[OVERVIEW]
As one of the most dominant Trick Room setters in the format, Cresselia has a large target on its back, and for good reason. Its excellent natural defenses make it one of the bulkiest Trick Room setters available, and its Levitate ability is also great in a metagame where Ground-type attacks are prevalent. Additionally, its large support movepool makes it very versatile and therefore able to pair well with many other common Pokemon; notably, access to a variety of support moves such as Magic Coat can make it unpredictable to battle against. An above average Speed stat and access to both Icy Wind and Thunder Wave also allow it to function outside of Trick Room should the need arise. However, its typing is mediocre defensively, as while it tanks many neutral attacks, a weakness to Dark-type attacks hurts it, particularly against teams with Yveltal, which are often geared to take full advantage of its Dark Aura ability. That same typing in combination with a low Special Attack stat also gives it very little offensive presence and therefore makes it vulnerable to Taunt and being set up on by Pokemon like Xerneas. Finally, it faces competition from restricted Trick Room setters such as Dialga and Palkia, which boast much greater offensive presence, provided a restricted Pokemon slot is available.
[SET]
name: Trick Room Setter
move 1: Trick Room
move 2: Ice Beam / Psychic
move 3: Helping Hand
move 4: Skill Swap / Gravity
item: Sitrus Berry / Mental Herb
ability: Levitate
nature: Sassy
evs: 244 HP / 108 Def / 156 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Trick Room reverses the move order of all Pokemon the field, providing Cresselia and its slower teammates the opportunity to move quicker under its effects. A damaging move is useful to stop Cresselia from being total Taunt bait. Ice Beam deals good damage to foes 4x weak to Ice such as Mega Rayquaza, Mega Salamence, and Landorus-T. Psychic is an alternative option if Ice-type coverage is unneeded, as it hits Amoonguss and neutral targets harder. Helping Hand boosts the power of an ally's attack and often results in a higher damage output than Cresselia could achieve on its own. Skill Swap is primarily used to regain control of the weather by using it on an allied Primal Groudon or Primal Kyogre. Gravity increases the accuracy of all Pokemon by two stages and allows Ground-type moves to hit Flying-types and Pokemon with Levitate. Skill Swap is generally the more useful of the two, but if maintaining control of the weather is less important for Cresselia, such as when its teammates have alternative means to control the weather, then Gravity may be more appealing.
Set Details
========
Sitrus Berry is used to maximize Cresselia's overall bulk, but Mental Herb can be used instead if Taunt is more threatening to setting up Trick Room than damage is. Levitate is Cresselia's only ability, but it's an excellent one. The prevalence of Ground-type attacks as a result of Primal Groudon not only provides Cresselia with a great immunity but also makes Levitate a good ability to Skill Swap away to a vulnerable partner. A Speed-reducing nature is used to allow Cresselia to move quicker under the effect of Trick Room. The HP EVs grant Cresselia an even number of HP, which allows Sitrus Berry to activate after taking a Super Fang from Crobat. The remaining investment makes both Jolly Mega Kangaskhan's Double-Edge and Modest Primal Groudon's Eruption a 3HKO factoring in Sitrus Berry's recovery. When using Mental Herb, an alternative EV spread of 252 HP / 60 Def / 196 SpD should be used instead to make +2 Modest Xerneas's Dazzling Gleam a 3HKO. While using 0 Speed IVs is generally recommended to make Cresselia as slow as possible under Trick Room, running 4 or more may also be useful to use Skill Swap after a foe's Cresselia under Trick Room, as this causes your team's weather to activate second and prevail over the opposing team's.
Usage Tips
========
Cresselia should preferably be led in combination with a Fake Out user or redirection user to provide the best chance of setting up Trick Room, which it should aim to do as early as possible in order to provide the maximum opportunities for partners to sweep. Try to determine early on if you'll need Cresselia to set up Trick Room multiple times to help decide whether to conserve it after its initial activation. Once set up, Cresselia should mostly aim to use Helping Hand in combination with powerful spread attacks such as Precipice Blades and Origin Pulse in order to deal as much damage as possible during Trick Room's limited turns. Cresselia's damage output is fairly underwhelming on its own, so think twice about using Ice Beam or Psychic over Helping Hand. When an allied Primal Groudon or Primal Kyogre is on the field and the opponent is threatening to switch in its counterpart, use Skill Swap pre-emptively to maintain control of the weather and avoid killing momentum. Also be aware of instances where Cresselia can steal strong abilities from foes, such as Parental Bond from Mega Kangaskhan. When Cresselia is beside another Trick Room setter, remember the option of using Trick Room twice on a predicted passive turn from your opponent, as this will reset Trick Room's turns.
