Cresselia is the bulkiest Pokemon in the OU metagame and can easily support her team. Her large defensive stats on both ends of the spectrum allow her to easily take any hits and recover them off, support the team, or cripple opposing Pokemon. Reflect allows Cresselia and the team to take reduced damage from physical attacks, which Cresselia tends to fear. Moonlight heals off any damage that Cresselia might have taken. However, due to the prevalence of sandstorm in the OU metagame, Moonlight can only heal 25% health instead of the normal 50%. Because of this, you may choose to use Rest in place of Moonlight for a healing move, but this option will come with the disadvantage of being asleep. Ice Beam takes down any Dragon-type Pokemon that can pose a major threat to your team. Thunder Wave cripples any Pokemon that try to set up against Cresselia. Psychic may be used as a STAB attack to take down Infernape and any unsuspecting Gengar that think they can 2HKO you with Shadow Ball; however, Thunder Wave is still more useful because it can cripple those two anyway. Cresselia's two main nemeses are Tyranitar and Scizor. Both of them can heavily damage Cresselia with their respective STAB attacks or can catch a fleeing Cresselia with Pursuit. Tyranitar's ability also sets up sandstorm, reducing the effectiveness of Moonlight. Gengar also poses a threat, as a Life Orbed Shadow Ball will 2HKO Cresselia. Blissey can easily outstall Cresselia with Toxic and Softboiled while Cresselia can't do much back. Finally, any Pokemon that has either Substitute, Rest, or Taunt can easily set up in front of Cresselia, not minding her weak attacks or Thunder Wave. Scizor is a great partner for Cresselia, as both Bullet Punch and U-turn will take down Tyranitar. It can also switch easily into Dark- and Ghost-type attacks from Tyranitar and Gengar, respectively, and easily threaten both. Scizor can also deal with Blissey, as long as it does not switch into a Flamethrower, threatening a U-turn or a Superpower to remove it. Magnezone can help deal with opposing Scizor, trapping it and removing it with either Thunderbolt or Hidden Power Fire. Magnezone also resists the Dark- and Ghost-type attacks that Cresselia fears, while Cresselia resists Fighting-type moves and is immune to Ground-type moves. Non-Seismic Toss Blissey can be used to check Gengar due to her massive Special Defense stat. A check or a Pokemon with Roar or Whirlwind can easily deal with stat uppers. Swampert, Suicune, and Skarmory are all common phazers and can remove the stat boosts with either Roar or Whirlwind. Scarf Rotom-H can handle many of the stat uppers that try to set up in front of Cresselia, like Metagross, Scizor, and Lucario. It does bear a weakness to both Dark- and Ghost-type moves, though. Jirachi or Scizor can both handle Dragon Dance Tyranitar, something that can easily set up on Cresselia. Gliscor can handle Metagross, Lucario, and Tyranitar also should you choose to use it.
Because sandstorm is so common in the OU metagame due to Tyranitar and Hippowdon, Moonlight's effectiveness is reduced. Moonlight also only has 8 PP, allowing Cresselia to be easily stalled out. Finally, Cresselia is very susceptible to status, which Moonlight cannot cure. This set attempts to remedy these problems by using a combination of Rest and Sleep Talk to lengthen Cresselia's vitality. Rest allows Cresselia to heal back up to full HP and remove any status effects that Cresselia might have. Sleep Talk allows Cresselia not to become full setup bait while sleeping and can also help with PP issues. Ice Beam is once again used to take care of any Dragon-type Pokemon that your team might have problems with. Charge Beam rounds out the moveset, providing a weak Boltbeam coverage move. However, due to Rest and Sleep Talk, Cresselia can nab many Special Attack boosts, allowing her to become a formidable tanking Pokemon. Thunder Wave may be used as a crippling move like in the first moveset, but Sleep Talk might select it when the opponent's Pokemon is already statused or is immune to Electric-type moves. Psychic functions as a STAB source and can also be used to take care of Infernape and Gengar, but will not OHKO either without Stealth Rock and one turn of both sandstorm and Life Orb recoil. While this set allows Cresselia to last longer than the previous set, she still has even more problems with Tyranitar, Scizor, and Gengar because she does not have Thunder Wave to cripple them. Because of this, any general stat upper will be dangerous to Cresselia. Scizor can once again be used to remove Tyranitar and Gengar and use its resistances to absorb any super effective attacks heading towards Cresselia. Magnezone can get rid of opposing Scizor too. Finally, a counter, check, or a phazer to the various stat uppers will be needed. Once again, Skarmory, Swampert, and Suicune can phaze any potential threats to Cresselia. Scarf Rotom-H, Jirachi, and Gliscor all handle several of the threats that can set up against Cresselia.
