Break your Limits: A small Cloud guide

These tips are to help Cloud mains with frame trapping opponents, dealing with opponents on platforms, and kill confirms. If you have any tips of your own to add to this, feel free to inform me with a comment so I can add that tip to this list. Clips showing many of the kills and tricks I will describe can be found at the end of this guide, crediting their owners.


Now let's begin with the frame traps.

1. Spotdodges: For frame trapping spotdodges, I recommend limit cross slash because of how many hitboxes it has and how many frames it lasts. It lasts for 30 frames, and since the longest spotdodge in the game only has 19 frames of intangibility (Bayonetta's spotdodge), it's a guaranteed way to deal some easy damage. So if your opponent is at a high percent and you predict that they'll spotdodge, use limit cross slash to kill them (if it's available).

2. Airdodges: For beating airdodges, use down air. The early and late hitboxes cause the move to have a 31 frame long active hitbox. The longest airdodge in the game (Bayonetta's again) has 27 frames of intangibility, so the late hit of down air should always hit the opponent if timed correctly.
Another option is limit side-b. The 5 hitboxes let the move have 30 active frames, so it outlasts airdodges by 3 frames. This makes it a good kill-confirm. However this option isn't too viable because if the opponent fast-falls their airdodge, they can fall through the move and you will lose your limit. So only use this if you're sure the opponent won't fast-fall, or if you're close enough to the ground that they'll be stuck in airdodge landing lag.

3. Tech Rolls: All roll techs give 20 frames of invincibility. The tech rolls have an FAF of 40 or 41, so if you read the roll, any move can be used to punish (all of cloud's moves come out on frame 19 or less).

4. Tech on spot: Like before, all techs on spot give 20 frames of intangibility. However this time the FAF is 26 or 27. So if you read the tech on spot, you either have to input the move early to connect the hit, or use a move that comes out on frame 6 or less. These moves are jab (frame 5) and utilt (frame 6).


This next tip is about platforms.

Platforms: Since Cloud's sword has so much range, some of his attacks can cover a whole platform! These attacks are usmash, utilt, nair, finishing touch, and both versions of blade beam. This can help cover spacing and can help you attack an opponent who missed their tech on a platform. Also back air can cause opponents to slide off platforms, allowing for a forward tilt lock, which can lead in to a combo (the strongest combo being fast-fall uair to full hop side-b for 31% damage).


Now for some kill confirms.

Down tilt: Dtilt to limit up-b at high percents on very high platforms, dtilt to up-b at ledge at0-mid percents.

Up Air: Uair to fair at mid percents, uair to dair at mid percents, uair to uair at high percents (only kills on high platforms eg the top platform on Battlefield), uair to bair at high percents, uair to limit up-b at high percents, uair to limit side-b at mid percents, uair to finishing touch at mid percents, uair to up-b spike at ledge from 0-high percents (limit up-b at low and high percents), uair to footstool to a-c dair to finishing touch at low-mid percents.

Neutral Air: Nair to limit side-b at mid percents. Nair to finishing touch at mid-high percent (if they miss the tech), nair to limit up-b at high percents.

Back Air: Bair to limit side-b at mid percents.

Auto-cancelled (a-c) Down Air: A-c dair to fair at mid-high percents, a-c dair to uair at mid-high percents, a-c dair to bair at mid-high percents, a-c dair to dair at low-mid percents, a-c dair to limit neutral-b at mid-high percents, a-c dair to limit side-b at mid-high percents, a-c dair to finishing touch at mid-high percents, a-c dair to (limit) up-b at any percent at ledge.

Frame-cancelled (f-c) Forward Air: F-c fair to fair at mid percents, f-c fair to side smash at high percents, f-c fair to limit side-b at mid-high percents, f-c fair to finishing touch at mid percents. (For those who don't know, frame-cancelling is when an aerial hits 1 frame before you touch the ground. It reduces landing lag, allowing for combos and kills. The effect is fairly similar to l-cancelling in melee. It's explained better in IzawSmash's video at the bottom of this guide.

Aerial limit Neutral-b: Aerial limit neutral-b to fair at low percents.

Items: Most grab-able items can combo in to dair, side-b or finishing touch if z-dropped or thrown down at the opponent.


Next, a few tips how to recover more easily:

First of all, let's go over why his recovery is lackluster. It doesn't sweet-spot the ledge, so it can be easily gimped. It doesn't go too high, and goes nowhere horizontally. Any move that hits Cloud will probably result in his death if he doesn't have a double jump (even an aerial grab release!).

Let's cover his regular (non-limit) up-b first.
1) If your space your up-b correctly, Cloud's hurtbox won't extent above the ledge, making it harder to gimp him.
2) If you up-b while very close to the ledge, it'll actually snap directly to the ledge, helping you avoid a spike/stage spike.
3) If you up-b while hugging the wall, the hitbox will clip through the stage and can fend off opponent who are too close.
4) Cloud can wall jump, so be sure to keep that in mind when recovering.
5) If your high above the ledge, you can up-b down on to the ledge. You'll automatically sweet-spot the ledge, even if you're facing in the opposite direction! It's usually optimal to recover high this way, since it's extremely hard to punish (however if your opponent power shields the downward hit of up-b, they can punish you with a move that comes out on frame 4 or less).
6) If your limit bar is almost full, you could charge it off-stage and use the limit variation to recover instead.
Speaking of the limit up-b, let's cover that now.
1) Your intangible at the beginning of it.
2) It is much faster than the normal version, goes much farther than the normal version, and it sweet-spots the ledge. So it's tons more difficult to punish.
3) Limit blade beam can help distract/fend off the opponent.


Finally, some miscellaneous info.

1) Cloud's strongest move for killing Luma is dash attack or the second hit of up-b. Jabs, f-smash, d-smash and up throw also work. 2) Limit takes 420 frames (7 seconds) to fully charge. It will also fully charge after taking 100% damage or dealing 250% damage. 3) When Limit Break is active, bair will not auto-cancel from a short hop. 4) When Limit Break is active, Cloud has the fastest air speed in the game (but the 18th fastest aerial acceleration). 5) Cloud's best move for shield breaking is limit side-b. 6) Cloud's best approach option is running nair, since it out ranges lots of other moves. 7) Cloud's best spacing tool is back air due to it's range and low landing lag. 8) If spaced correctly all of his aerials are safe on shield. 9) Down tilt is quite useful for sliding under projectiles.


That's the end of this small guide. I hope this helps you improve & helps you break your limits

Credit to http://kuroganehammer.com/Smash4 for all the frame data information.

Credit to IzawSmash (http://smashboards.com/members/izaw.73168/) for lots of kill confirms.


Credit to Gawain for a few kill confirms.


Credit to Critical Flinch for a few kill confirms.


Credit to MySmashCorner for some kill confirms and some tricks.