Team Options
========
Primal Groudon makes for an excellent partner for Cresselia, as it appreciates Skill Swap to reset Desolate Land and make it immune to Ground-type attacks, which it's otherwise weak to. Gravity also increases Precipice Blade's otherwise undesirable accuracy and allows it to hit Flying-types and foes with Levitate. Primal Kyogre equally values Skill Swap and Gravity for resetting its weather and increasing Origin Pulse's accuracy. Restricted Trick Room setters Dialga and Palkia can both take advantage of Trick Room and set it up again later in the battle should Cresselia have fainted by that time, therefore making Cresselia less important to preserve. Xerneas can dispatch opposing Dark-types that threaten Cresselia with its Fairy Aura-boosted attacks. Mega Mawile is another Fairy-type that can handle opposing Dark-types, and it operates well under Trick Room. Mega Kangaskhan works great both in and out of Trick Room and can help Cresselia set it up with Fake Out. Amoonguss's Rage Powder also helps Cresselia set up Trick Room, and its low Speed stat allows it to take advantage of it by putting faster threats to sleep with Spore. Landorus-T can use Earthquake freely beside Cresselia thanks to Levitate. Moreover, its Intimidate ability patches up Cresselia's often weaker physical bulk, and it can pivot out on the turn Trick Room is used with U-turn to make way for a more appropriate Trick Room sweeper.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Psyshock can be used in place of Psychic if hitting a foe's potentially lower Defense stat is more important. Light Screen and Reflect can reduce the damage Cresselia's team takes from special or physical moves. Swagger reduces the chance the foe has to move and can be used as part of a self-Swagger combination to boost the Attack stat of an ally. Moonlight can be effective on teams with Primal Groudon, as the sun causes Cresselia to heal significantly more health. Safeguard and Magic Coat provide means of preventing sleep-inducing moves such as Smeargle's Dark Void. Lum Berry and Chesto Berry also prevent sleep-inducing moves, and the latter could be used in combination with Rest. Leftovers can be used if Sitrus Berry is in greater demand on a teammate as a result of the item clause. A physically defensive EV spread such as 204 HP / 156 Def / 148 SpD with a Relaxed nature, which makes Adamant Mega Kangaskhan's Return a 3HKO, is viable in combination with a Rocky Helmet to punish physical attackers. Using this spread with the aforementioned Moonlight can be a great way to deal continuous chip damage. Using Cresselia on a semi-Trick Room team with a Calm or Bold nature and Icy Wind over Ice Beam or Thunder Wave in the fourth moveslot is possible if you'd prefer to have additional options for speed control. However, bear in mind that Icy Wind's Speed drops are easily removed by switching and that Primal Groudon is immune to Thunder Wave.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Typing Advantage**: Dark-types such as Yveltal and Weavile are immune to Psychic and deal a lot of damage with their super effective STAB moves. Yveltal checks Cresselia particularly well, as it can OHKO it with a Black Glasses-boosted Knock Off. Ghost-types such as Mega Gengar, Giratina, and Aegislash also heavily threaten Cresselia. Mega Gengar notably has a high chance to OHKO Cresselia if its common partner, Whimsicott, uses Fake Tears on it. However, it should be wary of its weakness to Psychic. Steel-types such as Mega Mawile and Scizor resist both Psychic and Ice Beam and can also inflict a lot of damage. Scizor can steal and eat Cresselia's Sitrus Berry with Bug Bite as well. Both also don't mind Trick Room, as they function reasonably well under its effect.
