Cloudian

The Cloudians (雲魔物 クラウディアン, Kuraudian) set are a series of monsters and their support cards introduced by Adrian Gecko in the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime during season 3. They are all WATER-Attribute Fairy-Type, with the exceptions of "Cloudian - Eye of the Typhoon", "Cloudian - Poison Cloud", and "Cloudian - Ghost Fog"; "Cloudian - Eye of the Typhoon" is WIND Attribute Aqua-Type, while "Cloudian - Poison Cloud and "Cloudian - Ghost Fog" are Fiend-Types. They were intoduced in Gladiator's Assault with further support in Light of Destruction.

Many of these monsters can't be destroyed in battle when in Attack Position, but if they are in Defense Position they are destroyed by their own effect. "Spirit Barrier" or "The Sanctuary in the Sky" protect your Life Points while you have a face-up Cloudian monster in Attack Position, especially if it's a Cloudian that cannot be destroyed in battle. Many also have low attack scores, but this means that a majority are searchable by "Salvage" and "Sangan". Cloudians have their effects activated with "Fog Counters".

Play Style
Cloudians require an advanced degree of skill to use properly, because their main forces depends on how many "Fog Counters" there are on the field. Most cloudians cannot be destroyed by battle, but their low ATK leaves their controller open to taking damage unless "Spirit Barrier" or "The Sanctuary in the Sky" are used. Once those cards are in play, however, the opponent will have a frustrating time attempting to get past a Cloudian-user's defenses. While the opponent is being stalled, the Cloudian user can then generate enough Fog Counters to whittle down the opponent's defenses, eventually leaving them with nothing to protect themselves from the otherwise "weak" monsters.

Strategy
Cloudians, because they are WATER Attribute Fairy-Type monsters, are very versatile with a lot of support cards, both Cloudian and non-Cloudian. A Cloudian Deck can focus on swarming the field, on destroying the opponent's cards, on inflicting Burn Damage with "Natural Disaster", on a Stall Victory, on raw Beatdown power with "Cloudian - Nimbusman", or any combination of the above. "Cloudian - Eye of the Typhoon" can also provide some field control, by messing with the battle positions of your opponent's monsters. Never forget, the seemingly weak monsters in the deck such as Cloudian - Altus, Cloudian - Cirrostratus or Cloudian - Acid Cloud, with enough fog counters on the field (provided by cards such as Fog Control and Cloudian Squall) these three puff-balls decimate your opponents hand, monsters and spells/traps respectively, effectively controlling your opponents play, leaving them wide open to attack. Thus the term: "Cloud Control".

Fog Counters
The main force for Cloudian Monsters. They are essential for the victory of a Cloudian Deck. These counters should be mainly placed on the Cloudian player's monsters but certain Cloudian cards can use the placing of "Fog Counters" upon the whole field. ex: "Cloudian - Nimbusman", "Diamond-Dust Cyclone" and "Updraft".

Since "Fog Counters" can only be placed on face-up monsters, "Light of Intervention" is a good card to have in a Cloudian Deck. A good way to strenghten your field monsters is to have "Cloudian Squall" on the field and maybe use some stalling cards to pass turns and put more "Fog Counters" on the current face up monsters. But the weakness of most Cloudian monsters can be their downfall as your opponent could activate "Stumbling" or something like that, so it is always good to put in a couple of other non-Cloudian monsters or a "Mystical Space Typhoon" to prevent that. Also, many Cloudians are level 4, so watch out for your opponent's Level Limit - Area B, as that will completely destroy the Cloudian strategy.

The Cloudian Decks are an often underestimated play style. Most of the Cloudians cannot be destroyed in battle when in Attack Position, but if they are in Defense Position they are destroyed by their own effect. They are also of the WATER Attribute and Fairy-Type, giving the user the chance to utilise the support cards from both themes. The most basic decks rely on The Sanctuary in the Sky and/or Spirit Barrier to prevent taking Battle Damage, and Salvage, which allows them to return 2 of their fallen comrades back to their hands, essentially making a +1. Most of the Cloudians have low ATK Points, making it possible to search them out with Sangan or even Damage Condenser. Also, since most Cloudians are Fairy -types, a good card to add Athena and use here effect to special summon powerful Cloudians from the Graveyard by sacrificing smaller Cloudians like Cloudian - Smoke Ball.

While the special summoning is generally a good idea, bear in mind that most cloudians gain additional fog counters when they are normal summoned, therefore cards like Ultimate Offering or Double Summon can help to create huge amounts of fog counters in a very short time on multiple cards, allowing for near immediate use of their appropriate effects.

Cloudian Deck
Cloudians, because they are WATER Attribute Fairy-Type monsters, are very versatile with a lot of support cards, both Cloudian and non-Cloudian. A Cloudian Deck can focus on swarming the field, on destroying the opponent's cards, on inflicting Burn Damage with "Natural Disaster", on a Stall Victory, on raw Beatdown power with "Cloudian - Nimbusman", or any combination of the above. "Cloudian - Eye of the Typhoon" can also provide some field control, by messing with the battle positions of your opponent's monsters.

The Cloudian effects work when they have enough "Fog Counters" to trigger their effects. The number of "Fog Counters" they get depends on the number of Cloudians on the field when the Cloudian is Normal Summoned. Since they have many cards to quickly Summon Cloudians like Cloudian - Sheep Cloud and Cloudian - Turbulence, they can quickly swarm the field. The Cloudians' strength lies in their ability to destroy their opponents cards using the "Fog Counters," which minimizes the amount of cards that would normally be used.

Cloudian Decks can be used in a Burn Deck by using cards like Natural Disaster or Updraft, or in a Beatdown Deck as they cannot be destroyed in battle. Some Cloudian players choose to use the the ability of a Cloudian to stay on the field as Tribute fodder for Monarch-hybrid Decks. The strongest Cloudian is Cloudian - Eye of the Typhoon, but Cloudian - Nimbusman is considered one of the best Cloudians because it can get up to 7000 ATK in a good Cloudian Deck. Some Cloudian Decks also use The Wicked Avatar because of its ability to swarm the field, to be used for later Tribute. However, there are major drawbacks to Cloudians; that is, they 'self-destruct' when put into Defense Position. Cards that change the positions of the opponent's monsters like Stumbling have the opportunity to ruin an entire Deck, although you can take advantage of this by using Raging Cloudian. To prevent these effects,it is sometimes necessary to include a Final Attack Orders.

Another card that can keep monsters in attack mode is Level Limit - Area A used with A Legendary Ocean. in some cases you can combine Light and Darkness Dragon in order to lock down any Effect of spell trap and monster Cards. Beside your opponent can use some unecessary spell trap cards to decrease the ATK and DEF strenght of Light And Darkness Dragon you can use some speed 3 Trap card in order to protect Light And Darkness Dragon.

Recommended Cards
You can use a combo with The Sanctuary in the Sky and Victoria. By having both of these cards on the field:
 * Get 0 battle damage with a Fairy type (Cloudians still stay alive)
 * Fairy types cannot be targeted for an attack (Making Cloudians untouchable by battle)
 * Cloudians cannot be destroyed by battle (There own effect)

This helps in many ways. This leaves your only threat being card effects that can destroy your monsters.

( Mirror Force and Lightning Vortex are an example of cards that can destroy Cloudians)

Monster Cards

 * Splendid Venus
 * Victoria

Spell Cards

 * Salvage
 * The Sanctuary in the Sky
 * Creature Swap

Trap Cards

 * Updraft
 * Spirit Barrier
 * Rain Storm
 * Natural Disaster
 * Imperial Custom
 * Needle Ceiling
 * Limit Reverse