Cresselia can also take an offensive approach by using Calm Mind. Her bulkiness allows her to easily set up several boosts and proceed to outlast the opponent while dealing damage. Calm Mind begins the set, boosting Cresselia's poor Special Attack to acceptable levels, along with boosting her already impressive Special Defense. Psychic is a STAB source, dealing plenty of damage to anything that doesn't resist it. Hidden Power Fire is used as a second attack, hitting mainly Scizor along with other Steel-type Pokemon that resist Psychic. Hidden Power Fighting is still viable if you cannot remove Tyranitar and provides acceptable coverage along with Psychic. Ice Beam may be used only for Latias, but you're better off having eliminated her first so she can't Calm Mind along Cresselia or Trick her a Choice item. Moonlight rounds out the set, providing instant recovery so Cresselia can continue using Calm Mind and recover off any potential damage. Depending on which Hidden Power type you use, Cresselia will have problems with either Scizor and Steel-type Pokemon or Tyranitar. With Hidden Power Fire, Tyranitar will be the main issue, being immune to Psychic and taking barely any damage from Hidden Power Fire. With Hidden Power Fighting, Scizor can come in and easily U-turn or Pursuit Cresselia for massive damage. It also means that most Steel-type Pokemon will be hit for neutral damage. A lure is appreciated in order to take down the problems Cresselia has. Latias can lure both Scizor and Tyranitar, KOing them either Grass Knot or Hidden Power Fire. A Life Orb Rain Dance Latias can also be used to net a swift KO on Tyranitar as long as you Rain Dance on the switch. This also allows Moonlight to be fully effective after the rain wears off. But you must be careful, as this will cause Hidden Power Fire to deal half damage. Protect or Substitute Gengar can also be a good teammate to Cresselia, KOing Scizor with Hidden Power Fire and Tyranitar with Focus Blast. However, similarly to Latias, it adds an additional Ghost- and Dark-type weakness. As for other ideal Pokemon, Magnezone can trap and KO Scizor with either Thunderbolt or Hidden Power Fire. Scizor can take Crunches from Tyranitar and Bullet Punch or U-turn out, while Gliscor can take any of Tyranitar's attacks and hit it back with a STAB Earthquake. As for residual damage, Toxic Spikes support is also appreciated, as Cresselia's impressive bulk allows residual damage to build up. Roserade can set them up at the beginning of the game, while Forretress's Steel-typing allows it to soak up Dark- and Bug-type attacks. Unlike the previous sets, Cresselia can set up along with opposing Pokemon; however, a revenge killer might still be useful for any physically based sweepers. Jirachi and Rotom-H once again are reliable in taking down these Pokemon. The current EV spread is used for Hidden Power Fire. 252 HP EVs allow for maximum bulkiness, while 252 Special Attack EVs along with a Modest nature allow for maximum damage. 4 Speed EVs allow you to speed tie with other 4 Speed Suicune and Cresselia. If you are using Hidden Power Fighting, go with an EV spread of 188 HP / 252 SpA / 68 Spe to outspeed maximum Speed Adamant Tyranitar. A 22 Attack IV is needed for a suitable Hidden Power Fighting.
