Copyediting Scarf Cress + Def Kee Cress (QC 2/2) (GP 0/1)

[SET]
Scarf (Cresselia) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 196 HP / 16 Def / 64 SpA / 232 Spe
Bold Nature
- Psychic / Psyshock
- Ice Beam / Moonblast / Calm Mind
- Trick
- Rest / Moonlight

[SET COMMENTS]

Set Description
=============
Choice Scarf in combination with Trick allows for Cresselia to force passive mons to be trapped into weak attacks or status moves while healing off with Rest. This allows Cresselia to defeat Stall Cresselia, Tapu Koko, and Pressure Stall Entei. Psychic is used to defeat Urshifu-Rapid-Strike while Psyshock is better vs Nihilego with both attacks helping against Sawk. Ice Beam gives Cresselia a favorable matchup against Garchomp as well as most Landorus-Therian sets. Moonblast is an option to defeat no bulk Urshifu-Single-Strike while Calm Mind provides a better matchup against Sylveon especially when combined with Moonlight. Moonlight is an option to have more reliable recovery at the expense of being weaker against status moves and having less PP. This helps against certain Spectrier sets but gives up matchups against some Stall mons like Chansey.

EVs
=============
64 Special Attack evs to 2HKO 4 SPD evs Haxorus. 232 Speed evs allow Cresselia to outspeed Tapu Koko. 196 HP with 16 Def evs combined with a Bold Nature allows Cresselia to live 2 Adamant Haxorus Outrage while maximizing HP. If running Moonblast instead of Ice Beam Cresselia should run 44 Special Attack evs to still 2HKO Haxorus while OHKOing 4 SPD Urshifu-Single-Strike with 232 Speed evs for Tapu Koko and the remaining 232 evs into HP to retain living 2 Adamant Haxorus Outrages

Usage Tips
=============
Cresselia should generally click Trick to lock the opponent into a move which due to Cresselia's bulk combined with recovery from Rest or Moonlight allows for Cresselia to stall out many attacks. However, Cresselia should be wary of clicking Trick into opposing Choiced Pokemon where instead Cresselia should click an attack if Cresselia can KO before getting KO'd such as versus Naganadel and Urshifu-Rapid-Strike. Additionally, versus weaker Choice Scarf + Trick Pokemon such as Scarf Tapu Fini Cresselia should click Trick first as if Scarf Tapu Fini clicks an attack Cresselia can stall by clicking Rest, and if both used Trick then this will reset the position. This should be repeated until Trick is out of PP and then Rest should be clicked as well and Cresselia will win the resulting Struggle battle.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Scarf Cresselia can run maximum Speed evs with a Timid Nature which allows Cresselia to defeat Pheromosa without running the risk of losing to Skitter Smack variants as well as improving the Sawk matchup however this is generally not advised as it requires Cresselia to lose some bulk as well as run more speed which is generally inadvisable when Cresselia enters Struggle wars versus opposing Choice Scarf Trick + Rest users in which being slower allows for the slower Struggle such as in the Scarf Cresselia mirror match.

[SET]
Defensive Kee (Cresselia) (F) @ Kee Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Moonlight
- Calm Mind
- Stored Power / Psyshock
- Reflect / Skill Swap

[SET COMMENTS]

Set Description
=============
Kee Berry with Maximum Defense EVs combined with Reflect allows Cresselia to defeat most physical attackers most notably Choice Band Darmanitan-Galar. Reflect also helps against Choice Band Haxorus Outrage whose Unnerve ability means that Cresselia's Kee Berry does not get consumed. Calm Mind combined with Stored Power allows for Cresselia to break through resists such as Celesteela and Ferrothorn. Moonlight provides reliable recovery allowing Cresselia to remain healthy while boosting up. Psyshock is an option to defeat Nihilego but this loses reliability versus the aforementioned Steel types. Skill Swap can be used to defeat Aromatisse as well as some Sylveon and Regidrago at the cost of reliability into many physical attackers.

EVs
=============
Maximum Defense EVs with a Bold Nature is used to provide Cresselia the best odds to defeat Choice Band Darmanitan-Galar.