**Speed**: Very slow Pokemon can turn Cresselia's Trick Room against it, as they can move first under its effect. Amoonguss is particularly problematic, as it can freely spam Spore and therefore ruin momentum by putting Cresselia's team to sleep. Ferrothorn's similarly low Speed stat means it's free to fire off Gyro Ball and Power Whip. Pokemon with priority are also less affected by Trick Room, as they're able to move first regardless. For example, Talonflame's Gale Wings allows it to move first even under Trick Room when it uses Flying-type moves.
**Speed Control**: Opposing Trick Room setters such as Dialga, Palkia, and Gothitelle can revert the effects of Trick Room by using the move themselves. Quash Sableye can also send Cresselia's teammates to the bottom of the move order, regardless of Trick Room. Slow After You users such as Clefairy and Togetic can also allow faster foes to move first. Thunder Wave users such as Liepard and Thundurus can use the move on their own teammates to slow them down under Trick Room, although this then comes with the risk of full paralysis.
**Strong Physical Attackers**: Because Cresselia usually invests more into Special Defense, it's generally more susceptible to strong physical attackers. Mega Kangaskhan is a prime example, as it deals massive amounts of damage with Return or Double-Edge. Mega Rayquaza, while having to be wary of Ice Beam, deals a lot of damage with Dragon Ascent. Mega Salamence is also troubled by Ice Beam, but its Double-Edge deals equally large amounts of damage. Primal Groudon can also hit Cresselia with Precipice Blades for excellent damage after its Levitate ability has been removed through the use of Skill Swap.
**Utility Moves**: Taunt users such as Crobat, Thundurus, and Whimsicott shut down Cresselia not holding Mental Herb, as it's dependent on its non-attacking moves to support its team. Encore users such as Liepard and Whimsicott can force Cresselia to revert a recently set up Trick Room. Roar and Whirlwind users such as Groudon and Ho-Oh can force Cresselia to switch before it sets up Trick Room thanks to them having higher priority. Finally, copious use of moves like Protect and Substitute does a good job at stalling out Trick Room's limited turns.
**Miscellaneous**: Sheer Cold users such as Lapras and Smeargle can eliminate Cresselia from the field in a single hit and therefore circumvent the need to deal with Cresselia's immense bulk.
As one of the most dominant Trick Room setters in the format, Cresselia has a large target on its back, and for good reason. Its excellent natural defenses make it one of the bulkiest Trick Room setters available, and its Levitate ability is also great in a metagame where Ground-type attacks are prevalent. Additionally, its large support movepool makes it very versatile and therefore able to pair well with many other common Pokemon; notably, access to a variety of support moves such as Magic Coat can make it unpredictable to battle against. An above average Speed stat and access to both Icy Wind and Thunder Wave also allow it to function outside of Trick Room should the need arise. However, its typing is mediocre defensively, as while it tanks many neutral attacks, a weakness to Dark-type attacks hurts it, particularly against teams with Yveltal, which are often geared to take full advantage of its Dark Aura ability. That same typing in combination with a low Special Attack stat also gives it very little offensive presence and therefore makes it vulnerable to Taunt and being set up on by Pokemon like Xerneas. Finally, it faces competition from restricted Trick Room setters such as Dialga and Palkia, which boast much greater offensive presence, provided a restricted Pokemon slot is available.
[SET]
name: Trick Room Setter
move 1: Trick Room
move 2: Ice Beam / Psychic
move 3: Helping Hand
move 4: Skill Swap / Gravity
item: Sitrus Berry / Mental Herb
ability: Levitate
nature: Sassy
evs: 244 HP / 108 Def / 156 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Trick Room reverses the move order of all Pokemon the field, providing Cresselia and its slower teammates the opportunity to move quicker under its effects. A damaging move is useful to stop Cresselia from being total Taunt bait. Ice Beam deals good damage to foes 4x weak to Ice such as Mega Rayquaza, Mega Salamence, and Landorus-T. Psychic is an alternative option if Ice-type coverage is unneeded, as it hits Amoonguss and neutral targets harder. Helping Hand boosts the power of an ally's attack and often results in a higher damage output than Cresselia could achieve on its own. Skill Swap is primarily used to regain control of the weather by using it on an allied Primal Groudon or Primal Kyogre. Gravity increases the accuracy of all Pokemon by two stages and allows Ground-type moves to hit Flying-types and Pokemon with Levitate. Skill Swap is generally the more useful of the two, but if maintaining control of the weather is less important for Cresselia, such as when its teammates have alternative means to control the weather, then Gravity may be more appealing.