Due to Cresselia's enormous bulk, she can easily be used to set up Reflect and Light Screen for your team. She also has one more trick that other screeners don't: Lunar Dance. Cresselia can provide all this in order for one of your remaining Pokemon to set up and sweep the opponent's team. Reflect and Light Screen halve physical and special attacks respectively. Lunar Dance is Cresselia's secret weapon, letting her sacrifice herself to allow another Pokemon to come in fully healed and cured of any statuses it might hold. Thunder Wave gives Cresselia more time to set up screens, while Ice Beam handles Dragon-type Pokemon like Salamence and also Gliscor, which is a common midgame Taunter. Psychic, should you choose to use it, provides STAB and a way to handle Infernape. Cresselia's bulk allows her to come in many times and set up Reflect and Light Screen. Once she has done that, you can switch to your primary sweeper and start launching attacks left and right, not caring about damage or status because Lunar Dance will heal them. Once your sweeper is down to low HP, bring in Cresselia again, set up dual screens again, and then Lunar Dance to revitalize your sweeper. Many teams can't handle the same Pokemon twice, allowing you to break through their defenses. Plenty of Pokemon appreciate dual screens; however, there are a few that pair up well with Cresselia. Lucario and Tyranitar can capitalize on the Dark-type moves that your opponent will be launching at Cresselia to bring her down. Salamence will be a lot harder to handle, as many teams rely on Scizor or Latias to handle it, which should be taken care of the first "sweep" around. The EVs of this set are built to withstand the onslaught of attacks towards Cresselia. The given HP and Defense EVs allow so that Choice Band Tyranitar will never 2HKO you after a Reflect with Crunch after Stealth Rock and one turn of sandstorm damage. 68 Speed EVs ensure that Cresselia outspeeds Choice Band Tyranitar and Swords Dance Scizor, allowing her to get a Reflect up before they Crunch or Bug Bite respectively. The remaining EVs go into Special Defense to take those type of attacks better. Light Clay is chosen so that both Reflect and Light Screen remain for eight turns instead of the regular five.
While Cresselia is often compared to the great beast Lugia, she does not have the weaknesses associated with the Flying-type. Unlike Lugia, she does not fear Stone Edge, cannot shed her Ground-immunity with Roost, and does not lose 25% of her HP from Stealth Rock. Hence she can more reliably counter Groudon, Rayquaza, and Garchomp than Lugia, as well as taking less damage from the ever common Ice Beam and Thunder. Even +4 Life Orb Groudon's Stone Edge will never OHKO Cresselia. Also, in the sun, Moonlight heals 66.7% of her HP, which is more efficient than Lugia's Roost if Kyogre is kept off the field.
Ice Beam is needed to counter Rayquaza, Groudon, and Garchomp, the three main physical powerhouses in Ubers. Reflect halves physical attacks in half, and is especially helpful against enemy Pursuiters or if rain is on the field, severely reducing Moonlight's effectiveness. Toxic is recommended for the last slot; Ice Beam does little damage to any Pokémon without a 4x Ice weakness. Furthermore, it will do more damage over time to Groudon than a single Ice Beam. While it is a lesser option with Toxic Spikes support, it can still be useful for hitting Lugia and the Lati twins. Thunder Wave may hit incoming Pokémon on the switch, and the two most common Pokémon in Ubers that are immune to Thunder Wave, Groudon and Garchomp, would never switch into Cresselia. Hidden Power Fire prevents Forretress from using Cresselia as set up bait and can also punish Scizor, who loves to switch in on Cresselia and use U-turn to either hit her hard or scout your switch-in. Hidden Power Fire is also Cresselia's most powerful attack in the sunlight. The EVs guarantee a OHKO on 32 HP / 8 SpD Rayquaza with Ice Beam after Stealth Rock damage and net a 2HKO on Garchomp. If you are using Hidden Power Fire, the EVs also net a 2HKO on max/max Forretress after Stealth Rock damage in any weather other than the rain, in which case, it may not even 4HKO thanks to Leftovers recovery. The HP and Defense EVs provide Cresselia with great bulk. Cresselia can survive a +1 Adamant Rayquaza's Outrage after Stealth Rock damage, and only has a 9.60% chance of being 2HKOed by Jolly Rayquaza's Outrage with one turn of Leftovers recovery and without Stealth Rock damage. Leftovers is generally the preferred option for the HP recovery, reducing the number of times Cresselia will have to resort to using Moonlight's precious PP. However, Shed