Dealing with Cloud

[Ximlee]

Have been getting destroyed by Cloud players in For Glory. Wondering your best strategies for dealing with him?

Edit: Thanks for all of your input guys! Hopefully it can benefit other Peach players struggling with this matchup

 

[Robert Lee]

I'm not too familiar with the battle against cloud but I will share my knowledge experience against cloud. You don't wanna approach cloud with float because you will get hit by his forward and neutral aerial. It's important to have a turnip in hand as you can combat him in the air to zone him out. When you are above cloud, do not challenge his up aerial and focus on getting back to the ground safely. Respect his range and power when you fight him and pick the right moment to punish him when he's using an unsafe move that leaves him vulnerable.

 

[[SKS] Yung Lamppost]

I don't know a lot, but, neutral B at the ledge when he's recovering is pretty good since it'll send him pretty far away from ledge and he most likely won't be able to recover

 

[Ignis Wario]

I like to run in and shield to try to bait the dash attack so I can get a free Usmash out of shield. If cloud jab spams you get a free grab. I also like to bait him to charge the limit so I can get the turnip forward air combo.
As a general rule I like to stay on the ground unless I have a guaranteed hit that starts a combo. If you float around you're going to get wrecked because all clouds moves have massive hit boxes that go well above his head.
Like Yung Lamppost said you've got to figure out a way to ledge camp Cloud even at low percent to make him use his limit for recovery. Nuetral B, Nair, and Bair are my personal favorites in this particular match-up.

 

[Ximlee]

I don't know a lot, but, neutral B at the ledge when he's recovering is pretty good since it'll send him pretty far away from ledge and he most likely won't be able to recover

Never thought about using neutral B, thanks! That alone should help a lot

 

[Robert Lee]

When you get him offstage, bait cloud's airdodge and hit him with a neutral aerial if cloud players decide to air dodge offstage a lot. Usually successfully gimp him.

 

[Ximlee]

Thanks for all the help everyone! This'll benefit me greatly

 

[Ninja Girl]

Cloud obviously has a lot of range on Peach with his giant sword hitboxes, and I know on For Glory a lot of Clouds will just try to abuse that and out space you. Try to get a feel for when you can punish him out of shield/roll/spotdodge and when you can't because of his spacing. As well as which moves you need to use to punish him in which situations (when can you grab, downsmash, nair, bair, etc.) Make those kinds of mental notes to yourself the more you play the match up and you'll probably notice yourself doing better and better in the neutral.

And like others already said abuse his bad recovery. Peach is great at edge guarding so you have the advantage here. Sometimes just a well placed turnip will gimp his recovery, other times you might wanna use your float aerials to fight him offstage.

 

[Royal_Tea]

Knowing what moves to use for punishing on the ground is vital. I would use down smash, dash grab, and side B as punishers for most of his moves on the ground. Down smash is great if he tries to spot dodge (most Clouds I've faced try to spot dodge after a downsmash or try doing another downsmash if they think they are safe). In addition, some of Cloud's moves make him go behind his opponent, so downsmash hits both sides. Side B is great if he tries to roll away or block. Dash grabs are good for its range and if Cloud shields- but most Cloud players I've encountered don't block and play aggressive upclose.

The biggest don'ts for peach against cloud is:
DON'T fight your way down. You WILL get punished, outranged, and out-sped by his aerials.
DON'T use airdodges recklessly as a crutch to avoid him. You WILL get punished, outranged, and out-sped by his aerials.
DON'T rely on shorthop Dairs to approach often, he WILL grab you out of them.
DON'T recovery high/on stage against him (general rule for Peach, as you all know).
DON'T rely on your forwardsmash to punish him, it is too slow. However, you should try to keep either the frying pan (for its killing power) or tennis racket (for its horizontal knockback which makes Cloud's already ****ty recovery ****tier). The tennis racket is not much help despite its range because it puts cloud at a 30 degree angle to recover easily and is the least likely to kill Cloud or be used as a viable punish anyways.

To get through his projectile and close the distance, I either turnip farm or shorthop dair into his projectile as I get closer. The dair negates his projectile and keeps you on the offense and defense while keeping you relatively safe.

