Cresselia
[Overview]
<p>Cresselia's amazing defenses and ability Levitate allow it to wall some of the most powerful attackers in the game, such as Salamence, Rayquaza, Groudon, Garchomp, Palkia, Metagross, Giratina-O, Ground Arceus, Hydreigon, Virizion, Terrakion and more. A decent support movepool allows it to support the team through methods such as Thunder Wave, Toxic, Safeguard, dual screens, or even Trick Room. Cresselia lacks a Rock- or Electric-type weakness, meaning it takes neutral damage from Stealth Rock, Stone Edge, Bolt Strike, and Thunder while sporting roughly the same physical durability as Lugia.</p>
<p>Cresselia's main flaws are its inability to phaze like Lugia, laughable offensive stats ( especially by Uber standards ), and vulnerability to Toxic. Cresselia's weakness to Dark- and Ghost-types also hampers its tanking ability. Lugia overshadows Cresselia for the most part, due to the latter's limited movepool, overall inferior stats, and the need for sunlight support in order to have reliable recovery in the form of Moonlight. The inability to counter Extremekiller Arceus also hampers Cresselia's usability as a physical wall.</p>
[SET]
name: Uber Dual Screens + Lunar Dance
move 1: Trick Room / Safeguard / Thunder Wave
move 2: Light Screen
move 3: Reflect
move 4: Lunar Dance
item: Light Clay
nature: Calm
evs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Cresselia's fantastic defensive stats make it a very reliable Trick Room user. While its weaknesses to common Dark and Ghost attacks somewhat hampers its walling capacity, Cresselia can actually survive even super effective hits. The combination of Trick Room and Lunar Dance on this set is unique to Cresselia and is something Lugia cannot do. Additionally, Cresselia's lower Speed compared to Lugia becomes an advantage under the effects of Trick Room.</p>
<p>Cresselia is extremely bulky, so it can utilize dual screens and Trick Room effectively to support an entire team based on Trick Room. Cresselia can turn the tables on common Pokemon who loves to come in on it, such as Forretress, and use them as setup bait. You can switch Cresselia in on a Pokemon who can do little to harm it, such as Blissey, Lugia, Giratina, Groudon, or even Forretress and Ferrothorn if your team doesn't mind entry hazards. Then proceed to set up dual screens and Trick Room. Late-game, use Lunar Dance to fully heal one of your sweepers under the protection of dual screens. One must never use this Cresselia set as a physical wall, since the other set performs that role much better. Instead of utilizing a fast Cresselia to setup screens faster, one should focus on Cresselia's sheer bulk, since Cresselia isn't outspeeding anything significant even with max Speed.</p>
<p>Cresselia should be used alongside powerful sweepers who benefit from dual screen and Trick Room support, such as Calm Mind Giratina-O, Zekrom, Swords Dance Groudon, Kyogre, Reshiram, or Dialga. If your team doesn't need Trick Room support, feel free to drop it for another support move. Safeguard can be used if your team fears status, while Thunder Wave allows Cresselia to cripple a speedy threat such as Darkrai. If you are using this set in a Baton Pass team, Cresselia should be paired with Mew, as the dual screen protection 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 often loses a lot of HP during the first Baton Pass. However, bear in mind that Baton Pass is a lot more unrealiable in today's metagame since Mew can only use one move in the last slot. If Mew uses Taunt, Dragon Tail totally ruins it; if Mew uses Substitute, Roar or Whirlwind will stop it cold; if Mew uses Dragon Tail, it is halted by Taunt and can no longer pass the boosts. A few Pokemon can switch in on Cresselia and prevent it from setting up dual screens. Choice Specs Kyogre and Reshiram 2HKO with Water Spout or Blue Flare respectively, even if Light Screen is up. Cresselia can usually survive 2 Blue Flares at full health due to the bulky EV spread. Lunar Dance sacrifices Cresselia to fully heal a teammate, which is important for Trick Room teams to maintain the momentum. After your team has been weakened mid-game, Cresselia can switch in, set up dual screens and Trick Room, and then sacrifice herself to help another powerful teammate, such as Groudon, successfully sweep.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Light Clay prolongs the effects of the dual screens to 8 turns. Ice Beam can be used if your team still needs an answer to Groudon or Rayquaza. However, Ice Beam won't deter most of Cresselia's counters, such as Heatran and Tyranitar, from switching in. This Cresselia set is extremely vulnerable to Taunt since it has no attacks. Pokemon with phazing moves can phaze Cresselia before it can set up Trick Room, so it is wise to set up dual screens first when facing a Pokemon likely to carry phazing moves such as Groudon. The given EVs grant Cresselia balanced bulk on both sides.</p>