Shell is viable in Ubers, enabling Cresselia to switch out of Wobbuffet. Otherwise, Wobbuffet can switch into Cresselia, trap it with its ability, Shadow Tag, and use a combination of Encore and many Tickles. After Wobbuffet is done Tickling Cresselia, the opponent can switch to Scizor, Tyranitar, or Weavile to eliminate Cresselia with Pursuit. Alternatively, Wobbuffet can enable a powerful sweeper to switch in for free. Cresselia is offensively inept with her pathetic base 75 Special Attack. As such, she should only be used on stall teams; she is dead-weight on any offensive team. Cresselia should always be used alongside Groudon, setting up the sun so Moonlight will heal 66.7% of Cresselia's HP, and removing any rain on the field. Blissey as a teammate can absorb special assaults directed at Cresselia while she takes physical attacks aimed at Blissey, forming a pseudo SkarmBliss combo. Blissey can also provide Aromatherapy support to rid Cresselia of a poison or burn, or use Wish to heal Cresselia should there be rain on the field. In return, Blissey will more than appreciate the support provided by Reflect. An allied Latias acts similarly to Blissey. However, Latias shares Cresselia's weaknesses. When using these two together, one of them should use Hidden Power Fire to deal with Scizor. Cresselia hates Toxic, so it may help to have an ally that is either immune to Toxic, such as Dialga, Forretress, or Scizor, or can take advantage of it like Guts Heracross. Kyogre is Cresselia's number one enemy, because Cresselia can do nothing to hurt it outside of Toxic, while its ability, Drizzle, reduces Moonlight's recovery to only 25%. Timid Kyogre can 2HKO with Surf after Stealth Rock damage over 97% of the time (and Specs Kyogre can OHKO Cresselia with Water Spout). Palkia can handle Choiced Kyogre, while Latias can handle all Kyogre sets. Tyranitar can also reduce Moonlight's recovery and severely dent Cresselia with Crunch or Pursuit. Fortunately, Groudon handles Tyranitar. Darkrai can block any status attempts with Substitute or Taunt, set up Nasty Plot and remove Cresselia with Dark Pulse. Heracross and Primeape can counter Darkrai without fearing Dark Void, but should sleep clause be activated, Scizor or revenge killers like Scarf Palkia or Dialga can check Darkrai too. Without HP Fire, Scizor and Forretress can comfortably switch into Cresselia and U-turn or set up entry hazards respectively. Ho-Oh, Dialga, and Groudon can roast them with Sacred Fire, Fire Blast, and Fire Punch respectively, while taking little damage from U-turn. If Cresselia lacks a Shed Shell, Wobbuffet can easily switch in, and use the Encore + Tickle combination to lower Cresselia's Defense to the point that an opposing Pursuit user, such as Tyranitar and Scizor, can easily OHKO Cresselia. Unfortunately, Cresselia cannot switch out of Wobbuffet due to Shadow Tag. As most Pursuit users are Choiced, an allied Scizor and Dialga can come in after Cresselia is fainted, and in Scizor's case, use U-turn to scout the opponent's switch-in (Dialga has a myriad of options available to it, like Fire Blast and Bulk Up). Scizor also deals heavy damage to Wobbuffet with U-turn, but it will not OHKO. However, if a Ghost-type switches in after U-turn, Wobbuffet's Counter will fail, and the switch-in will take no damage.
Switch Cresselia in on a Pokémon that can do little to harm Cresselia, such as Blissey, Lugia, Giratina, Groudon, or even Forretress if you do not mind your opponent setting up entry hazards. Then proceed to set up dual screens. Late game, use Lunar Dance to fully heal one of your teammates, preferably a late game sweeper, under the protection of dual screens. The last move is up to user preference. Thunder Wave provides extra team support, paralyzing Pokémon to support a late game sweep. Additionally, by paralyzing faster opponents, Cresselia can set up a screen before they attack her. Moonlight can keep Cresselia healthy and is useful if you want to set up dual screens more than once. Ice Beam enables Cresselia to check Rayquaza, Garchomp, and Groudon without Toxic. Even with no Defense EVs, Cresselia makes a comfortable counter for Swords Dance Rayquaza, outspeeding Adamant Rayquaza and always surviving +2 Jolly Life Orb Dragon Claw after Stealth Rock damage. However, keep in mind that +1 Jolly Rayquaza's Outrage is likely to OHKO Cresselia after Stealth Rock damage, so Cresselia is not a reliable Dragon Dance Rayquaza counter. One should not use Ice Beam for the sole purpose of not Struggling when Taunted, because all the common Taunt users have nothing to fear from Cresselia's Ice Beam and can easily use a Taunted Cresselia as set-up bait.
