Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER is the face commander for Magic: The Gathering's Limit Break preconstructed Commander deck. While that deck is solid out of the box, Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER is better utilized as its own dedicated Commander deck without the constraints of the precon.

Cloud is all about Equipment, with every Cloud card in the Final Fantasy set revolving around Equipment in some capacity. A Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER Commander deck focuses heavily on Equipment, putting them on creatures to gain powerful, potentially game-ending effects. If you like Equipment decks or Final Fantasy 7, Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER is one of the best commanders you can be playing.

Decklist

Commander: Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER
Adelbert Steiner	Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist	Barret, Avalanche Leader	Beatrix, Loyal General	Bruenor Battlehammer	Bureau Headmaster
Cid, Freeflier Pilot	Cloud, Midgar Mercenary	Cloud, Planet's Champion	Codsworth, Handy Helper	Danitha Capashen, Paragon	Freya Crescent
Gilgamesh, Master-at-Arms	Halvar, God of Battle // Sword of the Realms	Kellan, the Fae-Blooded	Lion Sash	Lizard Blades	Professor Hojo
Puresteel Paladin	Red XIII, Proud Warrior	Sram, Senior Edificer	Stoneforge Mystic	Tifa, Martial Artist	Yuffie, Materia Hunter
Farseek	Nature's Lore	Open the Armory	Rampant Growth	Steelshaper's Gift	Three Visits
Chaos Warp	Dispatch	Inventory Management	Path to Exile	Swords to Plowshares	Arcane Signet
Basilisk Collar	Behemoth Sledge	Blackblade Reforged	Bloodforged Battle-Axe	Champion's Helm	Colossus Hammer
Commander's Sphere	Conformer Shuriken	Conqueror's Flail	Embercleave	Excalibur, Sword of Eden	Fellwar Stone
Hexplate Wallbreaker	Inspirint Statuary	Loxodon Warhammer	Pip-Boy 3000	Power Fist	Sol Ring
Sword of the Animist	Talisman of Conviction	Talisman of Unity	The Reaver Cleaver	Trailblazer's Boots	Ultima Weapon
Wrecking Ball Arm	Blacksmith's Talent	Fighter Class	Forge Anew	Sigarda's Aid	Axgard Armory
Battlefield Forge	Brushland	Buried Ruin	Canopy Vista	Cinder Glade	Clifftop Retreat
Command Tower	Exotic Orchard	x4 Forest	Ishgard, the Holy See	Jungle Shrine	Karplusan Forest
x4 Mountain	Overgrown Farmland	x5 Plains	Rockfall Vale	Rogue's Passage	Rootbound Crag
Rugged Prairie	Slayers' Stronghold	Spire of Industry	Sundown Pass	Sunpetal Grove

The decklist contains 24 creatures, six sorceries, five instants, 26 artifacts, four enchantments, and 34 lands. There is only slightly more creatures than Equipment, as Equipment is necessary for the deck to run optimally.

Key Cards

Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER

Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER acts as both a target to put all your Equipment on, as well as draw power and ramp. You want Cloud to hit the threshold of seven or more power, as that way you get to have all of Cloud's effect trigger when it attacks.

Codsworth, Handy Helper

Codsworth, Handy Helper is one of the best support cards for any Equipment strategy. It acts as a mana dork capable of tapping for two mana instead of the normal one, and can cheat around equip costs by tapping itself.

Codsworth is either ramp or utility, depending on what you need it for given the game state. It also gives your commander ward two, giving it an extra layer of protection to make it safer to put Equipment onto it since the chance of removal is much lower.

Inspiring Statuary

There is a balance between Equipment and non-Equipment spells, and Inspiring Statuary turns all your Equipment into mana rocks. Improvise lets you tap your artifacts to pay for generic mana costs, making it so you only need to use colored mana from permanents to cast spells.

There is no downside for an Equipment being tapped. As such, using them for improvise with Inspiring Statuary essentially makes them generate "free" mana. Improvise is a great way to use your Equipment to cast creatures so you can hold up lands for interaction on your opponents' turns.

Gilgamesh, Master-At-Arms

Gilgamesh, Master-at-Arms is one of the best ways to get a ton of Equipment onto the battlefield at once?????. It happens on both Gilgamesh entering or attacking, so you guarantee the effect goes off if Gilgamesh hits the battlefield at least once.

How To Play The Deck

General Gameplan

A Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER deck is all about putting Equipment on all your creatures, with many of them wanting to have at least seven power. Many Equipment provide stat boosts, such as Behemoth Sledge, Blackblade Reforged, and Hexplate Wallbreaker, making hitting the seven threshold easier

Win Conditions And Flaws

The primary win condition of the deck is winning through combat. This can be done traditionally, with your creatures boosted up by Equipment capable of dealing large amounts of damage in one swing. Alternatively, you can win through commander damage.

Equipment decks make it easy to turn your commander into a creature with 21 power, allowing them to take someone out of the game with just one damage connection. Some permanents like Tifa, Martial Artist and Hexplate Wallbreaker give extra combat steps, making achieving victory even easier.

The biggest downside of the deck is its heavy reliance on Equipment. Equipment is very mana-intensive, because you need the mana to cast them and more mana to actually put them on a creature. Certain permanents, such as Sigarda's Aid, Forge Anew, and Blacksmith's Talent help to put Equipment on your creatures for free, but that requires them to stay on the battlefield.

If you don't have any ways to cheat around equip costs, your turns are going to be very slow, allowing your opponents to interact with your battlefield and remove threats before you can even take advantage of them. However, once you have creatures equipped, you can start running away with the game with giant outbursts of damage?????.

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