Cloud being a fundamentals-oriented character is perhaps the big draw for me. While Limit is flashy and powerful, everything else about him is pretty straight forward and easy to grasp, and his ability to deal with a situation is entirely dependent on your overall skill as a player. I knew from the moment I picked him up that I had been playing Smash for a decade and a half building up to playing Cloud. Immediately felt at home playing with him and have considered him my main ever since.
Yeah, most of the other fundamentals character can feel a bit bland to me, but I don't like playing complicated characters either because I feel like I have to work 3 times as hard for the same result. Cloud straddles the line perfectly between being simple to play but also being interesting. For example look at Lucina's aireals: everything but neutral air is a sword swipe. Cloud's aireals are all simple, but they are also all very different from each other.
I think it's because he doesn't have to approach. No other fundamental-oriented character can just run around and be rewarded for that. There are characters who require more fundamentals, but lack his flashy defensive gimmicks. People are drawn to low-risk/high-reward characters with tons of options. He can force the opponent to come to him by charging limit, then respond defensively with his huge "unga-bunga" sword.
Honestly, in some cases the threat of Limit is more valuable than Limit itself. It forces more gimmicky characters (who would otherwise be camping, waiting for the perfect opening to start a TOD combo, or both) to face him head-on in a fair fight, which is of course where Cloud excels.
Because he’s our big-sword edgy softie. Cases closed. In all seriousness, I picked up Cloud in Ultimate after never witnessing his terror in Smash 4. I always liked his unique combination of heavy-hitter and amazing speed and agility. His main strat is to fight on stage and control it, which he excels at. He’s relatively balanced out by his lack of recovery options, though if done right you can recover from a ways away. Overall he’s just really fun to use and got style points to boot. Looking forward to watching the video!
The reason he's easy to play is because Cloud is basically a shoto with a sword. A lot of the stuff you learn playing Mario can translate over to Cloud (aside from the ladder combos, Cloud isnt laddering often but it can be done).
To put it in other games' terms, Cloud is kind of like Xrd Ky or BBCF Jin; Easy to pick up, well rounded characters who have at least one strong tool for every situation.
I mean I would guess it's because he is uncounterable by about half the roster. That would be my guess, superior to half the roster, covers the entire stage, doesn't lose because is extremely unreasonable to play against, etc
@@randomperson9498 I honestly he'd be more like Ragna/Sol due to his Giant Sword and Main Character status But I guess they work as well and he does have Blonde hair
@@bimgus5808 just focus on hitting at maximum range and center/lower shield and you will get the hang of it. Or go to practice and try to just barely hit the edges of platforms and eventually you will get the hang of it
He's one of those easy to learn hard to master type of characters. Kinda like Mario. You can win with Cloud just by knowing his basic advantages. However the skill gap between that a fully realized Cloud player is large. What I've noticed being a novice Cloud main is that at this skill level you're easy to read and fall into patterns. However being a better Cloud player, I guess ust comes with being better at the game in general.
I think one of the main reasons cloud became so popular around 2020 has got to be FF7 Remake. I mean there isn't too many characters who have been in the game for a long time then randomly have a huge jump in players playing them. I know this is the reason I played him.
Well i started maining Inkling when Splatoon 3 came out so you are right about that. I'm not good enough at smash to play Cloud since smash ultimate is the first smash game i decided to play competitive and i only have a measly 620 hours to my name
I’m no competitor or top player, but I find Cloud easier than others to play. Also for those my age, FFVII had a huge impact back in the day. I can’t help but think people gravitate to fighters that connect with them on some level.
True. The zelda series is my favorite nintendo franchise so I naturally atached to Link and uthers thru smash games. I actually did not like ff7 that much. My favorite was 9. Even so I was glad Cloud apearded in sb4 and played him a bit on my wii u. The Link treos just match my fighting style more then Cloud or Sephiroth.
For sure. That's part of the reason I main him. Maybe a big one. I was so excited when his trailer came out and I remember watching it over and over. New he'd be my new main once he cane out. He's one of my favorite characters of all time in general.
Before premiere: Oh boy, can’t wait to hear you gush about your main, or how much he is a terrible mid tier :^) Anyways: 1: It’s Cloud motherfreaking Strife, duh 2: His buttons are large, quick, and powerful enough that it’s hard not to love the feel of his moves (especially Back Air) 3: His physics are immensely satisfying to handle and complement his moveset incredibly well 4: Limit creates decisive, exciting moments in his gameplay. Sure, he won’t always hit it, but the sheer euphoria from hitting a Limit move is really addicting. Yeah, he has his clear weaknesses like a poor recovery without Limit, but I’ll be damned, I think every Cloud player wants to be the next Spargo or Kola because those two are so clean with him. Heck, I’ve been wanting to pick him up simply because he’s so fun, even if I get gimped for the 36th time. After premiere: I can agree with your point in a “perfect balance”. There’s no field that he can’t cover, even if he struggles against thin, nimble characters. Plus, he’s just so simple and fun. I didn’t really think of him beating the anti-meta characters, but now that you bring it up, Cloud kinda does well against a majority of them. (Maybe not Sonic, but then again, I don’t think anyone really beats Sonic.) Btw, nice usage of tournament footage of yourself :p
I main Cloud simply because he’s my Banjo/Sora request since Melee. I remember talking about him in forums on what sort of moveset he’d have, how would they do his LIMIT and furthermore how the hell he’d even get into Smash since he wasn’t a Nintendo character. Never thought Cloud (and Sephiroth!) would be in one of my favorite fighting/party games but here we are! Hoping he gets to stay since Remake is out on the Switch.