The Speed EVs enable Cresselia to outrun Adamant Rayquaza and the many base 90 Speed Ubers without a +Speed nature, so she can set up a screen before being attacked, enabling her to easily set up dual screens against Groudon, Dialga, Ho-Oh, and Rayquaza. Against these foes, you should only switch Cresselia in on them after a KO, so that you are not attacked without a screen. One may also give Cresselia a Bold or Calm nature, and put all the Speed EVs into Defense and Special Defense respectively, to better protect Cresselia from one side. This is helpful for setting up against Pokémon that will always be faster than Cresselia, like Choice Scarf Dialga and Garchomp. Cresselia will rarely be on the offensive, if at all. She should be paired alongside a late game sweeper that benefits from dual screen support, such as Giratina-O, Mewtwo, or Rock Polish Groudon with Swords Dance. Giratina-O can also switch into Brick Break and attempt a sweep, but any screens will still be broken. Cresselia may be paired with Mew, as the protection from dual screen can help it set up and pass the boosts to a late game sweeper. Lunar Dance also enables Mew to Baton Pass boosts twice, as Mew will often lose lots of HP after Baton Passing the first time. You should have teammates that both lure out Pokémon that Cresselia can easily set up on and benefit from dual screens themselves, like using Groudon to lure out Lugia or Giratina. Scizor can not only lure in Pokémon that Cresselia can easily set up on (for example, Groudon, Giratina, Forretress, and Skarmory), but it can also provide support for your late game sweepers by checking many fast Choice Scarf Pokémon such as Darkrai and Shaymin-S that can revenge kill your late game sweepers. Few Pokémon can switch in on Cresselia and prevent her from setting up double screens. Choice Specs Kyogre can 2HKO her with Water Spout if Light Screen is up, while Choice Band Tyranitar will always 2HKO with Crunch after Stealth Rock damage and one turn of sandstorm damage if Reflect up. Palkia and Latias can switch in on Choice Specs Kyogre, while Groudon or Scizor can switch in on Tyranitar's Crunch or Pursuit. Scizor also comfortably handles Mewtwo, Mew, Darkrai, and Deoxys-S, the most common users of Taunt, who would otherwise completely shut down Cresselia. However, Scizor must avoid Fire Blast from Mewtwo and a Nasty Plot boosted Focus Blast from Darkrai. Team OptionsOUCresselia relies a lot on her teammates due to her common weaknesses in Dark-, Ghost-, and Bug-type attacks. Tyranitar, Gengar, and Scizor particularly threaten her. Scizor can be handled by a variety of Pokemon. Magnezone can easily trap Scizor and KO it with either Thunderbolt or Hidden Power Fire. Its Steel-typing also allows it to take the previously mentioned type attacks. Ironically, Scizor is also a good partner for Cresselia, handling the Dark- and Ghost-type attacks due to its Steel-type resistance and handling Tyranitar and Gengar with Bullet Punch, U-turn, or Pursuit. Gengar can also handle Scizor and Tyranitar, as long as it has some way to tell if Scizor's using Bullet Punch or Pursuit. This can be accomplished by having Substitute or Protect. A more defensive way to handle Gengar would be Blissey, as her special bulk allows her to take Gengar's attacks with ease. Offensively, Cresselia has trouble getting past certain Pokemon depending on her Hidden Power type. Should she choose Hidden Power Fire, Tyranitar will be a large issue. Luckily, the aforementioned Scizor handles it. Gliscor can also handle Tyranitar due to its physical bulkiness and hit it back with a STAB Earthquake. If Cresselia were to use Hidden Power Fighting, then Scizor would be a pain to fight. Magnezone once again can trap and KO Scizor, while Gengar and Latias can lure it out and KO it with Hidden Power Fire. Even though Cresselia can take a lot of hits, she generally can't do much back to Pokemon that set up. Therefore, a revenge killer or a check is needed for those Pokemon. When Cresselia is switching out of Tyranitar, it can set up a Dragon Dance. Therefore, Gliscor and Swampert can be used to check Tyranitar. Choice Scarf Jirachi and Choice Band Scizor can also hit is with their STAB attacks, although watch out for Fire Punch and Babiri Berry. Scizor can set up a Swords Dance also, but is a lot easier to handle. Zapdos, Rotom-H, and Heatran can all hit Scizor with super effective Fire-type moves and easily KO it. Metagross and Lucario