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 is a Cloudian that cannot be destroyed in battle. Many also have low attack scores, but this means that a majority are searchable by the Elemental Seachers, "Salvage", and "Sangan". Cloudians have their effects activated with "Fog Counters".

Play Style
Cloudians require a moderate degree of skill to use properly, because their main forces depends on how many "Fog Counters" there are on the field. 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.

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, Mother Grizzly 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.

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.

Some Cloudian users tend to not use Cloudian - Turbulence and Cloudian - Smoke Ball. But using these can allow the player to swarm the field extremely quickly, providing more tributes for Fog Control, and the Cloudian tribute summons. Also Cloudian - Turbulence can thin the deck by taking the Cloudian - Smoke Balls straight out of the deck and allow for more fog counters to be placed on the field when a Cloudian monster is Normal Summoned or with the effect of Cloudian Squall.

Monster Cards

 * Cloudian - Nimbusman x2
 * Cloudian - Eye of the Typhoon
 * Cloudian - Ghost Fog x2
 * Cloudian - Acid Cloud
 * Cloudian - Poison Cloud
 * Cloudian - Sheep Cloudx 2
 * Cloudian - Storm Dragon
 * Cloudian - Altus
 * Cloudian - Cirrostratus x2
 * Cloudian - Turbulence
 * Cloudian - Smoke Ball

Spell Cards

 * Cloudian Squall
 * Fog Control
 * Summon Cloud
 * Salvage
 * The Sanctuary in the Sky
 * Creature Swap

Trap Cards

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