This one’s a surprise cloud ain’t that overused as opposed to the likes of rob Roy palu diddy or Steve Edit: ok scratch that I was exaggerating about diddy he ain’t overused but there’s still a ton playing him. He’s top ten in placement according to PGSTATS
Except he absolutely is, if you don't really see Cloud that much then that's 100% on you. He's one of the most used secondaries and co mains due to that coverage mentioned in this video, especially in the local and regional scene. Having 2 top 10 reps as well is insanely strong when you realize most of the PGR usually doesn't have many repeats until you reach the best of the best like Pyra Mythra ROB Steve and Palutena
Cloud is really abused. Look at all the pro players that plays Cloud, including as secondary or pocket. In high level and low level cloud are played a lot
One thing I would also like to mention is that Cloud has very few combos, even compared to other sword fighters. I have seen this cited as one of Cloud's biggest weaknesses but I see it as a strength because it makes his game plan very easy to execute. He can't combo you from 0 to 50 and beyond like some top tiers, but he doesn't need to when a simple Bair to cross slash does 35 damage. Essentially, although he doesn't get insane rewards off of single neutral interaction, his moves have high enough damage that he will always get a moderate reward. When you take into account that he is at an advantage in neutral against most characters his lack of combos doesn't end up hindering his damage, but instead makes it more consistent.
Recently got back into smash, and I’ve been deciding my main. Cloud is in the running and I gotta say, he is so damn fun to play. Once you get rolling with him you feel like a monster
He really is, previously as a Corrin main who also played the other Fire Emblem characters, I could never get used to Cloud and I never knew why, but then I have him more practice after a bit, and even now playing FF7 Remake, and I would put Cloud up there with Corrin with how fun he is, and I thought I would never find another Corrin
"Cloud is really good at shutting down the characters who shut down other characters." -Yeah boi! That's so awesome, and sounds like Cloud's personality. He's pretty passive, but when some big unstoppable threat like Sepheroth hits the scene, Cloud boldly stands up against them.
Cloud is my favourite character in Sm4sh and Ultimate. His flow is just so _nice._ Always feels good to play, even hard matchups are fun because you have to find creative ways to use his fundamental kit, and there's always a way to break through Imagine Byleth with higher ground and air speed. It's that S+ tier of flow
First off... incredible video. Cloud definitely deserves the attention he has garnered over the past years. He is probably the most well designed swordie: not overpowered or overtuned, just perfect. Second off... based music selection. FF XIII 1, 2, & 3 have my favorite OSTs in the entire franchise.
I stopped playing in early Ultimate, but glad to know my boy is still cracked. Always loved how simple he was, he felt good to use and limit made it always feel like he could do something cool. Great vid that reminded me just how fun he was. Makes me wanna pop in the game and play a few games with him.
0:30 _"The philosophy of balance during the transition from Smash 4 to Ultimate was to shift the spotlight from the dominating characters and elevate some lower tiered ones into more relevance."_ **Sad confused Ganon main noises**
I mean, you basically summarized it. Cloud is consistent, he's reliable, easy to pick up, and he has the tools to deal with most the roster. Overall, probably one pf the most rock-solid characters on the list.
I'm also a Cloud main and I must say why I like his in Smash so much. 1: He's super cool and handsome. 2: He plays as smooth as butter with his big sword and limit moves. 3:..... Thats it actually. (the only thing I hate on him is his recovery to the stage. Let's say if ur far away from the stage and u don't have ur Limit full enough... U know u will die if can't make it back. But all in all I adore Cloud so much. )
I picked cloud up in smash 4 because I like cloud, then kept playing him in ultimate and eventually just lost focus on him and started playing other characters, only to recently pick cloud back up again his mobility is what consistently brings me back to him, if feels so insanely smooth and fluid, like it all makes perfect sense and I can get cloud where I want him when I want him to be there.
I picked him up after being a Link main since smash64 and melee. I mained him in brawl as well, but only had it for a short time, and never played 4. Then I grew up. This past year I bought a switch for my kids. I knew I had to get smash for old times sake, but Link never really gelled with me like he did in Melee. But then I saw my other childhood video game hero Cloud was a playable character, and I had to try him. I was not disappointed. For me, I gravitated towards the characters whose games I grew up with. Today I’m proud to say I’m a Cloud main not because he was busted in 4, but because he perfectly captures the way he’s supposed to feel-strong, fast, and faithful just how I remember him when I was 6 years old. Sakurai did a heck of a job translating him to the game, and I thoroughly enjoy playing with my kids today while using these old gaming legends. It’s kind of like I can be a kid again and relive that childhood feeling alongside my own kids, and it’s a blast at the same time.
Link in ultimate had the new remote bomb that changed my style for him. I switched to Young Link (he was my main in melle) I was neverr into cloud in sb wiiu and don't use him much in ultimate. He's obviousldy good I have just used Link and lator Young Link sence the 64 so that was my style.
@@TheOmegazerox yeah the bomb really threw off the whole kit for me. Can still pick up melee today and pick up where I left off with link fairly quickly but he feels much different now with the bomb. I get there’s more strategy with it now but it’s more a learning curve. I also tried maining young link too once I got him, but it’s still very different with his range basically being a brawler and having little disjoint to his hit boxes, especially his hook shot. And he’s very combo heavy which I just haven’t put much time into learning. I bet he’d be spectacular with practice though.
@@3BigChins Throwing bombs while on higher platforms and in the air was my stratigy. With the remote bomb I can't hurl bombs like my usuall style. My new stratagy with Link is once at a distane use the new bomb to hit oponants in the air or as they recover by detonating the bomb near them and catching them in the blast radius. Aside from that I use Link nearley the same with a switch between sward and projectile attacks but just the one change threw me off. I liked Young Link in melee cause he is basicley a more agile Link and his moveset is practicley identicle if his style is a bit diferent so he was an easy switch for my main in ultimate.