can also set up in front of Cresselia, although they have to watch out for Thunder Wave even more because they can't immediately threaten Cresselia. Once again, Gliscor and Scarf Rotom-H can handle both, hitting them with super effective attacks. UbersWhen using Moonlight, always use Groudon. Its ability, Drought, allows Cresselia to heal 66.7% of her HP with Moonlight. Stealth Rock is a must, so Cresselia can OHKO Rayquaza with Ice Beam. Fortunately, Groudon can set this up along with the sun. Opposing Groudon, Lugia, and even Garchomp may attempt to use Toxic on Cresselia as it switches in, which greatly hinders her walling capabilities. Aromtherapy Blissey can easily solve this issue. An ally with Light Screen support can enable Cresselia to stand up to many special attackers as long as the sun is out, meaning that Cresselia can stall them with Moonlight, while the opponent loses HP from Cresselia's Toxic or Toxic Spikes if you have Forretress to set them up. Blissey can once again provide this support, however, it may be redundant in such a scenario, as Blissey walls many different special attackers without the need for Light Screen. Cresselia has trouble handling the high-powered special attacks that are common in Ubers. Kyogre is the most threatening, as its ability, Drizzle, removes the sunlight needed to make Moonlight worth using, while rain boosted STAB Water-type attacks hit very hard. The next biggest threats are those that can easily set up on Cresselia, especially if they have Substitute or Taunt to block Toxic and Thunder Wave, like Darkrai and Mewtwo. Darkrai behind a Substitute can easily put a would-be counter to sleep with Dark Void, making it even more threatening. Blissey can wall Darkrai, Mewtwo, and non-Rest Kyogre that are not locked into Water Spout, and retaliate with status or Seismic Toss. However, Darkrai can cripple Blissey with Dark Void or a +2 Focus Blast, and Mewtwo can beat Blissey if it has 101 HP Substitutes. Scizor can easily dispatch of Mewtwo without Fire Blast, but fortunately, any Mewtwo with Substitute or Taunt is very unlikely to have Fire Blast as well. Scizor also handles Darkrai well, as long as it avoids a +2 Life Orb Focus Blast. Ho-Oh also comfortably handles Darkrai and Mewtwo, as long as sleep clause has been activated and Mewtwo does not have Thunder. Ho-Oh also has the benefit of luring in Kyogre, and then dealing severe damage to Kyogre with Brave Bird. Tyranitar is one of the few physical attackers whom Cresselia cannot stand up to thanks to its super effective Dark-type attacks and Sand Stream removing the sunlight. Fortunately, Groudon easily disposes of it, and Scizor also deals severe damage to it with Bullet Punch and U-turn. Wobbuffet can Encore Cresselia without Lunar Dance or Shed Shell and either give an opposing sweeper a free switch in or Tickle Cresselia so an enemy Pursuit user can OHKO Cresselia. While Wobbuffet has no counters (thanks to Shadow Tag), if one predicts a Wobbuffet switch in, he can send in Darkrai, whom can hit Wobbuffet super effective with Dark Pulse while possessing an immunity to Mirror Coat thanks to its Dark-type. The Pokémon that threaten Cresselia most, Kyogre, Mewtwo, Darkrai, and Tyranitar, are generally paired with an offensive Dragon-type such as Palkia, Dialga, Rayquaza, or Garchomp. Blissey can take the special attacks of special orientated Dragon-type Pokémon. Fortunately, Cresselia handles Rayquaza and Garchomp herself with Ice Beam. If she does not have Ice Beam, Lugia or Groudon can handle physical Dragon-type attackers, including Bulk Up Dialga, which uses Cresselia as set-up bait. Mix attacker Dragons such as Palkia and Mixquaza require prediction to beat, but otherwise, they are easily revenge killed by any faster Pokémon with a super effective attack, like Mewtwo or Scarf Dialga, Palkia, and Metagross. Other OptionsOUCresselia can use Psycho Shift to debilitate her counters. A set of Psycho Shift, Trick, Ice Beam, and Rest while holding a Flame Orb allows Scizor and Tyranitar to be crippled unless the opponent has a cleric on his or her team. She can also be used as a Trick receiver, passing on a Flame Orb to the opponent. However, many players will realize that Cresselia is burnt and will not switch in physically based Pokemon. Grass Knot can be used to take care of Swampert should your team not have any other way to take care of it, but Grass is a terrible attacking type in general. Hidden Power