Overview
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Cresselia's impressive 120 / 120 / 130 defenses allow her to shrug off hits from even some of the mightiest forces in OU, such as Landorus, Mega Medicham, Latios, Mega Charizard Y, Thundurus, Talonflame, and Keldeo. Cresselia serves hyper offensive teams well, thanks to her massive defenses letting her repeatedly switch into attacks and Lunar Dance allowing her to give a crippled sweeper a second chance. She can even take super effective hits at times, which is a testament to how bulky Cresselia is. Her movepool is just big enough to have some variety to her name, with good supportive and even offensive options, so Cresselia can surprise a foe every now and then.
Cresselia's most crippling flaw is her Psychic typing, which leaves her with weaknesses to Bug, Ghost, and Dark, meaning the likes of Bisharp, (Mega) Tyranitar, and Mega Scizor can be quite bothersome. Her lack of significant offensive power is also a problem, as she either has to use Toxic to reliably wear opponents down, or set up with Calm Mind and constantly give the opponent free opportunities to switch into their counter. Her vulnerability to stallbreakers is astonishing, as one Taunt is all it takes to completely force Cresselia out, and even the mere presence of a stallbreaker can scare a Cresselia out of switching in.
Special Wall
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name: Special Wall
move 1: Psychic / Moonblast
move 2: Moonlight
move 3: Reflect
move 4: Ice Beam / Thunder Wave
ability: Levitate
item: Leftovers
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
nature: Calm
Moves
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Psychic is Cresselia's attacking move of choice due to its STAB boost. However, Moonblast allows Cresselia to threaten Dark-types, such as Bisharp and Tyranitar. Moonlight keeps Cresselia alive throughout a fight and is the reason why she can take on the threats that she can. Reflect supports the team by weakening physical attacks and allows Cresselia to live any Pursuit. Ice Beam allows Cresselia to threaten several threats who would have free turns against her otherwise, such as Landorus, Dragonite, and Gliscor. Thunder Wave provides paralysis support that slower teammates, such as Mega Heracross and Breloom, appreciate, and it also makes it difficult for offensive teams to approach Cresselia, but Ice Beam is needed to threaten the Pokemon who would otherwise have free turns against Cresselia.
Set Details
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252 EVs in both HP and Special Defense combined with a Calm nature maximize Cresselia's special bulk. If desired, a Bold nature with 252 Defense EVs can be used to wall physical attackers better, but this is of little consequence once Cresselia sets up Reflect, and Reflect combined with her excellent Special efense is what makes her so hard to break. Leftovers is the best item for this set, since the extra health gained at the end of every turn helps with her longevity. Light Clay can be used to have Reflect stay up for a few more turns, but it's usually preferred on suicide lead-esque sets, while this set aims to take repeated hits from attackers, so in this case, the extra health gained each turn outweighs the extra turns of increased Defense.
Usage Tips
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Cresselia is designed to be the go-to wall to take on offensive and balanced teams, but she struggles to do her job against stall teams. Cresselia is able to take on Life Orb Latios, Greninja that lack Dark Pulse, Landorus, offensive Talonflame, Terrakion, Kyurem-B, Mega Manectric, Thundurus who lack Nasty Plot, Keldeo, and Mega Charizard Y, and she can switch into them all reliably if necessary. If something that normally has no chance of breaking Cresselia suddenly switches in, they most likely have Toxic, so it's advised to scout for the move before leaving her in against them. Since most sweepers are afraid of getting crippled by Thunder Wave, they'll most likely switch out, which can be a great opportunity to set up Reflect or heal with Moonlight.
Team Options
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Mega Charizard Y is a good teammate, as he not only threatens some Pokemon who can handle Cresselia, such as (Mega) Scizor, Bisharp, and Ferrothorn, but also provides sun support, which lets Moonlight heal two-thirds of Cresselia's health. Fighting-types such as Conkeldurr, Terrakion, Mega Heracross, and Breloom can take care of Dark-types who threaten Cresselia, such as Tyranitar and Bisharp. Chansey is a good partner who absorbs status for Cresselia and has Heal Bell to rid Cresselia of any status. Jirachi can ward off Clefable nicely thanks to its resistances to Moonblast and Psyshock as well as its access to STAB Iron Head to hit Clefable hard. Gliscor absorbs status after Toxic Orb activates and can also take care of Bisharp and Mega Heracross nicely through Earthquake and Toxic, respectively.
