Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER costs {2}{R}{G}{W} and has haste. When he enters he attaches an Equipment you control to himself, and whenever he attacks you draw a card for each equipped attacking creature you control, then create two Treasures if he has power 7 or greater. Every equipped attacker is a card.
The precon already has the equipment and the helpers, including Puresteel Paladin, Colossus Hammer and Cid, Freeflier Pilot. Each swap below pairs a cut with an add, and every card is scored with the same numbers the Oracle uses to build decks: synergy and inclusion from the Cloud decks, plus lift, which shows how much more often a card turns up in Cloud decks than in decks that could play it.
Looking for the unmodified list first? Read the Limit Break precon guide.
What is holding the deck back
Missing equipment payoffs
Sram, Danitha Capashen, Akiri, Firion and Bruenor Battlehammer are the top-scoring cards the precon leaves out, and each draws a card, makes Equipment cheaper or makes equipped creatures bigger.
Cards that do not use equipment
Summon: Kujata, Furious Rise, Avalanche of Sector 7, Heidegger and Cait Sith do nothing with equipment, and Ultimate Magic: Meteor deals 7 damage to each creature, which hits your own equipped team.
A heavy top end
Six nonland cards cost six or more, including Hellkite Tyrant and Summon: Kujata, while the adds are two- and three-drops that draw cards or attach Equipment for free.
The 12 swaps
Each pair shows the numbers for the card coming out and the card going in. Click a card image to zoom.

Summon: Kujata is a six-mana Saga creature that deals damage on its chapters. It is played in about one Cloud deck in eleven.
Sram, Senior Edificer is a {1}{W} two-drop: whenever you cast an Aura, Equipment or Vehicle spell, draw a card. In a deck with this much equipment, that is a card for most of your artifacts. It is the highest-scoring card the precon is missing.

Furious Rise exiles the top card of your library at your end step if you control a creature with power 4 or greater. It is played in about one Cloud deck in ten.
Danitha Capashen, Paragon is a first strike, vigilance, lifelink creature for {2}{W}. Aura and Equipment spells you cast cost {1} less. Every equipment is cheaper, and she is a good body to carry them.

Avalanche of Sector 7 has power equal to the number of artifacts your opponents control. It is played in about one Cloud deck in nine.
Akiri, Fearless Voyager is a 3/3 for {1}{R}{W}: whenever you attack a player with one or more equipped creatures, draw a card. A second draw engine for equipped attackers on top of Cloud.

Heidegger gives a creature +X/+0 where X is the number of Soldiers you control, and makes Soldier tokens if opponents have more creatures. It is played in about one Cloud deck in eight.
Firion, Wild Rose Warrior is a 3/3 for {2}{R}. Equipped creatures you control have haste, and whenever a nontoken Equipment enters under your control you create a token copy of it with cheaper equip abilities. Every Equipment you cast makes the next attach cheaper, and haste makes every equipped creature attack the turn it arrives.

Explorer's Scope is a one-mana Equipment that puts a land onto the battlefield if the top card is one when the equipped creature attacks. It is played in about one Cloud deck in six.
Bruenor Battlehammer is a 5/3 for {2}{R}{W}. Each creature you control gets +2/+0 for each Equipment attached to it, and you may pay {0} rather than the equip cost of the first equip ability you activate each turn. A free first equip each turn, and a huge team pump.

Cait Sith is a 3/3 artifact creature whose slots effect scries and exiles the top card to play. It is played in about one Cloud deck in six.
Gilgamesh, Master-at-Arms is a 6/6 for {4}{R}{R}. Whenever he enters or attacks you look at the top six cards and put any number of Equipment onto the battlefield, and you may attach one of them to a Samurai you control. Free Equipment on every attack.

Hellkite Tyrant is a six-mana flying trampler that steals a player's artifacts when it connects. It is played in about one Cloud deck in six.
Blackblade Reforged costs {2}: equipped creature gets +1/+1 for each land you control. Equip is {3} for a legendary creature, and Cloud is legendary. With seven lands, that is +7/+7 on a creature that draws cards.

Secret Rendezvous has you and an opponent each draw three cards, which feeds the table.
Open the Armory costs {1}{W}: search your library for an Aura or Equipment card and put it into your hand. A two-mana tutor for the best Equipment in the deck, and an Equipment spell for Sram and Danitha.

Barret Wallace is a 4/4 reach creature for {3}{R} that deals damage equal to the number of equipped creatures you control to the defending player when it attacks. It is played in about one Cloud deck in six.
Forge Anew costs {2}{W}: when it enters it returns an Equipment from your graveyard to the battlefield, you may activate equip abilities at instant speed, and you may pay {0} rather than the equip cost of the first one each turn. It is the second-highest-scoring card the precon is missing.

Ultimate Magic: Meteor deals 7 damage to each creature, which kills your own equipped attackers and is played in about one Cloud deck in five.
Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist is a 2/2 for {2}{W}. At the beginning of combat on your turn you may attach any number of Auras and Equipment you control to a target permanent or player. She re-attaches your whole equipment pile to the best attacker for free every turn.