I started playing cloud cause somehow i found him pretty interesting, when I didn't even have the game, but the time has passed and i still maining cloud and i have no regrets, one of the most agile characters of the game, fin to play, pretty hype, well design for competitive... What can I say, the best character of the game by far
I'm not so certain about the competitive scene, but I have yet to see almost anybody play Link, either online or just RUclips videos. Perhaps a video on him would be cool assuming this representation transfers over to the competitive scene as well. As for this video, I found it quite informative. I tried Cloud out myself for a while and enjoyed playing him, but since I'm far from being good at this game I could never manage to win except against CPUs, so I was interested to find out he does well against most annoying characters
Link is indeed rarely used in competitive with the only top level rep I can think being T from Japan and I don't know whether or not he's been competing recently. From what I've heard Link's main problem is that while his remote bomb enables so much janky BS, it's also his main recovery tool (as spin attack is close to worthless for recovery in alot of situations and he lost his tether grab when coming into ultimate) meaning that Link has 2 very separate play styles: very aggressive item shenanigans, and much more patient zoning; that you can't really combine at the same time because if his bomb is on stage when Link gets sent offstage, he's basically dead against players that know how to edgeguard him. So you essentially have to find the right balance between these 2 play styles to be successful with this and character which makes him inherently have much more risk reward decisions in most of his gameplan than a majority of other characters.
Link has a pretty high skill floor. People tend to play him as a zoner with a sword, which is the wrong way to play him imo. Instead he's a swordie with projectiles. Nair is comparable to Fox's it's honestly ridiculous.
Clouds popularity shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. He's an inherently cool character from a beloved game with a moveset that rewards good play and is simple to pick up and play. My brother, who doesn't care at all about 'anime sword boys' absolutely loves Cloud because once you've got your rhythm going you feel like a monster.
Im a cloud main, and I have a friend who is an Incineroar Main, we usually have a lot of fun fighting each other with our mains and its never bullshit whenever one of us wins because if I lose, I probably went into an Incineroar Side B, but if he loses, he left me to my own devices
Once again, you have great music taste. FFXIII has an excellent OST. Cloud quickly became my secondary in Sm4sh because his kit is so easy to wrap your head around and very satisfying.
@@bladesapprentice4096 the song is called "Desperate Struggle" it's one of the boss themes. Have you heard the soundtrack? I can recommend some bangers if you haven't
@@bladesapprentice4096 i would really recommend "Blinded By Light" (that's the main battle theme), "Will to Fight", "Saber's Edge" (another boss theme), and "Snow's Theme" for a really chill, badass rock theme.
Sparg0, kola, dietsoda, enhancedpv, letitrain,niko, blacktwins. Those are cloud players i have seen in tournament from locals or majors depending. Cloud is awesome he is my favourite character to main. Sparg0 was such a huge inspiration for me to try some tournaments
Soul Calibur 2 was supposed to have Cloud instead of Heihachi and I feel like that was a massive mistake by square and Namco. The past is the past but using Cloud in other game genres(particularly fighting games) is such a euphoric experience. My beat the crap out of my friends with Siegfried back then but using Cloud instead would've been like a dream. I get my ass beat in smash now but it's bearable because Cloud is so damn bad ass.
Its simple: Cloud = Win. But in all seriousness Cloud feels not only mechanically good to play, hes easy enough to pick up and play, strong enough to see success with him early on and deep enough so that mastering him feels rewarding while at the same time beeing incredibly well balanced arround not just one aspect of his kit but most of it. He also gets bonus points for having the BIIIG SWORD. BIIIG SWORD = Cool = Win
when i started playing cloud i alright but learning i became better and is fun to play, i picked up cloud cuz he looked cool and a dude with a big sword thats cool
11:18 Oh, so that's why Kola chose Clould immediately when facing Tea's kazuya and pacman, and got completely crushed in the last game when he switched to Roy out of desperation.
kinda funny that im in a college study room and i turn around to see a group of ppl watching 2 ppl play smash and the limit break sounds goes off right on cue
"Cloud is a fundamentals character" I've heard this a lot but when I ask for examples of characters that aren't fundamentals characters I never get an answer lol
Cloud is definetely a super solid character, really good at dealing with some bad matchups with my other characters as well, which is why I have him in my pocket.
I hate him because his skill to output ratio is extremely skewed. Like you said, people can pick him as a secondary because he takes almost no effort to do well as. Maybe not as bad as 4 where you could buttonmash to win, but he's still very ooga-booga -> win
cloud mains are either “i picked cloud because final fantasy VII was one of the best games ive ever played” or “i picked him because he is edgy i never played that shit”
Would love a “why everyone plays Samus”! I think she’s an incredibly interesting case, considering she’s been historically a very bad to mediocre character and it looked like this wouldn’t change at the beginning of the game, but now she’s among the top 10 in terms of results
@@TtronX Yeah bombs are absolute pain in the ass, but the fact that now Charge Shot can get charged in the air, that alone pretty much changes everything. This move is a nightmsre for anyone with no reflector or not named Steve.
@@zam50 I'm glad that she's as good as she is. She's actually one of my favorite Fire Emblem characters throughout the games. (Awakening was my first one)
I was a cloud main in 1.0, somehow people were convinced that he was terrible l, the buffs helped a little but no idea why people had such little faith in him
I knew from the moment I unlocked him in the first month that he was good. Not OP like in Smash4, but good across the board in movement, range, and power.