Electric allows Cresselia to 2HKO offensive Gyarados and to 2HKO RestTalk Gyarados after Stealth Rock damage. Cresselia can also set up weather for the rest of your team, either Sunny Day or Rain Dance. Sunny Day also helps with her Moonlight, as it gets a healing boost from the strong sunlight. Cresselia is also bulky enough to set up Gravity and Trick Room. Toxic can be used if you want to slowly kill the opposing Pokemon instead of slowing them down. Protect can be used in conjunction with Toxic in order to stall out the opponent to its death. UbersIf you do not want to rely on Moonlight and the sun, Rest can be used, but you will need cleric support. Sleep Talk provides reliable recovery when paired with Rest, but Cresselia needs to immediately attack Rayquaza with Ice Beam in order to reliably counter it, as Rayquaza poses a 2HKO threat, and Sleep Talk will only select Ice Beam 1/3 of the time. While Rest and Sleep Talk makes Cresselia effective at PP stalling, it will make Cresselia even larger set-up bait, and almost anything with a set-up move will beat Cresselia one on one. Grass Knot can be used for a stronger attack on most Ubers than Ice Beam, in particular Groudon, Kyogre, and Tyranitar. However, Cresselia will still deal very little damage with her pathetic 75 base Special Attack, and she will be unable to stand up against Kyogre and Tyranitar. Cresselia's Special Attack also makes Calm Mind a poor option, because it will take many Calm Minds for Cresselia to actually dent the opposing Pokémon (and even +6 Cresselia can be easily walled by Blissey, Kyogre, or Latias). Perhaps more importantly, Lugia generally makes better use of Calm Mind thanks to its higher base stat total. Light Screen is an option on the Great Wall set alongside with Toxic to stall out special attackers. However, any Steel-type will render the attempt useless. Cresselia also gains access to Trick Room and Gravity, and are viable choices if you build a team around them. When using Trick Room, use a -Speed nature and 0 IVs to ensure you are slower than neutral nature Tyranitar. Keep in mind that under Gravity, Cresselia will not be able to counter Swords Dance Groudon, as she can be hit by Groudon's Earthquake, and it will deal too much damage with a Swords Dance boost. EVsOUCresselia can be EVed both offensively and defensively. The EVs in the first set allow Cresselia to become an impressive physical tank, letting her take Salamence's Dragon Danced Outrages and KO it with Ice Beam. She can even survive a Choice Banded Crunch from Tyranitar. As for the EVs in the Sleep Talk set, they provide for maximum overall bulkiness. The Calm Mind set needs all the power it can get, shown by the 252 Special Attack EVs and the Modest nature. The remaining EVs go into HP to increase her overall bulk. As for the Dual Screen set, the given EVs allow Cresselia to survive two Choice Banded Crunches from Tyranitar after a Reflect. They also allow her to outspeed Adamant Tyranitar and Swords Dance Scizor. UbersCresselia should always have maximum HP to provide durability on both sides of the spectrum. When using Ice Beam, 144 SpA EVs ensure a OHKO on 32 HP / 8 SpD Rayquaza with Stealth Rock damage. Place any remaining EVs in Defense. A Defense stat of 335 (116 EVs with a Bold nature) will guarantee that Cresselia survives a +1 Outrage from Adamant Rayquaza even after Stealth Rock, but more EVs are optimum in case you are unable to get the sun up, meaning Cresselia will be hard-pressed for self-recovery. When deciding on Speed, there are a few stats to consider. The first is 222 (64 EVs), enabling you to outrun Adamant Tyranitar. The second is 245 (156 EVs), outrunning Jolly Tyranitar and most Giratina-O. 280 (196 EVs and a Timid nature) will outrun the multitude of base 90 Ubers and Lucario assuming that they don't run +natures. Finally, there is 290 (232 EVs and a Timid nature) to outrun Adamant Rayquaza. However, Cresselia should only be EVed in Speed if she wants to set up a screen before being attacked by a particular foe. OpinionOUCresselia has outstanding defenses that allow her to take hits. However, due to her weakness of both Dark- and Bug-type attacks, Cresselia's defensive capabilities in the metagame are severely hindered. Nevertheless, Cresselia still acts as a solid check to many Pokemon and can act as an extremely useful team player. UbersLugia gives Cresselia stiff competition thanks to a greater movepool and a higher base Special