Forum:Deck Guide/Cloudians

By NYKid8295 (look me up!)

Cloudians: The Archetype and Their Ranking

All right, let's get started.

• Cloudians are an archetype that are predominately Fairy-type and WATER-attribute.

• Their main effects revolve around fog counters and remaining on the field through their immunity to attacks although damage calculation is still applied. Monsters with this effect also get destroyed if they are put into defense position.

• Cloudians are tier 3 which means they are low on the totem pole but on the upside, they make for awesome tribute fodder allowing you to use monarchs and other tribute monsters.

Like Darth Covah, i am listing the main stats of the deck in these areas: Speed, Consistency, Power, Risk, and Defense. I will explain Risk and Defense because the others are mostly self-explanatory. Defense is used to rate the decks ability to go on the defensive and survive in order for you the get back in the game or in order to set up your plays. Risk refers to the chance that it will deplete it resources before you can win or it will deck out. All stats are rated from 1 to 5, 5 being the best.

• Speed: 1.5/5 Cloudians have destruction effects which make them very useful when pushing for game. The thing that they lack is draw power because it has to be added in. there are no Cloudian cards that help you draw.
• Power: 2.5-3/5 Cloudians, besides Eye and Nimbusman have very low ATK stats but there destruction effects are very useful and reletively easy to pull off. Nimbusman has a lot of potential as well and can grow very strong. Decks that use Tribute monsters along with the Turbulence engine are more effective in producing constant beatsticks that constantly push at your opponent. This type of deck can be very effective and powerful.
• Defense: 4/5 Cloudian decks are very good at maintaining a consistent wall to stop your opponent from attacking directly. Stall decks are especially filled with all these versions of Marshmallons with better effects as well. The only thing that you have to look out for is battle damage that can be alleviated by the use of Sanctuary in the Sky and Spirit Barrier. Cloudians are geared to stall so defense isn't a problem but you definitely want to add some protection form cards effects; Dark Bribe and Divine Wrath maybe.
• Consistency: 2.5/5 Cloudians are good at maintaining balance because of their effects which allow you to build field presence steadily. Their problems lie against decks that use destructive effects and decks that force your monsters in defense position. They have very little drawpower so even though they can wait it out, your life points wont be able to handle a constant bombardment of attacks if you dont have Sanctuary or Spirit Barrier out. Their effects only allow you to wait until you can push and once you start to, you will be depleting your resources much quicker so you have to be confident. Therein lies the strength of Cloudians and their worth.
• Risk: 3.5/5 The main reason why Cloudians are risky is their lack of draw power which has to be added in so this makes it hard to get the resources you need making this deck somewhat inconsistent but their immunity to being destroyed by battle helps you wait it out. Another big risk is that the monsters are the weakest of any archetype around so without Spirit Barrier or Sanctuary in the sky, your opponent will take you down by constantly bombarding your monsters with attacks. You will lose your life points slower than normal but you will still be at risk unless you can get the cards out quick. Also, with all the removal power going around, you wont be able to hold up forever with just the Cloudians' effects so you will have to be quick about setting everything up and getting your powerful monsters out.

These stats aren't the best for a deck so i guess its obvious why they arent faring so well. Like i said before, drawpower is absolute power and Cloudians dont offer that much of it. They dont have any powerhouses besides Nimbusman which might no always be so powerful and Eye of the Typhoon. In a well constructed and tested build, Cloudians will be consistent and powerful but it takes skill and ideas. This Guide is designed to do get you started on the road to dominating the skies with Clouds and bombarding all with your absolute reign! Mwahahahaha!!! Evil laughing aside, let's continue...

Cloudians: Mechanics

As i said before, Cloudians are poised to be great tribute fodder due to their ability to stick around on the field. The only drawback to their effect is that they are automatically destroyed when they are switched to defense position. Stumbling, Stop Attack and other cards like them will destroy a Cloudian user. To avoid this it is best to run a good amount of spell/trap removal cards to ensure that you will be comfortable throughout the duel. They also have very low attack stats for level 4 monsters. Acid Cloud, Cirrostratus and the like all have about 800 ATK and DEF. Cards like Sanctuary in the Sky and Spirit Barrier are used to alleviate some of that risk. Because most Cloudians are Fairies, except Ghost Fog, Poison Cloud, and Storm Dragon, you can use Fairy-type support to help you. Cloudian decks are quite slow on the whole but you can use cards like Tethys, Goddess of Light and maybe Diamond-Dust Cyclone to speed up the deck and draw more cards. Other cards like Ultimate offering can also speed up the deck because Cloudians do not have a ways to special summon except for Cloudian Turbulence which summons Smoke Balls (take that phrase however you want). You can also use WATER attribute support cards like Salvage to get back your cloudians from the grave or for other uses.

Cloudians: The Card Lineup

Archetype specific

Monsters

Cloudian - Acid Cloud*- One of the recommended cards to use, Acid allows for spell/trap removal at the cost of 2 fog counters. This make him extremely useful to the deck. I say run the max because he can be most or all of your spell/trap removal besides a Heavy Storm or Mystical Space Typhoon.

Cloudian - Altus*- Not the best of cloudians and not something i would recommend. His best attribute is his ATK, 1300 is very good for Cloudians. His discard effect is fine but it is random so it doesnt help you control your opponent's hand effectively.

Cloudian - Cirrostratus*- One of the best Cloudians after Nimbusman and Eye of the Typhoon maybe. He removes a monster on the field at a cost of 2 fog counters. I recommend running the max. Him and Acid are musts in a Cloudian deck especially when coupled with Spirit Barrier or Sanctuary.