Positioning yourself for a back air using RAR is really hard to master but when you do then you're already beating half the cast easily. Then it's just a matter of utilising his limit the best you can.
I'm having a lot of trouble just dealing with his range. Usually swordies are offset by their lack of long range pressure but as fox I can't really space him that well because he keeps throwing them neutral b's at me. Also his aereals are insanely forgiving when it comes to timing. It's a 70% loss for me right out the gate.
Cloud is a fundies yes, but don't lie he's got some cheese XD he may not be able to hold it indefinitely anymore but he can still get limit like 3 times a stock and camp for it. Also up-b out of shield ain't G&W broken but it's just as brainless, I wish DDD had something like any of that lmao
"Cloud could have use some more buff's" Also see how he had to compare his disadvantage to ZZS and G&W the best disadvantages in the game that says a lot
@@Sae23b1 he’s still broken here! this video also pointed out that he has like 4 unfavorable mu but since his neutral is incredible there are all doable. He is a broken ass top tier with incredible neutral, great advantage, great disadvantage (great reversals and nice fastfall) and only a pseudo weakness in his recovery lol. He has EVERYTHING and still people wine about him, it’s incredible honestly
I can clearly see you're a cloud main, so am I, so you have now my love and approval, and i agree with every single thing you say, with no doubt cloud is the best designed character of the game
In tournaments I always see at least one player with a pocket cloud , wolf, or rob because some don't want to play dlc and want to show you don't need dlc to win like kola and light which is fine play who you want. Cloud is a character I still reccomend to people who get into ultimate if you want to learn fundamentals I say mario but cloud feels more like the mario/shoto of this game.
For the longest time, I wanted Final Fantasy represent in Smash. I was thinking Cecil or Terra would've either been the best choice because the popularity of the entries they're from are worldwide. When Cloud was announced for Smash 4, I was kind of disappointed. I thought Terra was the best because she was the last character to appear on a Nintendo console and smash IS a NINTENDO thing. I thought they caved into popularity over legacy. Cloud was and still is one of the most popular FF characters of all time. Then, I learned of the drama between Square and Nintendo about leaving for Sony for Final Fantasy VII. Nintendo told Square they would NEVER be on a Nintendo console again. All these years later and the first Final Fantasy character in a Nintendo crossover is the one that was told never again. It's so poetic and spiteful. Cloud was the best choice.
Cloud's our crowd He is my boy, i love him and i love the feedback he gives. If your dogshit it shows. If your good it shows. It also tells you if youre in between, i find that playing cloud is a good way to learn what your habits are, good or bad and will directly reward you for breaking those. I love him
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
"I may have been a little biased"
Only a few minutes earlier: "I wish he got just a few more buffs"
What i love about Cloud is that he's very beginner friendly while also having a high skill ceiling.
Cloud being a fundamentals-oriented character is perhaps the big draw for me. While Limit is flashy and powerful, everything else about him is pretty straight forward and easy to grasp, and his ability to deal with a situation is entirely dependent on your overall skill as a player.
I knew from the moment I picked him up that I had been playing Smash for a decade and a half building up to playing Cloud. Immediately felt at home playing with him and have considered him my main ever since.
Yeah, most of the other fundamentals character can feel a bit bland to me, but I don't like playing complicated characters either because I feel like I have to work 3 times as hard for the same result. Cloud straddles the line perfectly between being simple to play but also being interesting. For example look at Lucina's aireals: everything but neutral air is a sword swipe. Cloud's aireals are all simple, but they are also all very different from each other.
So you pick cause your a FF7 fanatic or cause he's smol brain character that can carry you.
I think it's because he doesn't have to approach. No other fundamental-oriented character can just run around and be rewarded for that. There are characters who require more fundamentals, but lack his flashy defensive gimmicks. People are drawn to low-risk/high-reward characters with tons of options. He can force the opponent to come to him by charging limit, then respond defensively with his huge "unga-bunga" sword.
Honestly, in some cases the threat of Limit is more valuable than Limit itself. It forces more gimmicky characters (who would otherwise be camping, waiting for the perfect opening to start a TOD combo, or both) to face him head-on in a fair fight, which is of course where Cloud excels.
I feel you on this. I like rushdown straight forward characters like Cloud, but I also like characters with a little something else like Pyra
Because he’s our big-sword edgy softie. Cases closed.
In all seriousness, I picked up Cloud in Ultimate after never witnessing his terror in Smash 4. I always liked his unique combination of heavy-hitter and amazing speed and agility. His main strat is to fight on stage and control it, which he excels at. He’s relatively balanced out by his lack of recovery options, though if done right you can recover from a ways away.
Overall he’s just really fun to use and got style points to boot. Looking forward to watching the video!
Cloud is made for edgy ppl i feel, but he himself isn’t really edgy
Cloud has a good recovery. It's really not that bad at all while also being a good out of shield
The reason he's easy to play is because Cloud is basically a shoto with a sword. A lot of the stuff you learn playing Mario can translate over to Cloud (aside from the ladder combos, Cloud isnt laddering often but it can be done).
"Oh boy, what do i win?!"
ANOTHER BOT COMMENT
@@four-en-tee no. clouds final smash.
To put it in other games' terms, Cloud is kind of like Xrd Ky or BBCF Jin; Easy to pick up, well rounded characters who have at least one strong tool for every situation.