Usage Tips
=============
Defensive Kee Cresselia is straightforward to use. Versus physical attackers Cresselia should generally use Reflect followed up by boosting with Calm Mind and healing with Moonlight whenever low and finally KOing with Stored Power. Versus special attackers Cresselia should forgo clicking Reflect and instead start setting up immediately with Calm Mind. When facing Ferrothorn in particular Cresselia should Calm Mind first instead of Reflect as Cresselia is not immediately threatened by Ferrothorn's attacks and should only click Reflect when Ferrothorn clicks Swords Dance to minimize wasted Reflect turns. Finally, it is important to be aware that this Cresselia set in particular provides many opportunities for the opposing pokemon to crit through Cresselia's boosts or get powerful secondary effects meaning while using Cresselia one should be wary of this. This set is particularly vulnerable to Taunt Pokemon such as Tapu Fini and Tapu Koko due to the lack of Icy Wind resulting in Cresselia's inability to outspeed the Taunt users and forced to use a weak 20 BP Stored Power.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Cresselia can run a fast Kee berry set which sacrifices reliability into physical attackers such as Darmanitan-Galar but gains a better matchup into common stall answers such as Taunt Tapu Fini allowing Cresselia to outspeed Taunt giving Cresselia the opportunity to boost with Calm Minds eventually overpowering Tapu Fini. Additionally a Rocky Helmet set with Psychic is an option for Cresselia to punish physical attackers most notably Power-Up-Punch Metagross and Taunt Zeraora allowing Cresselia to flip these matchups while retaining many other physical attackers and reducing chances to get crit.

[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/mishlef.509647/

Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/nunnbetter.501592/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/glitched.579035/

Grammar checked by:
[insert user link]
 
Last edited:
nice work, 1/2 after
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[SET]
Skill Swap (Cresselia) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 36 SpD / 56 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonlight
- Stored Power / Psyshock
- Skill Swap / Substitute

[SET COMMENTS]

Set Description
=============
Leftovers combined with Calm Mind allows for Cresselia to defeat Icy Wind + Encore Primarina sets. Moonlight provides reliable recovery allowing for Cresselia to defeat Choice Band Zeraora and non-SD Landorus-Therian. Stored Power allows for Cresselia to break through opposing Calm Minders (I'm not an expert on those things, but is "Calm Minders" an accepted term? Or do we need a term like "mons that utilize setup" or similar?) such as Primarina; or power through resists such as non-SD Ferrothorn and some Celesteela. Psyshock can be used to still help break through opposing Calm Minders as well as defeating Nihilego at the expense of Unaware Pokemon (in several occasions you just steal Unaware via Skill Swap and you're good to go regardless of the attacking move like vs Clefable and Quag. Maybe you feel a little safer vs CounterCoat Unaware Pyuku if you run Stored Power. Maybe you want to check your matchups here again?) and being worse into resists. Skill Swap allows for Cresselia to defeat Aroma Veil Aromatisse as well as be better into Regidrago as well as defeating Unaware Pokemon if running Psyshock. Substitute allows for Cresselia to improve odds of not getting KO'd by a Critical Hit while clicking Calm Mind as well as helping with some Sylveon sets. (On the case of Substitute: since AV Goodra is supposed to be a near-perfect counter to Cresselia, I think it's a must to include this matchup here. On usage tips we can also talk a little bit about this back and forth, mainly about the sequence of moves and perhaps the SpA drop after a draco meteor on the sub.)

general comment: As far as i know, "allow for" means to consider the possibility for something or to take it into consideration. So, I think we use plain "allow" here. This applies to later paragraphs too. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/allow-for


EVs
=============
Special Defense to live 252+ Primarina Moonblast into Torrent Hydro Cannon and Speed for base 60s such as Primarina, Sylveon, and Magnezone. The rest is put in Defense to live hits from Pokemon such as Zeraora, Landorus-Therian, and Haxorus.

Usage Tips
=============
Most Cresselia matchups are straightforward: Calm Mind until Stored Power is strong enough such that continuing clicking Calm Mind has less of a return on investment. For example, if Stored Power can 3HKO at +3 or can 2HKO at +4 and Cresselia does not need the Special Defense boost it is preferable to start attacking earlier. That way you get more chances to Critical Hit potentially turning Stored Power into a 2HKO with a crit. Otherwise, use Moonlight whenever Cresselia is low on HP, be wary of Moonlight's measly 8 PP. If possible attempt to keep Cresselia's HP high enough such that even a Critical Hit will not KO Cresselia. Finally, Skill Swap is generally used for Aromatisse, taking Aromatisse's Aroma Veil so that Aromatisse cannot Encore nor Disable Cresselia. It can also be used versus some Regidrago sets where Skill Swap should be clicked T1. This reduces the damage of Special Attacks the same amount as Calm Mind would with the added benefit of also weakening the damage of Regidrago's physical attacks. (one addition would be the Unaware mons we mentioned before.)

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Rest can be run instead of Moonlight but this is generally not recommended as Cresselia oftentimes enjoys the immediate 50% recovery from Moonlight. Rest does however allow Cresselia to defeat Pokemon which use Toxic such as Pressure Stall Entei which it previously was unable to. Reflect can be used instead of Skill Swap to deal with certain physical attackers but this is more common on a Kee Berry set.