<p>The aforementioned counters can easily stop Cresselia, but it can turn the tables on them by setting up screens first, followed by Lunar Dance once its job is done. Any Calm Mind Arceus variant can also set up on and beat Cresselia one on one, especially Ghost, Dark, or Bug Arceus. Specs Kyogre can possibly 2HKO Cresselia even through Light Screen, so Cresselia best not be sticking around. Grass Arceus, Palkia, and Zekrom can easily take down Kyogre for Cresselia thanks to their Water resistances and powerful Electric or Grass attacks. Groundon's massive Defense stat enables it to easily counter Tyranitar, also known as Cresselia's bane. Heatran and Tyranitar can also be stopped by Kyogre due to the legendary whale's massive bulk, and the rain it brings serves to weaken Heatran further. This set can greatly aid powerful sweepers, such as Dialga and Kyogre, who enjoy dual screens and Lunar Dance support. After they have been weakened mid-game, Cresselia can step in and set up screens and Trick Room followed by Lunar Dance once her purpose has been fulfilled. This set works well in Trick Room teams as a suicide pokemon to set up a game-breaking sweeper such as Rayquaza or Groudon.</p>
[SET]
name: Uber Wall
move 1: Moonlight
move 2: Reflect
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Toxic / Magic Coat / Thunder Wave
item: Leftovers
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Cresselia's defenses are incredibly hard to break, so it is well suited to being either a physical or mixed wall. With the listed combination of moves, it can function as a decent counter to some of the top threats in the Ubers metagame, including Groudon, Rayquaza, Garchomp, Giratina-O, and Choice Scarf Palkia and Dialga. Cresselia is well-known as the best Groudon counter in the game, unless the Groudon carries Swords Dance and Shadow Claw for some odd reason.</p>
<p>Moonlight heals 2/3 of Cresselia's HP under the sun, which is better than Lugia's Roost. However, it has only 8 PP, while the other reliable recovery moves have 16 PP. Moonlight allows Cresselia to stall out Groudon with ease, as it can survive even a +4 Stone Edge from most Groudon. Reflect bolsters Cresselia's huge Defense to even greater heights, allowing Cresselia to take hits from most physical attackers and making it a decent team player. With Reflect, Cresselia can check Swords Dance Groudon, Rayquaza, and Garchomp a lot easier. No physical attack can OHKO Cresselia when it is safely behind the screen. Toxic damages bulkier threats like Groudon and Arceus, while Thunder Wave cripples speedy Pokemon like Darkrai and Mewtwo. Magic Coat allows Cresselia to bounce back status and entry hazards at the opponent; this is exceedingly useful since Cresselia tends to attract Spiker users such as Ferrothorn.</p>
<p>Cresselia's lack of weaknesses to Ice, Electric, and Rock sets it apart from Lugia. Another advantage is that Cresselia can survive a Choice Band-boosted Bolt Strike from Zekrom; Lugia can still survive with a faster Reflect, but Cresselia can actually stall out Choice Scarf Zekrom, something Lugia cannot do. Terakion is effectively walled by Cresselia as well. Do take note that Cresselia is outclassed by Lugia otherwise, as Lugia has higher Speed, a better support movepool, and overall better stats.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Grass Knot can be used over Ice Beam since it hits Groudon harder and actually scratches Kyogre; however, Cresselia will lose its ability to counter physical Dragons such as Rayquaza and Garchomp. Hidden Power Fire can 2HKO Forretress outside of rain, but is essentially useless otherwise, since Ferrothorn takes laughable damage from the attack due to its good Special Defense. Cresselia's shabby offensive stats means that it can't go on the offensive route. A faster set can be used to outspeed slow base 90 Ubers like Groudon, but is not recommended since Cresselia really enjoys the extra bulk. Trick Room can be still used on this set if you need both a wall and someone to set it up.</p>