Set Details
========
Sitrus Berry is used to maximize Cresselia's overall bulk, but Mental Herb can be used instead if Taunt is more threatening to setting up Trick Room than damage is. Levitate is Cresselia's only ability, but it's an excellent one. The prevalence of Ground-type attacks as a result of Primal Groudon not only provides Cresselia with a great immunity but also makes Levitate a good ability to Skill Swap away to a vulnerable partner. A Speed-reducing nature is used to allow Cresselia to move quicker under the effect of Trick Room. The HP EVs grant Cresselia an even number of HP, which allows Sitrus Berry to activate after taking a Super Fang from Crobat. The remaining investment makes both Jolly Mega Kangaskhan's Double-Edge and Modest Primal Groudon's Eruption a 3HKO factoring in Sitrus Berry's recovery. When using Mental Herb, an alternative EV spread of 252 HP / 60 Def / 196 SpD should be used instead to make +2 Modest Xerneas's Dazzling Gleam a 3HKO. While using 0 Speed IVs is generally recommended to make Cresselia as slow as possible under Trick Room, running 4 or more may also be useful to use Skill Swap after a foe's Cresselia under Trick Room, as this causes your team's weather to activate second and prevail over the opposing team's.
Usage Tips
========
Cresselia should preferably be led in combination with a Fake Out user or redirection user to provide the best chance of setting up Trick Room, which it should aim to do as early as possible in order to provide the maximum opportunities for partners to sweep. Try to determine early on if you'll need Cresselia to set up Trick Room multiple times to help decide whether to conserve it after its initial activation. Once set up, Cresselia should mostly aim to use Helping Hand in combination with powerful spread attacks such as Precipice Blades and Origin Pulse in order to deal as much damage as possible during Trick Room's limited turns. Cresselia's damage output is fairly underwhelming on its own, so think twice about using Ice Beam or Psychic over Helping Hand. When an allied Primal Groudon or Primal Kyogre is on the field and the opponent is threatening to switch in its counterpart, use Skill Swap pre-emptively to maintain control of the weather and avoid killing momentum. Also be aware of instances where Cresselia can steal strong abilities from foes, such as Parental Bond from Mega Kangaskhan. When Cresselia is beside another Trick Room setter, remember the option of using Trick Room twice on a predicted passive turn from your opponent, as this will reset Trick Room's turns.
Team Options
========
Primal Groudon makes for an excellent partner for Cresselia, as it appreciates Skill Swap to reset Desolate Land and make it immune to Ground-type attacks, which it's otherwise weak to. Gravity also increases Precipice Blade's otherwise undesirable accuracy and allows it to hit Flying-types and foes with Levitate. Primal Kyogre equally values Skill Swap and Gravity for resetting its weather and increasing Origin Pulse's accuracy. Restricted Trick Room setters Dialga and Palkia can both take advantage of Trick Room and set it up again later in the battle should Cresselia have fainted by that time, therefore making Cresselia less important to preserve. Xerneas can dispatch opposing Dark-types that threaten Cresselia with its Fairy Aura-boosted attacks. Mega Mawile is another Fairy-type that can handle opposing Dark-types, and it operates well under Trick Room. Mega Kangaskhan works great both in and out of Trick Room and can help Cresselia set it up with Fake Out. Amoonguss's Rage Powder also helps Cresselia set up Trick Room, and its low Speed stat allows it to take advantage of it by putting faster threats to sleep with Spore. Landorus-T can use Earthquake freely beside Cresselia thanks to Levitate. Moreover, its Intimidate ability patches up Cresselia's often weaker physical bulk, and it can pivot out on the turn Trick Room is used with U-turn to make way for a more appropriate Trick Room sweeper.