[SET]
Icy Wind (Cresselia) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 60 SpD / 68 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonlight
- Icy Wind
- Stored Power

[SET COMMENTS]

Set Description
=============
Leftovers paired with Calm Mind and Icy Wind gives Cresselia a good matchup against most sets of the Water Fairies: Primarina, Tapu Fini, and Azumarill. Moonlight provides consistent recovery allowing Cresselia to set up safely in front of many pokemon which do not outdamage Leftovers + Moonlight recovery such as Kyurem and Choice Specs Naganadel (it gets tricky against Plot Lorb, better be specific imo). Stored Power allows for Cresselia to defeat some opposing Calm Minders including the aforementioned Tapu Fini and Primarina as well as breaking through resists such as Steelix and non-Metal Sound Magnezone. Icy Wind flips many matchups most notably versus Taunt users such as Tapu Fini, Tapu Koko, and Tapu Bulu (see below) as well as Swords Dance variants of Garchomp and Landorus-Therian.

EVs
=============
Special Defense to live max Special Attack Modest Specs Volcanion Steam Eruption into +1 Steam Eruption assuming burn and speed for Garchomp at -1. The rest is put into Defense for live attacks from Garchomp, Scarf Darmanitan-Galar, and Tapu Bulu.

Usage Tips
=============
Icy Wind should be used versus Tapu Fini after it clicks Taunt and Calm Mind otherwise (I've read it a few times but the sentence doesn't make sense to me. Do you mean Cresselia starts CMing after Fini clicks something other than Taunt?). Since Cresselia loses to Trick Tapu Fini regardless of the move clicked being locked into Icy Wind is just as losing as being locked into any other move. Icy Wind should be clicked Turn 1 versus Garchomp and Landorus-Therian as this allows Cresselia to Moonlight in the face of potentially getting 2HKOed by Band Outrage from Garchomp and providing better rolls to 2HKO as Cresselia against Swords Dance Knock Off variants of Landorus-Therian. Cresselia generally outspeeds most Tapu Bulu variants so clicking Calm Mind Turn 1 is generally safe and subsequently alternating between Icy Wind and Stored Power after getting Taunted to avoid potentially losing a turn to Disable. Finally, Calm Mind should be clicked against Tapu Koko and Icy Wind should only be clicked after getting Taunted.


Tapu Bulu comment: I don't agree with how we are approaching this particular matchup. Against what we can call a "standard" Bulu, the speed hardly matters as long as they decide to run Leech Seed which is appropriate. Slow Taunt (aka 3-turn taunt) -> Leech Seed -> Wood Hammer twice. The taunt turns don't allow you to recover in this way and there is no need for the Bulu to try to Disable. But, even if you could apply more damage, then it also wouldn't be absurd for the Bulu to run Speed. Anyway, not to be exhaustive here but I think focusing on the very important water fairy matchups is OK, I would drop Bulu if it were me.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Psyshock can be used instead of Stored Power but this is generally not preferable as it sacrifices reliability in the Tapu Fini matchup although it does help versus Acid Spray + Meteor Beam Nihilego where clicking Calm Mind into Psyshock generally KOs Nihilego while avoiding a KO by Nihilego. Rest can also be used over Moonlight to help versus certain Toxic users like Pressure Stall Entei, but this sacrifices reliability in matchups versus Pokemon such as Choice Band Zeraora so it is generally not advised.

[SET]
Scarf (Cresselia) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 196 HP / 16 Def / 64 SpA / 232 Spe
Bold Nature
- Psychic / Psyshock
- Ice Beam / Moonblast / Calm Mind
- Trick
- Rest / Moonlight

[SET COMMENTS]

Set Description
=============
Choice Scarf in combination with Trick allows for Cresselia to force passive (I'm not sure "passive" is a good description from a new player POV) mons to be trapped into weak attacks or status moves while healing off with Rest. This allows Cresselia to defeat Stall Cresselia, Tapu Koko, and Pressure Stall Entei. Psychic is used to defeat Urshifu-Rapid-Strike while Psyshock is better vs Nihilego with both attacks helping against Sawk. Ice Beam gives Cresselia a favorable matchup against Garchomp as well as most Landorus-Therian sets. Moonblast is an option to defeat no bulk Urshifu-Single-Strike while Calm Mind provides a better matchup against Sylveon especially when combined with Moonlight. Moonlight is an option to have more reliable recovery at the expense of being weaker against status moves and having less PP. This helps against certain Spectrier sets but gives up matchups against some Stall mons like Chansey.

