Reflect and Thunder Wave are both problematic for most of Cresselia's counters. Reflect halves physical damage and essentially neuters the threat of Pursuit, while Thunder Wave paralyses speedy Pokémon such as Weavile and Houndoom. Cresselia is one of the few Pokémon who can directly take Salamence on, so Ice Beam is a standard attack. Even with Cresselia's inept offensive capabilities she is still able to OHKO 4 HP / 0 SpD Salamence with Ice Beam after Stealth Rock damage, while Salamence only has a small chance to 2HKO with a Life Orb boosted Outrage with Stealth Rock and Leftovers factored in. It also means Cresselia is pretty certain to OHKO Salamence that may have taken 20% damage from two Life Orb attacks. Charge Beam is Cresselia's best option against Water-types, in particular Gyarados; and the potential Special Attack boost is always welcome. Psychic helps against Infernape and Heracross, but paralyzing the former with Thunder Wave is usually enough to eliminate it as a threat. It should be noted that sandstorm will especially ruin this Cresselia, cutting its Moonlight recovery to 25% per use. Thus, Rest is an option; although this should only be used when paired with a Cleric. Blissey is an excellent choice for this job to sponge the special attacks Cresselia cannot while Cresselia can take on the physical threats Blissey cannot, in particular Fighting-types.
With Rest and Sleep Talk Cresselia gains much more survivability, while playing slightly more offensively. Rest and Sleep Talk are very desirable for many reasons. First of all, Cresselia gets her full recovery during sandstorm, compared to her only gaining 25% recovery with Moonlight. Rest and Sleep Talk also help in a stall war, Cresselia can use Sleep Talk to help with PP issues, or it can just skip and cycle with Rest, slowly lowering the opponent's PP. Charge Beam works well with Rest and Sleep Talk, possibly grabbing a few Special Attack boosts along the way. However, Thunder Wave helps against fast sweepers and may allow Cresselia to eventually get a "free" turn when the opponent is fully paralyzed. On the other hand, Psychic allows Cresselia to deal with Infernape, but a bit of Special Attack is needed to OHKO it. However, in a metagame where sandstorm and Stealth Rock are dominant, Cresselia may be able to take advantage of this to KO Infernape.
A slightly more offensive play on Cresselia, turning into a bit of a sweeper, while still retaining her bulk. This Cresselia can cause problems for anybody using Adamant Heracross as a Cresselia killer, as the given EVs allow Cresselia to outrun Adamant Heracross, and OHKO it with a +1 Psychic. Moonlight allows Cresselia to take advantage of her superb defenses, allowing for HP gain and the potential for more Calm Minds. The secondary attack depends on your team. Charge Beam hits Gyarados and may get an extra boost, but Hidden Power Fighting will smash Tyranitar and Weavile, two threats who would otherwise cause problems. Ice Beam can be used for Dragonite and Salamence. Signal Beam can hit Dark- and Psychic-types hard, easing prediction against Celebi, Tyranitar, and Weavile. However, it does far less to the latter two compared to Hidden Power Fighting, and has worse type coverage. Substitute may be used over Moonlight to avoid status, especially when one considers Cresselia can make 101 HP Substitutes unbreakable by a single Seismic Toss.
Choice Scarf and Trick allow Cresselia to surprise so common switch-ins that expect a weak attack. However, smart opponents may see the lack of Leftovers recovery on Cresselia and realize that she is running Choice Scarf, so be careful. Ice Beam is the standard attack as Cresselia easily counters Salamence decently enough, being able to come in on any of its moves and threaten an OHKO with Stealth Rock down, while Salamence cannot OHKO back. With this set, she is also able to counter Choice Band Salamence, which the standard set cannot do, due to Cresselia being able to outspeed Salamence, courtesy of the Choice Scarf. When Cresselia is done with its Choice Scarf, it can Trick it onto a Pokémon that could otherwise set up on it, like opposing Calm Mind Cresselia, Curse Snorlax, or Calm Mind Suicune, crippling them for the rest of the match. It also means Cresselia can laugh at Rotom-A, who may want to Trick Cresselia itself, expecting it to be the standard tank. Cresselia however, must avoid Shadow Ball. Reflect allows Cresselia to protect itself against the Pursuiters that commonly come in on her, such as Choice Band Tyranitar and Heracross. If they are not a problem, feel free to run Psychic over Reflect for greater coverage and STAB. Moonlight can be used before and after Tricking Choice Scarf, as it is helpful to stall out Outrages. Charge Beam is an option in the last moveslot to deter Gyarados from switching in, although it is most notable for providing a good combination with Ice Beam, as well as offering the chance to increase Special Attack. The EVs allow Cresselia to outspeed positive speed natured base 110s, most notably Gengar, who she has a very slight chance to KO with Psychic after Stealth Rock damage. However, Gengar is commonly holding a Choice Scarf and will outspeed Cresselia and hit her with its Shadow Ball. However, Gengar cannot OHKO, as a Timid Gengar's Shadow Ball will top at 61% damage against Cresselia.
