Cloud (SSBU): Difference between revisions

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 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.

<div class="tabbertab" title="English, Japanese/Chinese, Italian, Dutch, French">

!Cheer (French)

|[[File:Cloud Cheer English SSBU.ogg|center]]||[[File:Cloud Cheer Japanese SSBU.ogg|center]]||[[File:Cloud Cheer Italian SSBU.ogg|center]]||[[File:Cloud Cheer Dutch SSBU.ogg|center]]||{{NTSC}} [[File:Cloud Cheer French NTSC SSBU.ogg|center]] <br> {{PAL}} [[File:Cloud Cheer French PAL SSBU.ogg|center]]

<div class="tabbertab" title="German, Spanish, Russian, Korean">

|[[File:Cloud Cheer German SSBU.ogg|center]]||[[File:Cloud Cheer Spanish SSBU.ogg|center]]||[[File:Cloud Cheer Russian SSBU.ogg|center]]||[[File:Cloud Cheer Korean SSBU.ogg|center]]

|Cloud! *claps 2 times* || || Cloud! Cloud! || Keu - lla - u - deu!

*{{Sm|CurryGovernor|UK}} - The best Cloud player in Europe. He has consistently placed top 16 at tournaments in Europe, including placing 7th at the superregional {{Trn|Valhalla III}}. He has also seen success at majors, placing 25th at {{Trn|Albion 4}} and 33rd at {{Trn|VCA 2022}}.

*{{Sm|enhancedpv|USA}} - First came to prominence in the online metagame but has since established himself as one of the best Cloud players in the United States. He has placed in the top 64 at several majors, including placing 17th at both {{Trn|Mainstage 2022}} and {{Trn|Let's Make Big Moves 2023}}, and is ranked 100th on the [[UltRank 2022]].

*{{Sm|Kola|USA}} - Although known more for his {{SSBU|Roy}}, Kola has also used Cloud up until mid-2022. He notably won the superregional {{Trn|InfinityCON Tally 2021}} with mostly Cloud and the major {{Trn|CEO 2021}} using Cloud to defeat {{Sm|MuteAce}}.

*{{Sm|Masashi|Japan}} - The best Cloud player in Japan in the early metagame, notably placing well at the largest events of the year -- 25th at {{Trn|EVO Japan 2020}} and 33rd at {{Trn|EVO 2019}} -- despite an overall mixed track record. However, his results have since been on the decline.  

*{{Sm|Niko|USA}} - One of the best Cloud players in the United States. He has consistently placed top 8 in his region, including placing 7th at the superregional {{Trn|Lost Tech City 2022}}. In addition, he has seen consistent top 64 placement at majors, including 17th at {{Trn|Rise 'N Grind}} and 33rd at {{Trn|Double Down 2022}}. He was ranked 56th on the [[UltRank 2022]].

*{{Sm|Sparg0|Mexico}} - One of the best ''Ultimate'' players of all time and the best Cloud player of all time. He has many major wins under his belt and is one of the players with the most major wins.

*{{Sm|YOC|Japan}} - The best Cloud player in Japan in the post-online metagame, although similar to Masashi his track record has also been mixed. He is the only other Cloud player aside from Sparg0 who has placed top 8 at a major with solo-Cloud, placing 7th at {{Trn|Maesuma TOP 8}}. He has also placed top 64 at several majors, including placing 13th at {{Trn|UltCore}} and 17th at {{Trn|Kagaribi 7}}.

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.

Cloud's default fighter spirit can be obtained by completing {{SSBU|Classic Mode}}. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after Cloud has been unlocked. Unlocking Cloud in World of Light allows the player to preview the first spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a fighter spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. This fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces them with their artwork in ''Ultimate''. Originally, only ''Ultimate''{{'}}s render of Cloud's default appearance was available for his default fighter spirit. However, update 10.1.0 added artwork of him from ''Final Fantasy VII'' for his default fighter spirit.