SOLDIER Military Program ({2}{W}) is one of the lowest-scoring cards in the precon, at 19 in the Oracle: it is in 21% of Cloud decks with 18% synergy. It reads: At the beginning of combat on your turn, choose one. If you control a commander, you may choose both instead. • Create a 1/1 white Soldier creature token.
Genji Glove ({5}) scores 41: it is in 44% of Cloud decks with 39% synergy. It reads: Equipped creature has double strike. Whenever equipped creature attacks, if it's the first combat phase of the turn, untap it. After this phase, there is an additional combat phase. Equip {3}.

Harmonize ({2}{G}{G}) is one of the lowest-scoring cards in the precon, at 21 in the Oracle: it is in 26% of Cloud decks with 17% synergy. It reads: Draw three cards.
Cloud, Planet's Champion ({3}{R}{W}) scores 33: it is in 35% of Cloud decks with 32% synergy. It reads: During your turn, as long as Cloud is equipped, it has double strike and indestructible. Equip abilities you activate that target Cloud cost {2} less to activate.
The full swap list
Cut
- Summon: Kujata
- Furious Rise
- Avalanche of Sector 7
- Heidegger, Shinra Executive
- Explorer's Scope
- Cait Sith, Fortune Teller
- Hellkite Tyrant
- Secret Rendezvous
- Barret Wallace
- Ultimate Magic: Meteor
- SOLDIER Military Program
- Harmonize
Add
- Sram, Senior Edificer
- Danitha Capashen, Paragon
- Akiri, Fearless Voyager
- Firion, Wild Rose Warrior
- Bruenor Battlehammer
- Gilgamesh, Master-at-Arms
- Blackblade Reforged
- Open the Armory
- Forge Anew
- Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist
- Genji Glove
- Cloud, Planet's Champion
What to keep
These cards are doing the deck's heavy lifting. Do not cut them.
- Puresteel Paladin$0.52
Played in 96% of Cloud decks. Draws a card whenever an Equipment enters, and gives Equipment equip {0} with three or more artifacts. - Colossus Hammer$0.66
Gives +10/+10, which makes Cloud's power 7 or greater and gets Treasures. - Conqueror's Flail$0.43
Gives +1/+1 for each color among your permanents, up to +3/+3 in this three-colour deck. - Red XIII, Proud Warrior$0.30
Gives your other modified creatures vigilance and trample, and equipment makes them modified. - Sword of the Animist$2.71
Fetches a basic land whenever the equipped creature attacks, which is ramp every turn.
If you want to spend more
These are strong but sit outside a budget upgrade. Prices are the cheapest paper printing.
- Ultima Weapon$4.80
Gives +7/+7 and destroys a creature whenever the equipped creature attacks. - Bureau Headmaster$5.59
Equipment spells cost {1} less and equip abilities cost {1} less to activate.
Limit Break already has the equipment and the cheap helpers. The upgrade is cards that draw whenever an equipped creature attacks, ways to attach Equipment for free, and a better use of the top-end slots. These twelve swaps cost about $46 in total.
Want a full 100-card list built around Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER from today's data?
Build with The Oracle →Frequently asked questions
What are the best upgrades for the Limit Break precon?
Using data from 33,277 Cloud decks, the highest-scoring additions are Sram, Senior Edificer (for Summon: Kujata), Forge Anew (for Barret Wallace) and Danitha Capashen, Paragon (for Furious Rise). The full list has 12 swaps, each scored with synergy, inclusion and lift.
How much does it cost to upgrade Limit Break?
All 12 swaps cost about $45.83 at the cheapest paper printings (TCGplayer market prices via Scryfall, 2026-10-27). If you want to spend more, the guide also covers Ultima Weapon ($4.80) and Bureau Headmaster ($5.59).
What should I cut from Limit Break?
The weakest cards for this commander are Summon: Kujata, Furious Rise and Avalanche of Sector 7. The guide explains the reason for every cut, and swaps each one for a card that scores higher.
Which cards should I keep in Limit Break?
Keep Puresteel Paladin, Colossus Hammer, Conqueror's Flail, Red XIII, Proud Warrior and Sword of the Animist. These are the cards doing the deck's heavy lifting.
What does Cloud do?
Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER costs {2}{R}{G}{W} and has haste. When he enters he attaches an Equipment you control to himself, and whenever he attacks you draw a card for each equipped attacking creature you control, then create two Treasures if he has power 7 or greater. Every equipped attacker is a card.
More Final Fantasy Commander upgrade guides
How the numbers work
Inclusion is the share of Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER decks (33,277 of them when this was written, 2026-10-27) that play the card. Synergy is how much more often they play it than other decks in the same colours. Oracle score is synergy × 0.6 plus inclusion × 0.4, the same blend The Oracle uses to rank cards for a deck. Lift compares how often the card appears in these decks with how often it could, capped at 8× here; it is shown for context and does not change the score.
Two cautions. Players who run the precon unmodified count as Cloud decks, which flatters every card the precon contains. Lift is high for many of these cards because they are rarely played outside equipment decks, so use lift to compare cards, not to judge one in isolation. Prices are the cheapest non-foil paper printing on TCGplayer (via Scryfall), in USD, and move daily.