Defense and Speed. Lugia can also function well in any weather thanks to Roost, while Cresselia needs the sun up for reliable recovery. Moonlight also has half the PP of Roost. However, sun is fairly rampant with Groudon everywhere, making Moonlight more useful in Ubers than in the sandstorm-dominated OU play. Cresselia takes roughly the same amount of damage from physical attacks than Lugia, but due to not sporting Lugia's weakness to Stealth Rock and Stone Edge, she usually ends up with more HP. Lugia also exposes itself to Groudon's Earthquake after Roost. Hence Cresselia makes for a more reliable Groudon, Rayquaza, and Garchomp counter than the great beast. She also makes a better dual screener thanks to less weaknesses and her unique move, Lunar Dance. However, that is pretty much all that Cresselia's got. Otherwise, you are better off with Lugia. CountersOUAs mentioned throughout the analysis, Tyranitar and Scizor are Cresselia's biggest nemeses. Tyranitar can hit Cresselia with a Choice Banded Crunch or catch a fleeing one with Pursuit, and the sandstorm it generates reduces Moonlight's effectiveness. Scizor can also trap an opposing Cresselia and hit her with Pursuit, or severely damage one that stays in with either U-turn or Bug Bite. Snorlax can Curse up in front of Cresselia, not caring about Thunder Wave due to its already low Speed and Ice Beam due to Thick Fat. Heracross and Weavile, although more rare, can hit Cresselia with a STAB Megahorn or a STAB Night Slash respectively for large amounts of damage. Thunder Wave and Reflect help to mitigate these, but the sheer offensive power is usually too much for Cresselia to handle. On the special end of the spectrum, Gengar can hit Cresselia with STAB Shadow Balls as long as she doesn't have Psychic. Gengar can also set up a Substitute to prevent Thunder Waves. Heatran can switch into Cresselia and Toxic her. Due to Cresselia not having a way to cure status, Toxic will slowly wear her down if she doesn't carry Rest. Heatran too can also set up a Substitute to prevent any statuses or Taunt Cresselia to prevent it from statusing Heatran or healing back the damage. Blissey can perform a role similar to Heatran with Toxic, except she can actually heal itself with either Wish or Softboiled. Any general Pokemon with Taunt can also cripple Cresselia. Gyarados with Taunt can set up in front of those that don't have Charge Beam, as all she can do is hit Gyarados with a neutral Ice Beam. The main way to beat Cresselia is to overpower her. Moonlight has limited PP, and the prevalence of sandstorm limits its effectiveness. Once Moonlight is gone, it'll only be a matter of time before Cresselia is gone also. UbersKyogre turns the weather into rain, reducing Moonlight's recovery to a pathetic 25%, and threatens Cresselia with STAB boosted Water-type attacks. Tyranitar also removes the sunlight with Sand Stream and can severely dent Cresselia with STAB Crunch or Pursuit. Scizor, Heracross, and Weavile can also hit Cresselia hard with their STAB attacks while only fearing Hidden Power Fire (and Thunder Wave in Weavile's case). Blissey with Toxic also has no problems against Cresselia without Rest. However, Cresselia can easily set up dual screens and finish off with Lunar Dance against Blissey. Wobbuffet shrugs off Ice Beam and can trap Cresselia with Shadow Tag, Encore any attack, and use Tickle till Cresselia loses enough Defense to be OHKOed by an opposing Pursuit user. Lunar Dance Cresselia can, however, escape from Wobbuffet by sacrificing herself. Anything with Taunt will beat Cresselia, as her pathetic 75 base Special Attack means she cannot hit hard unless she hits for 4x super effective damage. The most common users of Taunt in Ubers are Mewtwo, Mew, Darkrai, and Deoxys (any forme), all of which can easily use Cresselia as set-up bait. They just need to avoid Toxic and Thunder Wave when switching in. The same applies for users of Substitute without a weakness to Ice Beam, like Mewtwo and Darkrai once again. Their Substitutes can also withstand once Ice Beam. However, Substitute does not stop Cresselia from setting up dual screens and using Lunar Dance. It's also important to note that while Cresselia handles physical variants of Rayquaza well, Mixquaza is guaranteed to 2HKO her with the combination of Draco Meteor and Outrage after Stealth Rock damage, and as such, Mixquaza makes a great Cresselia lure. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
