Stack equipment on a single hasty commander, accelerate into him by turn 2, end a player by turn 4. Five Game Changers: Enlightened Tutor, Smothering Tithe, Jeska's Will, Mana Vault, Crop Rotation. Bring this to a B4 pod or don't bring it at all.
Cloud has haste. On ETB he attaches one Equipment from the battlefield to himself for free. That attach is the whole point of resolving him, so always have an Equipment in play before you cast him. With Mana Vault online, the headline play is a turn-2 Cloud: T1 Vault plus a land, plus an Equipment from hand if you can find one (a tutored Stoneforge target, Sigarda's Aid flashing one in, a 0-equip Lightning Greaves). T2 cast Cloud for RGW with mana to spare; his ETB grabs the Equipment off the field; the attach happens on the stack before any opponent can respond; Cloud swings the same turn because of haste. Every attack after that draws a card per equipped attacker and makes two Treasures at 7+ power. Crop Rotation finds Command Beacon or Slayers' Stronghold at instant speed. Kill window collapses to T4.
Cloud is a Naya voltron commander whose entire job is to die holding a sword. Read his text once:
So the ETB free-equip is a one-time staple. Every other equipment after the first has to be hard-equipped, cheated in with ETB auto-attach (Hammer of Nazahn, Sigarda’s Aid), or free-equipped through a separate engine (Puresteel Paladin, Stonehewer Giant, Balan, Forge Anew). Treat the ETB attach as your priority stat-stick: usually Hammer of Nazahn (indestructible while equipped) or Buster Sword (scales with equipment count). The deck is built so the next swords stack fast. The B4 build plays a faster curve than the B3 page, and the rest of this guide reflects that.
You don’t pick a wincon at sleeves-on. You pick it at the point of attack, based on what’s already on board. In B4 the wincons are repositioned around the faster curve.
Cloud + 3 to 5 stacked equipment, swing into the player with the lowest life. Sword of Feast and Famine + Embercleave is the textbook line: Embercleave’s cost reduction + double strike turns Cloud into 8+ power double striker = 16 commander damage in one swing. With Mana Vault opening the curve, this often lands turn 4 or 5. Backup combo: Genji Glove + Cloud as the only attacker = double strike + extra combat = the player dies twice over.
Full Throttle costs 5 and gives two extra combat phases this turn. Three swings, three sets of damage triggers, three sets of card draws and Treasures. Even more potent with the B4 curve: you arrive on T5 with Tithe Treasures stacked from T3 onward, so paying 5 for Full Throttle is trivial and the kill swing has the equipment density to convert. Pick the right attack order and you can take two opponents in a turn.
Smothering Tithe (GC) on turn 3 means every opponent draw makes you a Treasure. By turn 5 you’re cracking 6-8 of them on Jeska’s Will (GC) for triple-red and a flood of impulse cards. Crop Rotation (GC) plugs in here too: instant-speed land tutor finds Slayers’ Stronghold to give Cloud haste mid-turn after a recast, or finds an extra utility land while the Treasure pile grows. Professional Face-Breaker turns Treasures into impulse draw. The Treasures also count toward Hellkite Tyrant.
Hellkite Tyrant wins the game at upkeep if you control 20 artifacts. Treasures count. Mana Vault counts. With Smothering Tithe online plus tap-loop interactions, the artifact count climbs fast. This is the line when the table racks up answers to your commander but leaves your enchantments alone.
Not a wincon you go looking for, but the math is on the page: Sol Ring + Mana Vault on T1 puts a 4-mana T2 Cloud on the board with mana up for protection. The pod will not love it. Use sparingly, and only at tables that asked for B4 at rule-zero.
Cloud, Midgar Mercenary (different card, not the commander) is the most expensive card in this 99. He tutors any Equipment from your library on ETB and doubles your equip triggers. He’s a second Cloud body. If your commander gets countered, exiled, or eats Swords twice in a row and the recast cost is unbearable, this is the line that keeps the game on rails.
The doubled equip triggers also matter when you’re stacking equipment that has triggered abilities on equip (Sword of Feast and Famine untaps lands; Sword of Fire and Ice pings + draws). Two triggers per equip, so two free equip resolutions worth of value.
Two-to-three lands + ramp + a body. The classic opener: Sol Ring or a 2-mana ramp piece (Arcane Signet, Nature’s Lore) plus Esper Sentinel or Stoneforge Mystic on the play.
Mana Vault in opening hand + 2 lands. The signature B4 line. T1 Vault, T2 Cloud for 4 with mana to spare. Snap keep at competitive tables.
Crop Rotation in opener with at least one land in hand to sac. Crop Rotation costs G and sacrifices a land you control to tutor any land. The land you find untaps and is available immediately. A basic Forest in the opener is the cheapest sac target; a tapped dual is fine if you don’t need its untapped color this turn.
Smothering Tithe in hand and turn-3 mana to land it. Tithe (GC) is more important than Cloud most games. If you can untap with it on T3, keep almost anything.