Cresselia is really lacking in the attacking department, and is set up fodder for many Pokémon. This set turns the tables by setting up on your opponent. Cresselia possesses the greatest dual defenses of any Psychic-type outside of Lugia, allowing her to utilize dual screen effectively. The strategy with Cresselia is mostly the same as it has always been; come in on a foe that can't do much damage to you and set up on the switch in. However, Cresselia can use Thunder Wave to great success. If you can hit your counter with it, then it'll be slower than you, pretty much guaranteeing you'll get up both screens, as no unboosted attack can OHKO Cresselia when she is behind the appropriate screen. Ice Beam is another option over Thunder Wave because it hits one of the most popular Taunt users, Gliscor, for super effective damage and if Cresselia does get Taunted, it won't be a sitting duck. Psychic is another attacking option for Cresselia and makes it one of the best counters to Infernape and Lucario, but even with STAB, don't expect it to do a lot of damage. Unlike any other Pokémon, Cresselia learns the move Lunar Dance, which is her signature move. Once you are done setting up, she can sacrifice herself to bring in a Pokémon fully healed Pokémon. Lucario is a good choice for this, because he resists the attacks that Cresselia fears: Dark, Bug, and Ghost. This gives you two chances to sweep your opponent, hopefully when its counter has been knocked out or significantly weakened. The EVs are rather specific: Choice Band Tyranitar nor Choice Specs Gengar can 2HKO you while you are behind a Reflect or Light Screen, respectively. 152 EVs in Speed lets you outpace Jolly Tyranitar and Adamant Scizor, but maxing Speed may be helpful to outspeed Heracross and the like. Light Clay is the preferred option so your dual screens remain for the full 8 turns. Other OptionsBesides the attacks already mentioned, Cresselia also learns Grass Knot and Shadow Ball, although neither is especially inviting when compared to its other options, especially when Hidden Power Fighting does more to Tyranitar. Hidden Power Fire allows Cresselia to combat any Scizor that dares switch in. Sunny Day makes Moonlight much more effective, and can be used once you have eliminated Tyranitar, Hippowdon, and Abomasnow. It does however, limit Cresselia's moveset, but is worth considering if you also have a Fire-type to primarily benefit from it. Light Screen can be used over Reflect should your desire some extra protection from special attackers. Recycle is an option over Sleep Talk, especially when paired with Chesto Berry. Psycho Shift can work with a Flame Orb to cripple Tyranitar and Scizor switch-ins, but it's a risky strategy. Toxic is a fine choice on something this bulky, as you can use Protect in conjunction with Toxic to scout Heracross's Choice Banded or Choice Scarfed moves and switch to an appropriate counter. Additionally, Toxic in tandem with Reflect can whittle down even a Choice Banded Tyranitar. EVsThere are a lot of ways to manage EVs on Cresselia. Here are a few EV spreads to consider. Bold, 252 HP / 252 Defense / 4 Special Attack. This guarantees Ice Beam will OHKO a 4 HP / 0 SpD Salamence after Stealth Rock damage, or two turns of Life Orb recoil, and focuses on taking physical hits. Calm, 252 HP / 200 Defense / 56 Special Defense. This provides Cresselia with optimized defenses, allowing it to take hits from both sides of the attacking spectrum. Timid, 96 HP / 252 Special Attack / 160 Speed. This hits 270 Speed, allowing Cresselia to outspeed Adamant Heracross and KO it with Psychic after a Calm Mind. If wanted, 196 Speed will allow Cresselia to outspeed Adamant Lucario, who sits at 279 Speed. Generally, you should be focusing on Cresselia's HP and defenses. Speed EVs aren't required unless you're running a Calm Mind or Choice Scarf set. OpinionBeing a primarily defensive Pokémon, Cresselia's lack of a reliable recovery move is somewhat of a letdown, paired by the fact that it is weak to Pursuit and lacks many important resistances (although the Fighting and Ground resistance are welcome). Still, Cresselia has massive defenses that even Lugia would be proud of and while its attacking power is rather weak, Cresselia's decent movepool allows it to function as a great counter for many of the more potent attacking threats in OU, such as Salamence, Gyarados and Infernape. Cresselia is very tough to take down, making it a solid addition to most OU teams. CountersTyranitar, Heracross, Weavile, Scizor, and Houndoom do lots of damage with their STAB Dark and Bug moves, often much more than Cresselia can handle. Metagross is virtually immune to all of Cresselia's attacks. All of them can use Pursuit too, and while Cresselia's durability is enormous, it can be (almost) knocked out by a Pursuit from Tyranitar or Weavile if she tries to switch out. Thunder Wave and Reflect really help out against a lot of these, however. Blissey just shrugs off Cresselia's attacks, but a Cresselia vs. Blissey match usually descends into a stall-fest unless one of them is carrying Calm Mind or Charge Beam. Rest Cresselia will win in the end, though, while Moonlight Cresselia is easily stalled out of PP if a sandstorm is active. Snorlax will easily take Cresselia's attacks and can just Curse up and finish Cresselia off with its STAB attack or Crunch. Jirachi can come in and set up Calm Minds against Cresselia as long as it doesn’t switch into a status move. Curse Swampert can come in, only fearing the rare Grass Knot, and can set up against Cresselia. Cresselia really can't get past Magnezone (without resorting to weird Hidden Powers), while Magnezone can set up with Substitute and/or Metal Sound. Generally, you'll find that Cresselia relies a lot on status, Calm Mind or a super effective move to really stop things that can set up. Without Charge Beam, Dragon Dance + Taunt Gyarados is going to set up on it with ease. Swords Dance or Nasty Plot Infernape can out-damage those Cresselia without Psychic, Thunder Wave, or Toxic. |
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