As for edgeguarding, I throw a turnip offstage to bait an airdodge or jump from Cloud, in the meantime, I am hanging off the ledge. The moment cloud starts to use his upB, drop down and neutral B him. It is more successful this way because it is safer and most Clouds upB right below the ledge than at an angle. If you are sure of Cloud's position to recover, you can run off the ledge and Bair Cloud as he upBs to get a clean gimp from the ledge. The timing is much stricter, but is safer and more rewarding.

 

[DrROBschiz]

My rival recently picked Cloud up and has led to some of the most frustrating matches in a long time

Its not a favorable matchup in our favor as it goes with most swordies. Cloud just compounds it even further.

The one thing that worked best for me is patience, throw combos and knowing what moves are punishable.

 

[ARISTOS]

This MU sucks.

Focus on maintaining as much space as you can, staying grounded and making sure to take care of business when you have an opportunity to seal a stock off stage.

Golf club will hit below the edge (just slightly) and can gimp Cloud w/o putting yourself at risk of eating an Up-B.

Down Smash will also work but sometimes you'll lose out to up-B

Choose stages with lots of space, if you get hit focus on getting to the ground as quickly as possible.

This is a MU which plays very un-Peach like; Cloud wins neutral heavily but if you get in and convert you can swing MUs convincingly.

Finally, don't let them go to Smashville, they'll camp you out and charge limit and you'll have a bad time

 

[The Puffer]

I like to over use the turnips just a little bit to avoid him from charging his limit brake

 

[DrROBschiz]

So Ive recently turned the tables on my rival. I dont know what clicked but Peach can do work against Cloud man!

Lots of Shield, Lots of Throws, Lots of patience and conditioning. You really have to learn Clouds hit boxes and be able to react quickly to certain openings.

A BIG part is knowing when Cloud ISNT open to be punished even when you think he is. Dealing with his Side be is actually the hardest part since its so fast and safe in many cases.

Offstage Gimps do wonders but Use Turnips when possible.

Other nifty tips

- Blade Beam is punishable but you have to be close and shield the attack. You might be forced into a read situation unless you are quick and close enough.

- Staying close and shielding is relatively safe since his grab sucks. Make sure not to be too predictable and punish shield hits.

- Clouds Love to Throw out Dair. Its nasty but punishable. You can actually hit a Dairing Cloud with Up Air (tricky) and Forward Air. Just make sure you space it high enough up.

- When Limit is up its actually a good time to start up the Turnip Game. It encourages Cloud to try and blade beam you and if not you now have a projectile advantage.

 

[CaptainYesz]

So Ive recently turned the tables on my rival. I dont know what clicked but Peach can do work against Cloud man!

Lots of Shield, Lots of Throws, Lots of patience and conditioning. You really have to learn Clouds hit boxes and be able to react quickly to certain openings.

A BIG part is knowing when Cloud ISNT open to be punished even when you think he is. Dealing with his Side be is actually the hardest part since its so fast and safe in many cases.

Offstage Gimps do wonders but Use Turnips when possible.

Other nifty tips

- Blade Beam is punishable but you have to be close and shield the attack. You might be forced into a read situation unless you are quick and close enough.

- Staying close and shielding is relatively safe since his grab sucks. Make sure not to be too predictable and punish shield hits.

- Clouds Love to Throw out Dair. Its nasty but punishable. You can actually hit a Dairing Cloud with Up Air (tricky) and Forward Air. Just make sure you space it high enough up.

- When Limit is up its actually a good time to start up the Turnip Game. It encourages Cloud to try and blade beam you and if not you now have a projectile advantage.

Yeah I found the same thing, uair rainbow can beat out cloud's dair but it's really tricky to time. Neat tip about baiting the blade beam.

 

[SilverSage]

Up tilt beats Cloud's dair

 

[Dark.Pch]

I have a vid of me vs Cloud in tournament. So maybe this could help you out some.

 

[DrROBschiz]

Cloud really isnt that bad of a matchup for Peach

It takes practice but he has plenty of exploitable openings

 

[Dagon97]

z-drop turnip to toad edgeguard is guranteed kill if no dj/limit
turnips are pretty good, you need to bait his **** out (nair, dash attack, dtilt, uair etc)