Trick Room
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name: Trick Room
move 1: Trick Room
move 2: Light Screen / Reflect
move 3: Lunar Dance
move 4: Moonblast / Psychic / Moonlight
ability: Levitate
item: Light Clay / Leftovers
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
nature: Bold
Moves
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Trick Room is the obvious choice here, as it provides slow, bulky teams with a means of outspeeding every sweeper without priority in the game. Light Screen and Reflect provide some defensive support for teammates when they switch in. Lunar Dance provides a safe switch after setting up Trick Room and can give a crippled teammate a second chance in a battle. The fourth move is a toss up; Moonblast hits most Dark- and Dragon-types who think Cresselia would be setup fodder, Psychic is a generally stronger attack due to STAB, and Moonlight can be used to keep Cresselia around for more opportunities to set up Trick Room.
Set Details
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252 HP and Defense EVs with a Bold nature ensure that Cresselia is as physically bulky as possible, but this should be used with Light Screen, while a Calm nature with max Special Defense EVs is preferred when using Reflect. Light Clay is the superior option most of the time, as the extra turns that Reflect / Light Screen stay up for can matter, though Leftovers can be used to give Cresselia passive recovery.
Usage Tips
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Use Reflect / Light Screen first, and then Trick Room, so a turn of Trick Room isn't wasted setting up a screen. Cresselia's incredible bulk allows her to set up Trick Room at least once per battle, with Taunt users being an exception. While Cresselia doesn't exactly have much longevity with this set and thus sometimes sees usage as a suicide lead of sorts, saving her for an emergency Lunar Dance later on for the match can really save her team in a pinch, whether it's used to patch up a teammate or for providing a safe switch-in to a teammate.
Team Options
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Conkeldurr works as a decent partner, as his Fighting typing scares off Dark-types, he works as a status absorber for Cresselia, and his low Speed and high Attack are excellent for Trick Room sweeping. Rhyperior can take physical hits very well for Cresselia, and is a very powerful Trick Room sweeper. Jirachi is a good partner that can handle Clefable more reliably and can absorb Toxic. Gliscor makes for a great partner, thanks to his status immunity after Toxic Orb activates and the ability to take on Bisharp and Mega Heracross. Victini can abuse Trick Room very nicely with V-Create, providing an excellent offensive presence to beat the likes of Ferrothorn and Scizor for Cresselia.
Dual Screens
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name: Dual Screens
move 1: Reflect
move 2: Light Screen
move 3: Lunar Dance
move 4: Thunder Wave
ability: Levitate
item: Light Clay
evs: 248 HP / 124 SpD / 136 Spe
nature: Calm
Moves
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Reflect and Light Screen provide the team with extra bulk for switching in and taking hits. Lunar Dance provides important cleric support, and provides a safe switch-in in a pinch. While being largely filler, Thunder Wave can potentially scare checks and counters into switching out, and cripples those that stay in. No offensive move is on this set because Cresselia is being used as a suicide lead, and the focus of this set is setting up Light Screen and Reflect as soon as possible.
Set Details
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248 HP EVs reduces the amount of Stealth Rock damage taken, 136 Speed EVs allows Cresselia to outrun Adamant Bisharp so she can set up a Reflect before taking a hit, and the rest go into Special Defense to increase her special bulk. Light Clay is the mandatory item here, as the extra turns of screens it provides are more important than getting a little more health with Leftovers's passive recovery.
Usage Tips
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Cresselia should be used as a lead, as it's advised to get the screen support as soon as possible. It's possible to stay in on Pokemon who hit Cresselia super effectively after setting up either Reflect or Light Screen, given her already excellent bulk. Cresselia is able to endure Pursuits from the likes of Bisharp and Tyranitar, and if Reflect is used, Cresselia can switch out while avoiding the 2HKOs from their Pursuits.
Team Options
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Setup sweepers enjoy the extra bulk that Cresselia's dual screen support brings them, as they can set up with a lower risk of getting KOed before getting the chance to attack and can occasionally even set up twice. Mega Gyarados in particular is an excellent partner for Cresselia, as he is a great check to Tyranitar, Heatran, and Bisharp.