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Psyshock can be used in place of Psychic if hitting a foe's potentially lower Defense stat is more important. Light Screen and Reflect can reduce the damage Cresselia's team takes from special or physical moves. Swagger reduces the chance the foe has to move and can be used as part of a self-Swagger combination to boost the Attack stat of an ally. Moonlight can be effective on teams with Primal Groudon, as the sun causes Cresselia to heal significantly more health. Safeguard and Magic Coat provide means of preventing sleep-inducing moves such as Smeargle's Dark Void. Lum Berry and Chesto Berry also prevent sleep-inducing moves, and the latter could be used in combination with Rest. Leftovers can be used if Sitrus Berry is in greater demand on a teammate as a result of the item clause. A physically defensive EV spread such as 204 HP / 156 Def / 148 SpD with a Relaxed nature, which makes Adamant Mega Kangaskhan's Return a 3HKO, is viable in combination with a Rocky Helmet to punish physical attackers. Using this spread with the aforementioned Moonlight can be a great way to deal continuous chip damage. Using Cresselia on a semi-Trick Room team with a Calm or Bold nature and Icy Wind over Ice Beam or Thunder Wave in the fourth moveslot is possible if you'd prefer to have additional options for speed control. However, bear in mind that Icy Wind's Speed drops are easily removed by switching and that Primal Groudon is immune to Thunder Wave.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Typing Advantage**: Dark-types such as Yveltal and Weavile are immune to Psychic and deal a lot of damage with their super effective STAB moves. Yveltal checks Cresselia particularly well, as it can OHKO it with a Black Glasses-boosted Knock Off. Ghost-types such as Mega Gengar, Giratina, and Aegislash also heavily threaten Cresselia. Mega Gengar notably has a high chance to OHKO Cresselia if its common partner, Whimsicott, uses Fake Tears on it. However, it should be wary of its weakness to Psychic. Steel-types such as Mega Mawile and Scizor resist both Psychic and Ice Beam and can also inflict a lot of damage. Scizor can steal and eat Cresselia's Sitrus Berry with Bug Bite as well. Both also don't mind Trick Room, as they function reasonably well under its effect.
**Speed**: Very slow Pokemon can turn Cresselia's Trick Room against it, as they can move first under its effect. Amoonguss is particularly problematic, as it can freely spam Spore and therefore ruin momentum by putting Cresselia's team to sleep. Ferrothorn's similarly low Speed stat means it's free to fire off Gyro Ball and Power Whip. Pokemon with priority are also less affected by Trick Room, as they're able to move first regardless. For example, Talonflame's Gale Wings allows it to move first even under Trick Room when it uses Flying-type moves.
**Speed Control**: Opposing Trick Room setters such as Dialga, Palkia, and Gothitelle can revert the effects of Trick Room by using the move themselves. Quash Sableye can also send Cresselia's teammates to the bottom of the move order, regardless of Trick Room. Slow After You users such as Clefairy and Togetic can also allow faster foes to move first. Thunder Wave users such as Liepard and Thundurus can use the move on their own teammates to slow them down under Trick Room, although this then comes with the risk of full paralysis.
**Strong Physical Attackers**: Because Cresselia usually invests more into Special Defense, it's generally more susceptible to strong physical attackers. Mega Kangaskhan is a prime example, as it deals massive amounts of damage with Return or Double-Edge. Mega Rayquaza, while having to be wary of Ice Beam, deals a lot of damage with Dragon Ascent. Mega Salamence is also troubled by Ice Beam, but its Double-Edge deals equally large amounts of damage. Primal Groudon can also hit Cresselia with Precipice Blades for excellent damage after its Levitate ability has been removed through the use of Skill Swap.
**Utility Moves**: Taunt users such as Crobat, Thundurus, and Whimsicott shut down Cresselia not holding Mental Herb, as it's dependent on its non-attacking moves to support its team. Encore users such as Liepard and Whimsicott can force Cresselia to revert a recently set up Trick Room. Roar and Whirlwind users such as Groudon and Ho-Oh can force Cresselia to switch before it sets up Trick Room thanks to them having higher priority. Finally, copious use of moves like Protect and Substitute does a good job at stalling out Trick Room's limited turns.
**Miscellaneous**: Sheer Cold users such as Lapras and Smeargle can eliminate Cresselia from the field in a single hit and therefore circumvent the need to deal with Cresselia's immense bulk.
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