I mean I would guess it's because he is uncounterable by about half the roster. That would be my guess, superior to half the roster, covers the entire stage, doesn't lose because is extremely unreasonable to play against, etc
@@randomperson9498 I honestly he'd be more like Ragna/Sol due to his Giant Sword and Main Character status
But I guess they work as well and he does have Blonde hair
Cloud feels like a 'pick up and play' sort of character imo
If you know how to space back air, you know how to play 80% of Cloud's gameplan lol
@@michaelwoller6450 if only I knew how to space back airs correctly
@@bimgus5808 just focus on hitting at maximum range and center/lower shield and you will get the hang of it. Or go to practice and try to just barely hit the edges of platforms and eventually you will get the hang of it
He's one of those easy to learn hard to master type of characters. Kinda like Mario. You can win with Cloud just by knowing his basic advantages. However the skill gap between that a fully realized Cloud player is large. What I've noticed being a novice Cloud main is that at this skill level you're easy to read and fall into patterns. However being a better Cloud player, I guess ust comes with being better at the game in general.
Use the c stick
I think one of the main reasons cloud became so popular around 2020 has got to be FF7 Remake. I mean there isn't too many characters who have been in the game for a long time then randomly have a huge jump in players playing them. I know this is the reason I played him.
Well i started maining Inkling when Splatoon 3 came out so you are right about that. I'm not good enough at smash to play Cloud since smash ultimate is the first smash game i decided to play competitive and i only have a measly 620 hours to my name
I would say inkling is more difficult to play than cloud
I’m no competitor or top player, but I find Cloud easier than others to play.
Also for those my age, FFVII had a huge impact back in the day. I can’t help but think people gravitate to fighters that connect with them on some level.
I feel you fellow FFVII fan. That's why I main Sephiroth.
True. The zelda series is my favorite nintendo franchise so I naturally atached to Link and uthers thru smash games. I actually did not like ff7 that much. My favorite was 9. Even so I was glad Cloud apearded in sb4 and played him a bit on my wii u. The Link treos just match my fighting style more then Cloud or Sephiroth.
For sure. That's part of the reason I main him. Maybe a big one. I was so excited when his trailer came out and I remember watching it over and over. New he'd be my new main once he cane out. He's one of my favorite characters of all time in general.
I love how in depth these videos are and due to the spirit of smash they’re always diverse! I hope to see a greninja video at some point.
Why no one plays :(
Before premiere:
Oh boy, can’t wait to hear you gush about your main, or how much he is a terrible mid tier :^)
Anyways:
1: It’s Cloud motherfreaking Strife, duh
2: His buttons are large, quick, and powerful enough that it’s hard not to love the feel of his moves (especially Back Air)
3: His physics are immensely satisfying to handle and complement his moveset incredibly well
4: Limit creates decisive, exciting moments in his gameplay. Sure, he won’t always hit it, but the sheer euphoria from hitting a Limit move is really addicting.
Yeah, he has his clear weaknesses like a poor recovery without Limit, but I’ll be damned, I think every Cloud player wants to be the next Spargo or Kola because those two are so clean with him. Heck, I’ve been wanting to pick him up simply because he’s so fun, even if I get gimped for the 36th time.
After premiere: I can agree with your point in a “perfect balance”. There’s no field that he can’t cover, even if he struggles against thin, nimble characters. Plus, he’s just so simple and fun. I didn’t really think of him beating the anti-meta characters, but now that you bring it up, Cloud kinda does well against a majority of them. (Maybe not Sonic, but then again, I don’t think anyone really beats Sonic.)
Btw, nice usage of tournament footage of yourself :p
I main Cloud simply because he’s my Banjo/Sora request since Melee. I remember talking about him in forums on what sort of moveset he’d have, how would they do his LIMIT and furthermore how the hell he’d even get into Smash since he wasn’t a Nintendo character.
Never thought Cloud (and Sephiroth!) would be in one of my favorite fighting/party games but here we are! Hoping he gets to stay since Remake is out on the Switch.
I know it would never happen but I would love it if Barret, Tifa, & Aerith somehow got in
This one’s a surprise cloud ain’t that overused as opposed to the likes of rob Roy palu diddy or Steve
Edit: ok scratch that I was exaggerating about diddy he ain’t overused but there’s still a ton playing him. He’s top ten in placement according to PGSTATS
I ALWAYS find Little Mac on Elite Smash, but I barely find Cloud mains, anymore. Whenever I do, though, they're OP.
Except he absolutely is, if you don't really see Cloud that much then that's 100% on you. He's one of the most used secondaries and co mains due to that coverage mentioned in this video, especially in the local and regional scene. Having 2 top 10 reps as well is insanely strong when you realize most of the PGR usually doesn't have many repeats until you reach the best of the best like Pyra Mythra ROB Steve and Palutena
he is very used in every level of play trust me
how is diddy overused
Cloud is really abused. Look at all the pro players that plays Cloud, including as secondary or pocket.
In high level and low level cloud are played a lot
Cloud proves that not every character with a sword needs a counter.
One thing I would also like to mention is that Cloud has very few combos, even compared to other sword fighters. I have seen this cited as one of Cloud's biggest weaknesses but I see it as a strength because it makes his game plan very easy to execute. He can't combo you from 0 to 50 and beyond like some top tiers, but he doesn't need to when a simple Bair to cross slash does 35 damage. Essentially, although he doesn't get insane rewards off of single neutral interaction, his moves have high enough damage that he will always get a moderate reward. When you take into account that he is at an advantage in neutral against most characters his lack of combos doesn't end up hindering his damage, but instead makes it more consistent.
"Why does everyone play Cloud?"
*shows frame data of back air*
I rest my case.
Are we going to just skip over this transition at 9:40 absolutely immaculate
Recently got back into smash, and I’ve been deciding my main. Cloud is in the running and I gotta say, he is so damn fun to play. Once you get rolling with him you feel like a monster
He really is, previously as a Corrin main who also played the other Fire Emblem characters, I could never get used to Cloud and I never knew why, but then I have him more practice after a bit, and even now playing FF7 Remake, and I would put Cloud up there with Corrin with how fun he is, and I thought I would never find another Corrin
I use him cuz I play Final Fanasty and when I first got smash I said “hey there’s cloud” so now he’s my main (along with Shulk)
Everyone plays it cause he's fun to play, cool looking and also because he s a Legend !
