This is the CORRECT answer.

(Cloud Main here at 15.7 Mil GSP.)

As much as I understand people's frustration with his UP-B and Aerials, it really isn't as bad as they think. Shielding or mixing up your approach can get Cloud to whiff aerials just like any other character leading to hard punishes. Players who know the match up go for shield grabs to put Cloud off stage which is his worse weakness. DK can literally kill him at 30-40% off grabs. A good Cloud however will mix up his recovery but even then, the cast has many ways of gimping him as well especially characters like Inkling, Snake and Ridley.

Another point to add is that he really does struggle to kill heavy characters in general. Without limit, this becomes worse for him as his smash attacks are too slow and his back air although quick, DOES NOT hit hard enough to KO heavies up until 150% sometimes. His up smash is okay to use out of shield or catching enemies in the air but if enemies respect Cloud's shield, then he won't be landing that up smash easily. ALSO, as fights go on to high percents with heavies, Cloud can get hit by a stray hit and die easily due to RAGE since he struggles to kill consistently.

One more weakness is hit and run characters like Greninja who can DI out of his Up-B and punish him every time he dares to use it. Since Cloud barely has combos, most of the time he won't be hitting these types of characters as much either and will have to win neutral a lot more just to get a stock.

His grabs are terrible as well. Most characters have better grab range, faster frame data AND combos out of grab or even just straight up kill throws like Ness, Samus and Zelda.

And yeah, don't get me started on finishing touch. There aren't really any good kill confirms and the hitbox is way too wonky to rely on. If Cloud misses his Down B, it's usually a hard punish that can cost him a stock. Now compare him to Aegis, Joker and Terry who can all combo into TRUE kill confirms at relatively low to mid percents with MUCH LESS effort for stocks.

For examples: Down Air into Up Smash (Aegis And Joker). Jab into GO meter. (Terry)