Sylvan Library. Draws 2 extra per turn, paying 4 life per kept card. Free if you don’t keep extras. Snap.
Free-equip enabler in hand. Sigarda’s Aid, Puresteel Paladin, or Forge Anew lined up before T4 lets you stack equipment without paying equip costs all game.
Mana Vault as your only ramp + no Cloud in hand. Vault locks up mana long-term; you need something to deploy with it. Without a threat the next two turns, Vault is a self-inflicted clock.
Mana Vault + Cloud but the land base is all tapped duals. You’ll cast Cloud T2 but pass with mana paid. Most of the time, mull. You can keep it against a slow pod, but a 7-card alternative is usually better.
One-land hand without Sol Ring or a 2-CMC rock. You will not curve. Mulligan.
All five+ CMC. The deck wins through curving into Cloud, not through topdecks.
All interaction, no threats. Two removal spells and zero creatures is a losing hand here. You can’t stop them all and you have nothing to apply pressure with.
Cloud in hand but no equipment, no ramp, no draw. A naked Cloud is a 3/3 with haste. Without follow-up he eats a removal spell and you’ve spent a turn.
Sol Ring, Mana Vault, or Esper Sentinel. Mana Vault is the new headline play: pay 1, get 3 colorless this turn, lock the Vault tapped until your next untap step. Esper Sentinel on the play still taxes every opponent for the rest of the game. Stoneforge Mystic immediately tutors your best equipment to hand for T2 cheat-into-play.
Don't lead with a tapped land if a real fetch (Ash Barrens cycle) gets you a Plains for Sol Ring + Esper. Crop Rotation can also fetch a specific untapped land in a pinch, but save it for utility lands if possible.Cloud lands here on a perfect curve. The Mana Vault opener math: T1 Vault + 1 land + 1 land this turn = 4 mana untapped (Vault 3 + land 1). Cast Cloud for RGW (4 with one generic) using Vault’s 3 colorless plus your land for one color, or any equivalent combination through Signet or Sol Ring. Pass with 0 mana up but a hasty commander on the board with the free-equip trigger ready. Alternative T2: Sram / Puresteel Paladin / a ramp piece if you didn’t open Vault.
If Cloud lands T2 with no equipment in hand, the free-equip trigger fizzles and he's a 3/3 with haste. The trigger is optional, but it can only fire on entry. A T2 Cloud cast on a bare board still puts the commander tax meter at 2 and a clock on the table; weigh against waiting for T3 with a stat-stick in hand.Smothering Tithe still hits here if you didn’t curve T2 Cloud. Otherwise land Cloud now with a stat-stick free-equipped on entry. Sigarda’s Aid, Sylvan Library, or continued ramp also fits the slot. Tithe over Cloud here, almost always, if the choice presents itself: the Treasure economy compounds turn over turn, where Cloud one turn earlier just eats a removal spell.
If Cloud landed T2 and got removed, the cleanest line is Tithe on T3, Cloud back on T4 from Command Beacon (Crop Rotation can find it at instant speed). Don't recast at the tax if Beacon is live.Stack 2-3 equipment in one turn. With Cloud attacking since T2 or T3, you’ve drawn extra cards and made Treasures. Free-equip enablers (Puresteel Paladin’s metalcraft, Sigarda’s Aid, Hammer of Nazahn’s ETB attach, Stonehewer Giant’s tutor-and-attach, Forge Anew’s free first equip, Balan’s mass attach) chain the stack on. Crop Rotation can find Slayers’ Stronghold to give the new threat haste, or Command Beacon if Cloud was countered.
Samut, Voice of Dissent in play means every creature on your side has haste, including Cloud on every future recast.Set up the kill. Hold mana up for Berserk + Embercleave + Crop Rotation. Pick the player with the lowest life or fewest blockers. If Full Throttle is in hand and you have 5 mana plus Cloud at 7+ power, the triple-combat math closes the game.
If the table is leaving Cloud alone, this is the turn to use that. Don't telegraph the kill: equip, attack, announce Cloud's draw trigger and Treasure trigger, resolve damage. If they had a hold-up spell, they'd have used it.Mana Vault: pay 1, untaps with the tap-or-take-4 clause every untap step after. The trade is straightforward: +3 colorless this turn, lockout next untap unless you pay 4 or take 4. You skip one untap step of your other artifacts (Sol Ring untap is fine, Signet untap is fine; only Vault is locked) in exchange for casting your commander a turn earlier. Almost always worth it if you have a stat-stick in hand and Cloud lined up. Not worth it if the next turn is “Tithe and pass” because then you’re just paying 4 to untap Vault for no incremental gain.
Berserk at instant speed doubles Cloud’s power for the turn and grants trample. A 6-power Cloud becomes 12 power double strike on the swing trigger. Even Cloud bare with one stat-stick becomes lethal: 7 power + Berserk + double strike = 28 trampling damage.
