of the many fighters that fell under [[Dharkon]]'s control upon Galeem's first defeat. He is unlocked in the [[Sacred Land]] sub-area in [[The Dark Realm]], guarding the Master Sword required to dispel the darkness clouding the top part of the land which makes up the Triforce of Power after {{SSBU|Sonic}} has been awakened, making his unlocking mandatory. | Cloud was one of the many fighters that fell under [[Dharkon]]'s control upon Galeem's first defeat. He is unlocked in the [[Sacred Land]] sub-area in [[The Dark Realm]], guarding the Master Sword required to dispel the darkness clouding the top part of the land which makes up the Triforce of Power after {{SSBU|Sonic}} has been awakened, making his unlocking mandatory. | ||
In Sephiroth's reveal trailer, Cloud is seen in his ''Advent Children'' design (specifically the P6 variant as indicated by the ribbon on his left arm) with the other fighters trying to fend off Galeem. When Sephiroth arrives and disposes of Galeem, Cloud recognizes him, and later fights him one-on-one in a manner similar to their final battle in ''Advent Children''. After hitting Sephiroth with [[Omnislash Ver. 5]], he and Sephiroth have an exchange | In Sephiroth's reveal trailer, Cloud is seen in his ''Advent Children'' design (specifically the P6 variant as indicated by the ribbon on his left arm) with the other fighters trying to fend off Galeem. When Sephiroth arrives and disposes of Galeem, Cloud recognizes him, and later fights him one-on-one in a manner similar to their final battle in ''Advent Children''. After hitting Sephiroth with [[Omnislash Ver. 5]], he and Sephiroth have an exchange (taken word-for-word from ''Advent Children'') before Sephiroth transforms into Safer∙Sephiroth as a prelude to [[Supernova|his own Final Smash]]. | ||
{{clrl}} | {{clrl}} | ||