Cloud (SSBU): Difference between revisions

Cloud (SSBU) (edit)

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+==In [[competitive play]]==
 ===Most historically significant players===
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 *{{Sm|Sparg0|Mexico}} - One of the greatest ''Ultimate'' players of all-time and by far the greatest Cloud player of all-time, his performances greatly contributing to an improvement in Cloud's community reception. In addition to being one of the earliest successful Cloud players in competitive play, he is also the only Cloud player who remains relevant in top-level play throughout competitive ''Ultimate'', having been frequently ranked among the top 3 since the online metagame. He has won many supermajors, including {{Trn|Kagaribi 10}}, {{Trn|Watch The Throne}}, and {{Trn|Supernova 2024}}, and remains the only Cloud player to win a major.
 *{{Sm|YOC|Japan}} - The best Cloud player in Japan in the post-pandemic metagame, although similar to Masashi his major performances has also been inconsistent. His 7th-place finish at {{Trn|Maesuma TOP 8}} remains the only top 8 major finish from a primarily Cloud player that is not Sparg0, and he has also placed 9th at {{Trn|Seibugeki 15}} and 13th at {{Trn|UltCore}}. In addition, YOC has several noteworthy superregional performances, having placed 5th at both {{Trn|Gen 1.0}} and {{Trn|WAVE CHAMPIONS 1}} as well as 7th at {{Trn|Gen 1.1}}, defeating {{Sm|Umeki}} in the latter event.
+===Tier placement and history===
+While Cloud was initially considered to be an extremely potent character, his results initially saw a significant drop from his ''Smash 4'' days as most of his best players either moved on from competitive ''Smash'' or dropped the character. This is due to Cloud's noticeably worse toolkit and flaws, such as inconsistencies with KOing, the shortened Limit Gauge time, his linear recovery, and his poor grab game, becoming more apparent in the new metagame. As such, players initially considered him to be amongst the lower half of mid tier, with many of Cloud's top players even agreeing that he belongs there.
+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 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.==