Dominion Bracelet gives the equipped creature +1/+1 and a Mindslaver attack trigger: if equipped Cloud attacks at 7+ power, you control target opponent’s next turn. Colossus Hammer alone (+10/+10) pushes Cloud past 7. Use the Mindslaver turn to feed your kill: tap their blockers, cast their counterspells on their own boardwipes, kill their commander, then untap and one-shot them.
Crop Rotation costs G, sacrifices a land you control, and tutors any land to play untapped. Two B4-specific lines worth memorizing:
Two extra combat phases on the turn it resolves. Three swings, three rounds of damage triggers, three rounds of card draw + Treasures. Cloud at 7 power across three combats = 21 commander damage exactly. Lethal on a single target without any pump spell. Two combats are usually enough if Embercleave is in the mix. In B4 this turn often arrives on T5, sometimes T4 with a Vault-and-tutor opener.
Forgetting Mana Vault’s untap-step tax. Mana Vault doesn’t untap during your normal untap step. You may pay 4 or take 4 damage to untap it, otherwise it stays tapped. Two missed upkeeps in a row at 4 each = 8 to the face plus the lost mana. Track it on a die or a counter; the moment you cast Vault, mark the upkeep choice. Forgetting twice loses games.
Crop Rotation sacrificing a fetch land that was about to crack. Sequence Crop Rotation before you crack the fetch, or the fetch trigger goes onto the stack and the fetch is wasted. The cleanest order: tap a Forest for Crop Rotation’s G cost, sac the fetch to Crop Rotation, find your target. Don’t crack the fetch first and then realize you wanted Crop Rotation.
Mana Vault is a Game Changer. Don’t bury the lede at rule-zero. Open with the five-GC count or the table feels lied to when Vault hits T1. The disclosure is the difference between “B4 brought receipts” and “B4 was pulling a fast one”.
Forgetting Cloud’s attack trigger. Draw a card for each equipped attacker, and two Treasures at 7+ power. This trigger fires every combat. If you Full Throttle, it fires three times. Stop the swing, announce both triggers, then move to damage.
Spending Smothering Tithe Treasures the turn you make them. They’re more valuable banked. By T5 in B4 you should be sitting on a Treasure pile big enough to cast Jeska’s Will + Vandalblast overload + a sword on the same turn.
Forgetting Esper Sentinel triggers on opponents’ turns. Sentinel reads “whenever an opponent casts their first non-creature spell each turn”. They pay 1 generic or you draw. Players forget and you forget. Watch every spell on every opponent’s turn.
Not using Robe of Stars to dodge a board wipe. 1W to phase out target permanent, repeatable. Phased-out permanents are not affected by anything. Robe of Stars beats Wrath of God, Cyclonic Rift, Farewell, exile effects, theft effects. If you’re tapped out and they have 1W untapped, your stack survives.
Genji Glove only triggers when the equipped creature is your only attacker. If you have any other attacker, you don’t get the extra combat. Swing solo with Cloud holding Genji.
Vandalblast overload also kills your own artifacts. Sol Ring, Mana Vault, Arcane Signet, equipment, Treasures, everything you don’t control with another player on your side of the table goes. Re-read the targeting before you fire: it destroys all artifacts your opponents control, not all artifacts. Safe to overload. But the non-overload cost only targets one opponent’s artifact, not yours, so the trap is being too cute with the regular cast.
Treating Full Throttle like extra turns. It’s extra combats, on this turn only. You still pass to the next player after. Don’t tell the table “extra turn” or the rules conversation gets weird.
A B4-only tool the other brackets don’t get: Crop Rotation into Command Beacon at instant speed. If Cloud gets countered or exiled, hold priority, cast Crop Rotation, sac any land, find Command Beacon. Next opportunity, tap and sacrifice Command Beacon to put Cloud directly to your hand with no commander tax. Recast next turn for the original 4 mana. The line collapses the commander-tax punishment that ordinarily kills a voltron deck after the second removal spell, and it does it on the same turn the removal happened. Worth holding Crop Rotation for this purpose rather than firing it for tempo if the table is removal-heavy.
Forge Anew has two abilities. The first is the free-equip enabler everyone reads. The second is the one people miss: when Forge Anew enters, return target Equipment card from your graveyard to the battlefield and attach it to a creature you control. If a sword eats removal, replay Forge Anew (Enlightened Tutor finds it) and bring it back.
Samut, Voice of Dissent untaps Cloud after he attacks. He can block on the way back. Combined with Shadowspear (trample + lifelink + strips hexproof and indestructible), Cloud attacks, comes home, gains life, and blocks the counter-swing. The full “attack and live through the next turn” sequence requires Samut on board.
If you’re sleeving up before a session, throw these in:
Casual loadout. Zero Game Changers. Skullclamp, Sword of the Animist, Champion's Helm in for the three GCs. Kill turn 7 to 9.
Three Game Changers carry the curve. Enlightened Tutor, Smothering Tithe, Jeska's Will. Kill turn 5 to 6.
All 100 cards with live Scryfall prices, the sideboard, and a bracket toggle that shows the swap diffs in place.