Cloudian - Eye of the Typhoon*- A good and strong Cloudian but his effect is unnecessary making him easy to destroy; his ATK is high enough as it is. His second effect is ok but you can still find better level 7 and 8 monsters to include in the deck like Athena and The Wicked Avatar or Dreadroot.

Cloudian - Ghost Fog- A good monster that you can ram into a monster and distribute fog counters equal to that monster's level. You get no damage but he is destroyable. He is a good monster to use with Diamond-Dust Cyclone or Updraft for a final burn that will help push for game. 3 might be too many though.

Cloudian - Nimbusman- Easily the best Cloudian in terms of ATK. In a good build he can easily reach 4000 ATK or more. He is best used at the end of your game. Attacking with him while he is pumped up and there are a lot of Fog Counters and then using Updraft will most likely win you the game or at maybe take off some 6000 life points from your opponent.

Cloudian - Poison Cloud- A monster that removes the monster that destroyed it while it was face up. You burn your opponent for 800 life points as well. I dont recommend this cards because you will lose a good amount of life points when this card is destroyed because it has 0 ATK. A better monster removal card is Cirrostratus. You can use this card as a suicide card that will remove a DAD or JD.You should have a Sanctuary or Spirit Barrier face up to alleviate the life point toll if you plan to use this card. Otherwise make sure to have enough life points to use him effectively. It depends on how you look at it because if you dont have any fog counters on Cirrostratus when you need him then this card is good but if you run too many it will harm you. A good balance would be 2 and 2. That way you will be ready for any situation.

Cloudian - Sheep Cloud- This monster you should use only if you are using Eye of the Typhoon. You can use him for defense but he takes up space if you dont use Eye because his tokens can only be tributed for Eye or Nimbusman (a Cloudian monster tribute). Run 2 or 3 if you use Eye but dont run him otherwise. In that case he is also good if you normal summon a Cloudian because that will give the Cloudian another 2 Fog Counters.

Cloudian - Smoke Ball- This level 1 monster is good only in a deck that includes Cloudian - Turbulence in it. He is special summonable by Turbulence and is best in a deck that revolves around using tribute monsters, preferably hat require only 1 tribute. He also serves another purpose in all of this. When comboed with Turbulence Storm Dragon, you can summon a Smoke Ball then tribute it for a level 5 or 6 monster (maybe a Monarch) and remove it from play to summon a Storm Dragon. You can go one step further so that the tribute monster was a Nimbusman. That way you can power him up with another Fog counter from Storm Dragon's effect. Run at 3 when used with Turbulence if using a tribute based deck.

Cloudian - Storm Dragon*- Another staple in a Cloudian deck. This monster, along with Smoke Ball, are the only 2 special summonable Cloudians released yet. He also has a great effect that allows you to place a Fog Counter on any monster that you can. He is great to power up a Nimbusman or fuel Cirrostratus and Acid Cloud. I still recommend running Cloudian Squall even if you use this monster but he might be better in an aggressive deck so if you do that, you might want to run only 2 Squalls, not 3. You should run 2-3 depending on the type of deck you are using.

Cloudian - Turbulence*- Now we are down to the last Cloudian. This monster is to be used only if you are using Smoke Ball. This monster is recommended to be used in decks that focus on tribute monsters. Run 3 along with 3 Smoke Balls in tribute deck because he will your main tribute fodder generator. I don recommend this in aggressive decks.

Note: Monsters with a * after their name all have immunity to being destroyed by battle and are destroyed if switched to defense position.

Spells

Lucky Cloud- The only archetype specific draw card you get for Cloudians, this cards is circumstantial and it wont come in handy much at all. The only chance that you will summon 2 Cloudians with the same name in one turn is with Turbulence, if you summon 2 or more Smoke Balls or if you use Summon Cloud. Dont run it unless you somehow seem to be able to meet the requirements consistently and more than once in a duel. You can, but i seriously doubt that.

Cloudian Squall- This is the best card made for CLoudians and can be used to power up Nimbusman a maximum of 4000 ATK per turn if all pf the monster slots on both sides of the field are occupied. This card will pace a fog counter on all monsters on the field. This is your main generator of Fog Counters. This definitely should be run in 3's.

Summon Cloud- A very good card that allows you to special summon a Cloudian from your hand or grave, mind you that if you summon it from the grave this card will be destroyed, if you dont already have one on the field. This card is a life saver and you should run it at 2 because although it is good, with the Cloudians' effects, you will have a monster on your field most of the time.

Fog Control- A quick play spell that allows you to tribute a Cloudian in order to distribute 3 fog counters around the field, wherever you want. This is a ver good card that will help you push but use it wisely so that you dont wast a cloudian. Use this card when you have at least three CLoudians on the field to make sure that you maintain solid field presence. Run at 2 or 3. Run at 3 in an aggressive build but 2 in a stall build because it still really helps.

Diamond-Dust Cyclone- This is another quickplay spell that that allows you to destroy a monster with at least 4 fog counters on it and draw 1 card for every 4 on it. This is a good card to use late game and is effective when coupled with fog control to get rid of any monster that you need gone. Run at 2 or 3 depending on the build but 2 is better because you reduce the chances of drawing it at the wrong time.

Traps

Updraft- This is a very good burn card considering that Cloudians are effective at getting fog counters on the field. It deals 300 damage for every fog counter on the field to your opponent. This is a remarkable late game because it will take a big chunk out of your opponents life points. Use it after hitting your opponent with a pumped up Nibusman to finish him off or make lose almost all of his life points. Run at 1 or 2 (personally, i like 2) to reuce the chances of a dead draw and because it depends on the build too. You might not want to include this at all if you are running a tribute deck with Turbulence if there isnt a way to produce counters effectively.

Natural Disaster- A continuous