Calm Mind
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name: Calm Mind
move 1: Rest
move 2: Sleep Talk
move 3: Calm Mind
move 4: Psyshock / Psychic
ability: Levitate
item: Leftovers
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
nature: Bold
Moves
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Rest is Cresselia's method of recovery, not only fully recovering her HP, but also removing status conditions, such as poison and burn, thus protecting her from status. Sleep Talk is what allows Cresselia to fight back while she's asleep. Calm Mind turns Cresselia into a powerful tank after enough boosts, making her a massive threat to both offensive and defensive teams alike. Psyshock is Cresselia's main attack and lets her threaten special walls. Psychic can be used if hitting physical walls is more important than hitting special walls, but Cresselia will lose to an opposing Calm Mind user without Psyshock.
Set Details
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252 HP and Defense EVs with a Bold nature make Cresselia as physically bulky as possible. This, combined with Calm Mind increasing her Special Defense, will make Cresselia very difficult to wear down. Leftovers is the mandatory item to be used, as the passive recovery will play a huge role in her survival.
Usage Tips
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Calm Mind Cresselia is best used late game, when her checks and counters have been either worn down or KOed. This set can come in on nearly every stall-oriented Pokemon and proceed to set up, but those with Roar or Taunt will be able to stop this set dead in its tracks. If the opponent has either any Dark-types or Jirachi, Cresselia can't do anything without being hard countered. It's okay to get a little greedy with setting up at times, but setting up all the way to +6 isn't always advisable, as spending that many turns setting up gives the opponent many opportunities to switch, set up, or set entry hazards.
Team Options
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Terrakion makes for a good teammate thanks to its ability to handle most Dark- and Steel-types and access to Stealth Rock for entry hazard support. Choice Scarf Landorus-T can take on Bisharp, Tyranitar, Jirachi, and Heatran, but he must be wary of Tyranitar using an Ice-type move and can't switch into Heatran, as he could use Will-O-Wisp on the switch. Gliscor can switch in to absorb status moves after Toxic Orb activates, and is
Other Options
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Hidden Power Fire allows Cresselia to threaten Steel-types, such as Scizor and Ferrothorn. Psyshock can be used on the support sets to damage special walls more, but the damage difference is rather minuscule, considering how little Special Attack Cresselia has.
Checks & Counters
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**Dark-types**: Dark-types, such as Tyranitar, Bisharp, and Mandibuzz, are relatively unaffected by Cresselia's attacks bar Moonblast, and the former two can threaten her with Pursuit or their strongest STAB moves, whereas the latter can Taunt and proceed to Toxic stall.
**Clefable**: Magic Guard variants of Cleable are able to set up on Cresselia quite easily with Calm Mind and can heal off all damage Cresselia can inflict to her. Alternatively, Clefable can use Unaware to completely stop the Calm Mind set dead in its tracks, though can't do very much in return.
**Toxic**: Toxic drastically impedes Cresselia's ability to wall opponents, and she must rely on Rest to rid herself of it.
**Taunt**: Taunt users force Cresselia out frequently if not constantly, as Cresselia is completely helpless after losing access to her support moves. Notable users include but are not limited to: Thundurus, Mega Gardevoir, Heatran, Sableye, Mega Gyarados, Mandibuzz, Mew, Victini, and Gliscor.
**Steel-types**: Steel-types in general force Cresselia to switch out constantly, as they only have to fear Thunder Wave and weak Hidden Power Fires, with Heatran being the best of the bunch, since Flash Fire protects against the latter move.
**Rain and Sand**: Rain and sand nerf Moonlight, Cresselia's best means of recovery. As such, weather sweepers such as Excadrill, Tyranitar, Kabutops, and Kingdra can easily wear her down, though only the former is safe from Thunder Wave.
**Calm Mind Sweepers**: Calm Mind sweepers, especially Suicune and Manaphy, can threaten Toxic and Psyshock-lacking variants of Cresselia, as they can ignore any other attack while they set up to the point where their attacks can deal enough damage to 2HKO after their Scalds eventually burn her.
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