“Just a few more buffs” is crazy. Your character is already top 20, arguably top 15
"Cloud is really good at shutting down the characters who shut down other characters." -Yeah boi! That's so awesome, and sounds like Cloud's personality. He's pretty passive, but when some big unstoppable threat like Sepheroth hits the scene, Cloud boldly stands up against them.
Cloud is my favourite character in Sm4sh and Ultimate. His flow is just so _nice._
Always feels good to play, even hard matchups are fun because you have to find creative ways to use his fundamental kit, and there's always a way to break through
Imagine Byleth with higher ground and air speed. It's that S+ tier of flow
First off... incredible video. Cloud definitely deserves the attention he has garnered over the past years. He is probably the most well designed swordie: not overpowered or overtuned, just perfect.
Second off... based music selection. FF XIII 1, 2, & 3 have my favorite OSTs in the entire franchise.
I stopped playing in early Ultimate, but glad to know my boy is still cracked. Always loved how simple he was, he felt good to use and limit made it always feel like he could do something cool. Great vid that reminded me just how fun he was. Makes me wanna pop in the game and play a few games with him.
0:30 _"The philosophy of balance during the transition from Smash 4 to Ultimate was to shift the spotlight from the dominating characters and elevate some lower tiered ones into more relevance."_
**Sad confused Ganon main noises**
keep your head up king. we'll get our chance someday
as a cloud co-main, i really enjoyed this video
I mean, you basically summarized it. Cloud is consistent, he's reliable, easy to pick up, and he has the tools to deal with most the roster. Overall, probably one pf the most rock-solid characters on the list.
I'm also a Cloud main and I must say why I like his in Smash so much.
1: He's super cool and handsome.
2: He plays as smooth as butter with his big sword and limit moves.
3:..... Thats it actually. (the only thing I hate on him is his recovery to the stage. Let's say if ur far away from the stage and u don't have ur Limit full enough... U know u will die if can't make it back. But all in all I adore Cloud so much. )
I picked cloud up in smash 4 because I like cloud, then kept playing him in ultimate and eventually just lost focus on him and started playing other characters, only to recently pick cloud back up again
his mobility is what consistently brings me back to him, if feels so insanely smooth and fluid, like it all makes perfect sense and I can get cloud where I want him when I want him to be there.
I picked him up after being a Link main since smash64 and melee. I mained him in brawl as well, but only had it for a short time, and never played 4.
Then I grew up. This past year I bought a switch for my kids. I knew I had to get smash for old times sake, but Link never really gelled with me like he did in Melee. But then I saw my other childhood video game hero Cloud was a playable character, and I had to try him. I was not disappointed.
For me, I gravitated towards the characters whose games I grew up with. Today I’m proud to say I’m a Cloud main not because he was busted in 4, but because he perfectly captures the way he’s supposed to feel-strong, fast, and faithful just how I remember him when I was 6 years old. Sakurai did a heck of a job translating him to the game, and I thoroughly enjoy playing with my kids today while using these old gaming legends. It’s kind of like I can be a kid again and relive that childhood feeling alongside my own kids, and it’s a blast at the same time.
Link in ultimate had the new remote bomb that changed my style for him. I switched to Young Link (he was my main in melle) I was neverr into cloud in sb wiiu and don't use him much in ultimate. He's obviousldy good I have just used Link and lator Young Link sence the 64 so that was my style.
@@TheOmegazerox yeah the bomb really threw off the whole kit for me. Can still pick up melee today and pick up where I left off with link fairly quickly but he feels much different now with the bomb. I get there’s more strategy with it now but it’s more a learning curve. I also tried maining young link too once I got him, but it’s still very different with his range basically being a brawler and having little disjoint to his hit boxes, especially his hook shot. And he’s very combo heavy which I just haven’t put much time into learning. I bet he’d be spectacular with practice though.
@@3BigChins Throwing bombs while on higher platforms and in the air was my stratigy. With the remote bomb I can't hurl bombs like my usuall style. My new stratagy with Link is once at a distane use the new bomb to hit oponants in the air or as they recover by detonating the bomb near them and catching them in the blast radius. Aside from that I use Link nearley the same with a switch between sward and projectile attacks but just the one change threw me off. I liked Young Link in melee cause he is basicley a more agile Link and his moveset is practicley identicle if his style is a bit diferent so he was an easy switch for my main in ultimate.
I started playing cloud cause somehow i found him pretty interesting, when I didn't even have the game, but the time has passed and i still maining cloud and i have no regrets, one of the most agile characters of the game, fin to play, pretty hype, well design for competitive... What can I say, the best character of the game by far
I'm not so certain about the competitive scene, but I have yet to see almost anybody play Link, either online or just RUclips videos. Perhaps a video on him would be cool assuming this representation transfers over to the competitive scene as well.
As for this video, I found it quite informative. I tried Cloud out myself for a while and enjoyed playing him, but since I'm far from being good at this game I could never manage to win except against CPUs, so I was interested to find out he does well against most annoying characters
Link is indeed rarely used in competitive with the only top level rep I can think being T from Japan and I don't know whether or not he's been competing recently. From what I've heard Link's main problem is that while his remote bomb enables so much janky BS, it's also his main recovery tool (as spin attack is close to worthless for recovery in alot of situations and he lost his tether grab when coming into ultimate) meaning that Link has 2 very separate play styles: very aggressive item shenanigans, and much more patient zoning; that you can't really combine at the same time because if his bomb is on stage when Link gets sent offstage, he's basically dead against players that know how to edgeguard him. So you essentially have to find the right balance between these 2 play styles to be successful with this and character which makes him inherently have much more risk reward decisions in most of his gameplan than a majority of other characters.