<p>Kyogre counters Cresselia easily as it can come in and threaten to OHKO with Water Spout or set up with Calm Mind. Cresselia can barely touch Kyogre with Grass Knot due to Kyogre's massive Special Defense stat. Darkrai can pound Cresslia hard with a boosted Dark Pulse or incapacitate it with Dark Void, while Cresselia can only hope to paralyze Darkrai on the switch in. Tyranitar can 2HKO Cresselia with Crunch while taking negligible damage from Ice Beam thanks to the sandstorm Special Defense buff. Blissey, Chansey, and Heatran laugh at Cresselia while crippling it with Toxic, or Taunt in Heatran's case. Ferrothorn, Skarmory, and Forretress can freely set up on Cresselia unless Cresselia has Magic Coat. Heracross and Scizor can hurt Cresselia with their STAB super effective Bug moves. Heracross can even threaten to OHKO Cresselia with a Guts or Choice Band boost under its belt. Ho-Oh doesn't mind anything but Toxic, and can set up a Substitute on Cresselia for free while whittling away at its health with Sacred Fire or Brave Bird.</p>
<p>Groudon provides eternal sunlight to make Moonlight more efficient, while countering Tyranitar, Heracross, Scizor, Blissey, and Chansey at the same time. Forretress resists Cresselia's weaknesses to Ghost and Dark, provides entry hazards to help Cresselia wear down the opponent faster. Giratina covers Cresselia's weaknesses to Heracross, Scizor, and Ho-Oh nicely.</p>
<p>Groudon should always be partnered with Cresselia. The permanent sunlight really helps Cresselia when it's recovering with Moonlight. Forretress resists Ghost-, Dark-, and Ice-type attacks and launches hazards onto the opponent's field. Any form of entry hazard will help Cresselia weaken its counters. Cleric support is also great to help keep Cresselia free from Toxic. Blissey and Chansey can take most special attacks aimed at Cresselia. Most Dark-types can be taken down by Fighting Arceus or Terrakion. Groudon can take care of Blissey and Tyranitar. A RestTalk set is horrible for Cresselia in Ubers since it usually gives the opponent a free chance to set up, which can be game-deciding in Ubers. Cresselia can use Magic Coat, Psycho Shift, or Safeguard for status protection. Ferrothorn resists Cresselia's Dark and Ghost weaknesses while providing Spikes support and Leech Seed to weaken Cresselia's counters and checking Tyranitar.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>If you desire more Speed, a faster Cresselia can be used to outspeed slow base 90s, but this is generally an inferior version. Calm Mind is just awful even with Cresselia's defenses due to being outclassed by Lugia, who has better offensive stats and much higher Speed.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Dark-types, such as Darkrai, Dark Arceus, and Tyranitar, are the best ways to take Cresselia out. Dark Arceus makes Cresselia cry and can threaten to OHKO the entire stall team. Dark Arceus Judgments can easily fell Cresselia in 2 hits. Tyranitar can 2HKO Cresselia with Crunch, or even Pursuit the celestial duck as it switches. Kyogre and Dialga can freely set up on Cresselia with Calm Mind or Bulk Up. Specs Kyogre and Reshiram can even OHKO Cresselia with their ridiculously powerful special attacks.</p>
<p>Spikers such as Skarmory, Forretress, Ferrothorn, and Deoxys-D completely wall Cresselia and use it as setup bait. All of the aforementioned Pokemon laugh at Cresselia's weak Ice Beam, while the former three also boast an immunity to Toxic. Anything with Toxic can cripple Cresselia. Bug-types such as Heracross and Scizor can 2HKO Cresselia with their powerful STAB moves, although they don't really like to be paralyzed. Heracross loves Toxic since it activates Guts and enables Heracross to OHKO Cresselia with Megahorn.</p>
<p>Blissey walls Cresselia completely and can status it or set up on it with Calm Mind. Chansey does the same (but cannot utilize Calm Mind effectively). Anything with Taunt, such as Heatran and Skarmory, can stop all Cresselia sets completely since Cresselia lacks power.</p>