Link has a pretty high skill floor. People tend to play him as a zoner with a sword, which is the wrong way to play him imo. Instead he's a swordie with projectiles. Nair is comparable to Fox's it's honestly ridiculous.
rob does want link wants to do but more reliable
I main Cloud because I love FF7 and he's my fucking boy just like why my second and third mains are Sephiroth and Sora, love FF7 and KH so much!
Clouds popularity shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. He's an inherently cool character from a beloved game with a moveset that rewards good play and is simple to pick up and play.
My brother, who doesn't care at all about 'anime sword boys' absolutely loves Cloud because once you've got your rhythm going you feel like a monster.
I havent watched fully yet but as a Byleth player im glad Cloud gets a lot of play, honestly my favorite matchup
The MKLeo vs Spargo special
Im a cloud main, and I have a friend who is an Incineroar Main, we usually have a lot of fun fighting each other with our mains and its never bullshit whenever one of us wins because if I lose, I probably went into an Incineroar Side B, but if he loses, he left me to my own devices
Once again, you have great music taste. FFXIII has an excellent OST. Cloud quickly became my secondary in Sm4sh because his kit is so easy to wrap your head around and very satisfying.
Wait what song is this from FFXIII?
@@bladesapprentice4096 the song is called "Desperate Struggle" it's one of the boss themes. Have you heard the soundtrack? I can recommend some bangers if you haven't
The only song I knew about was Fangs theme and that was a accident but a good one lol
@@bladesapprentice4096 i would really recommend "Blinded By Light" (that's the main battle theme), "Will to Fight", "Saber's Edge" (another boss theme), and "Snow's Theme" for a really chill, badass rock theme.
I’ve been playing a lot of Cloud lately. He’s just so fun to play with and I love rush down and he just works. Great video
Sparg0, kola, dietsoda, enhancedpv, letitrain,niko, blacktwins. Those are cloud players i have seen in tournament from locals or majors depending. Cloud is awesome he is my favourite character to main. Sparg0 was such a huge inspiration for me to try some tournaments
Soul Calibur 2 was supposed to have Cloud instead of Heihachi and I feel like that was a massive mistake by square and Namco. The past is the past but using Cloud in other game genres(particularly fighting games) is such a euphoric experience. My beat the crap out of my friends with Siegfried back then but using Cloud instead would've been like a dream. I get my ass beat in smash now but it's bearable because Cloud is so damn bad ass.
Cloud is my main and he’s so fun to play and mess around win. I 100% understand his popularity
I wanna see a "Why everyone plays Cloud Advent Children costume"
Its simple: Cloud = Win.
But in all seriousness Cloud feels not only mechanically good to play, hes easy enough to pick up and play, strong enough to see success with him early on and deep enough so that mastering him feels rewarding while at the same time beeing incredibly well balanced arround not just one aspect of his kit but most of it.
He also gets bonus points for having the BIIIG SWORD. BIIIG SWORD = Cool = Win
when i started playing cloud i alright but learning i became better and is fun to play, i picked up cloud cuz he looked cool and a dude with a big sword thats cool
Where can I find the data 5:50 that's he's showing right here?
That gamer tag in the last clip is based
11:18 Oh, so that's why Kola chose Clould immediately when facing Tea's kazuya and pacman, and got completely crushed in the last game when he switched to Roy out of desperation.
kinda funny that im in a college study room and i turn around to see a group of ppl watching 2 ppl play smash and the limit break sounds goes off right on cue
"Cloud is a fundamentals character"
I've heard this a lot but when I ask for examples of characters that aren't fundamentals characters I never get an answer lol
The fact that Cloud is more popular than Sephiroth in this game is beyond saying something
Cloud still has a really good neutral, I’d say top 3 in the game
Summary cloud is beginner friendly no weak spots kinda easy to use. And hard for new players to fight.
Cloud is definetely a super solid character, really good at dealing with some bad matchups with my other characters as well, which is why I have him in my pocket.
I hate him because his skill to output ratio is extremely skewed. Like you said, people can pick him as a secondary because he takes almost no effort to do well as. Maybe not as bad as 4 where you could buttonmash to win, but he's still very ooga-booga -> win
I needed this, my Cloud hit a plateau and I gotta break it
Because he is a top 5 character with the best back air in the game
"He's basically Shulk with Buster Art."
Name checks out.
The sword is long, the sword is fancy.
Additional reasons are a redundancy.
Cause he's so much fun!
Everyone plays him because I said a LONG time ago he should’ve been in SSB
cloud mains are either “i picked cloud because final fantasy VII was one of the best games ive ever played” or “i picked him because he is edgy i never played that shit”
as a mii gunner main, I respect clouds simply because big sword = big damage. and he's not pure cheese like Luigi.
Yay, I've been waiting for cloud to show up since I recently picked him up. Everybody uses him cause sparg0 is a god!
Would love a “why everyone plays Samus”! I think she’s an incredibly interesting case, considering she’s been historically a very bad to mediocre character and it looked like this wouldn’t change at the beginning of the game, but now she’s among the top 10 in terms of results
Two words: Charge shot.
@@emanueltheodorus1056
Don’t forget about Bombs. Those things are a nightmare at ledge
@@TtronX Yeah bombs are absolute pain in the ass, but the fact that now Charge Shot can get charged in the air, that alone pretty much changes everything. This move is a nightmsre for anyone with no reflector or not named Steve.
@@emanueltheodorus1056 What's interesting about Charge shot is that while it's not faithful to Super Metroid, it is faithful to Prime 3.
@@emanueltheodorus1056 2 words: Nintendo Online
I'm hoping we could get a "Why everyone plays Lucina" sometime. She's a defacto competitive fighter it seems, I've seen her very often.
She takes little to no effort to play but still very good
@@zam50 I'm glad that she's as good as she is. She's actually one of my favorite Fire Emblem characters throughout the games. (Awakening was my first one)
I was a cloud main in 1.0, somehow people were convinced that he was terrible l, the buffs helped a little but no idea why people had such little faith in him
I knew from the moment I unlocked him in the first month that he was good. Not OP like in Smash4, but good across the board in movement, range, and power.
Happy that my favorite sword fighter gets more love
Are we going to get a "Why Everyone Plays: Terry" video soon?
Imagine Cloud's fair and bair without moves getting stale
Positioning yourself for a back air using RAR is really hard to master but when you do then you're already beating half the cast easily. Then it's just a matter of utilising his limit the best you can.
Me: *breathes*
Cloud: U P - B
I'm having a lot of trouble just dealing with his range. Usually swordies are offset by their lack of long range pressure but as fox I can't really space him that well because he keeps throwing them neutral b's at me. Also his aereals are insanely forgiving when it comes to timing. It's a 70% loss for me right out the gate.
Desperate struggle FFXIII - Good song choice my friend…
Cloud is a fundies yes, but don't lie he's got some cheese XD he may not be able to hold it indefinitely anymore but he can still get limit like 3 times a stock and camp for it. Also up-b out of shield ain't G&W broken but it's just as brainless, I wish DDD had something like any of that lmao
Thanks for pointing out this, cloud mains always wine about their broken ass char
"Cloud could have use some more buff's"
Also see how he had to compare his disadvantage to ZZS and G&W the best disadvantages in the game that says a lot
The only cheese in cloud is his Up b and is still on you off stage don’t get hit by that
@@bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee “broken” if you think cloud is broken you should go and play smash 4.
@@Sae23b1 he’s still broken here! this video also pointed out that he has like 4 unfavorable mu but since his neutral is incredible there are all doable. He is a broken ass top tier with incredible neutral, great advantage, great disadvantage (great reversals and nice fastfall) and only a pseudo weakness in his recovery lol. He has EVERYTHING and still people wine about him, it’s incredible honestly
9:27 Shulk With Buster Art….makes sense since Cloud is using a Buster Sword
“Steve is the king of the anti-meta”
Steve is also the king of the meta-meta
As a cloud main I can attest to the characters solid kit
Cloud is the ROB of swordies. He has no bad options and he will kill you at 40 off a single mixup
its cus he can force approaches with limit it scares ppl while he charges it up.
also i appreciate you calling sonic anti meta, and ye this mu is hard asf for sonic.
I can clearly see you're a cloud main, so am I, so you have now my love and approval, and i agree with every single thing you say, with no doubt cloud is the best designed character of the game
Besides his popularity. The guy is easy and fun to play as. Haven't drop him since Smash4 even with his limit break nerf
Cloud is My Main.
Same dude
Along with Shulk
AMAZING VIDEO! This is Hollywood levels of editing. just wondering, which game on your 3 channels do you play the most?
There was a point where weed, Adderall, and booze where my best friends to be unpredictable fighting online with cloud on the wii u
Great video but it’s an absolute crime that the name spargo did not appear once
I agree with your take 100% brother..... Love Cloud for all the above reasons.........
Why everyone play Sonic please.
He used to be unheard of when I picked him up, but now he's one of the most picked at offline events.
@Joshua Suh mid 2019, basically no one played Sonic in Ultimate, you basically never saw them, online or in bracket.
He was my first main of ssbu
Fundamentals my ass, that back air cheats.
In tournaments I always see at least one player with a pocket cloud , wolf, or rob because some don't want to play dlc and want to show you don't need dlc to win like kola and light which is fine play who you want. Cloud is a character I still reccomend to people who get into ultimate if you want to learn fundamentals I say mario but cloud feels more like the mario/shoto of this game.
I play him because he's cool.
Well, I won't be playing Cloud seriously. I need cheese to win.
Can’t wait to see “Why no one plays Little Mac” and only see clips of Kwaz and Peanut
Because big dumb sword is fun to swing around.
13:31
I love to see Sephiroth there~
For the longest time, I wanted Final Fantasy represent in Smash. I was thinking Cecil or Terra would've either been the best choice because the popularity of the entries they're from are worldwide. When Cloud was announced for Smash 4, I was kind of disappointed. I thought Terra was the best because she was the last character to appear on a Nintendo console and smash IS a NINTENDO thing. I thought they caved into popularity over legacy. Cloud was and still is one of the most popular FF characters of all time.
Then, I learned of the drama between Square and Nintendo about leaving for Sony for Final Fantasy VII. Nintendo told Square they would NEVER be on a Nintendo console again. All these years later and the first Final Fantasy character in a Nintendo crossover is the one that was told never again. It's so poetic and spiteful. Cloud was the best choice.
I never noticed Cloud getting faster when his limit is active. Would explain some things ^^
Even though I never played his game, I just think he is cool and cool looking
cloud is flashy wdym? 11:28
Cloud's our crowd
He is my boy, i love him and i love the feedback he gives.
If your dogshit it shows.
If your good it shows.
It also tells you if youre in between, i find that playing cloud is a good way to learn what your habits are, good or bad and will directly reward you for breaking those.
I love him