EVs
=============
64 Special Attack evs to 2HKO 4 SPD evs Haxorus. 232 Speed evs allow Cresselia to outspeed Tapu Koko. 196 HP with 16 Def evs combined with a Bold Nature allows Cresselia to live 2 Adamant Haxorus Outrage while maximizing HP. If running Moonblast instead of Ice Beam Cresselia should run 44 Special Attack evs to still 2HKO Haxorus while OHKOing 4 SPD Urshifu-Single-Strike with 232 Speed evs for Tapu Koko and the remaining 232 evs into HP to retain living 2 Adamant Haxorus Outrages

Usage Tips
=============
Cresselia should generally click Trick to lock the opponent into a move which due to Cresselia's bulk combined with recovery from Rest or Moonlight allows for Cresselia to stall out many attacks. However, Cresselia should be wary of clicking Trick into opposing Choiced Pokemon where instead Cresselia should click an attack if Cresselia can KO before getting KO'd such as versus Naganadel and Urshifu-Rapid-Strike. Additionally, versus weaker Choice Scarf + Trick Pokemon such as Scarf Tapu Fini Cresselia should click Trick first as if Scarf Tapu Fini clicks an attack Cresselia can stall by clicking Rest, and if both used Trick then this will reset the position. This should be repeated until Trick is out of PP and then Rest should be clicked as well and Cresselia will win the resulting Struggle battle.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Scarf Cresselia can run maximum Speed evs with a Timid Nature which allows Cresselia to defeat Pheromosa without running the risk of losing to Skitter Smack variants as well as improving the Sawk matchup however this is generally not advised as it requires Cresselia to lose some bulk as well as run more speed which is generally inadvisable when Cresselia enters Struggle wars versus opposing Choice Scarf Trick + Rest users in which being slower allows for the slower Struggle such as in the Scarf Cresselia mirror match.

[SET]
Defensive Kee (Cresselia) (F) @ Kee Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Moonlight
- Calm Mind
- Stored Power / Psyshock
- Reflect / Skill Swap

[SET COMMENTS]

Set Description
=============
Kee Berry with Maximum Defense EVs combined with Reflect allows Cresselia to defeat most physical attackers most notably Choice Band Darmanitan-Galar. Reflect also helps against Choice Band Haxorus Outrage whose Unnerve ability means that Cresselia's Kee Berry does not get consumed. Calm Mind combined with Stored Power allows for Cresselia to break through resists such as Celesteela and Ferrothorn. Moonlight provides reliable recovery allowing Cresselia to remain healthy while boosting up. Psyshock is an option to defeat Nihilego but this loses reliability versus the aforementioned Steel types. Skill Swap can be used to defeat Aromatisse as well as some Sylveon and Regidrago at the cost of reliability into many physical attackers.

EVs
=============
Maximum Defense EVs with a Bold Nature is used to provide Cresselia the best odds to defeat Choice Band Darmanitan-Galar.

Usage Tips
=============
Defensive Kee Cresselia is generally straightforward to use., vVersus physical attackers Cresselia should generally use Reflect followed up by boosting with Calm Mind and healing with Moonlight whenever low and finally KOing with Stored Power. Versus special attackers Cresselia should forgo clicking Reflect and instead start setting up immediately with Calm Mind. When facing Ferrothorn in particular Cresselia should Calm Mind first instead of Reflect as Cresselia is not immediately threatened by Ferrothorn's attacks and should only click Reflect when Ferrothorn clicks Swords Dance to minimize wasted Reflect turns. Finally, it is important to be aware that this Cresselia set in particular provides many opportunities for the opposing pokemon to crit through Cresselia's boosts or get powerful secondary effects meaning while using Cresselia one should be wary of this. (I think this is a good opportunity to mention this set is especially prone to Taunt as it runs a single weak attacking move. Basically, the matchups we talk about in earlier sets like Taunt Koko or Fini have an application here.)

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Cresselia can run a fast Kee berry set which sacrifices reliability into physical attackers such as Darmanitan-Galar but gains a better matchup into common stall answers such as Taunt Tapu Fini allowing Cresselia to outspeed Taunt giving Cresselia the opportunity to boost with Calm Minds eventually overpowering Tapu Fini. Additionally a Rocky Helmet set is an option for Cresselia to punish physical attackers most notably Power-Up-Punch Metagross allowing Cresselia to flip this matchup while retaining many other physical attackers while reducing chances to get crit.

[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/mishlef.509647/

Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/nunnbetter.501592/
[insert user link]

Grammar checked by:
[insert user link]
 
[SET]
Skill Swap (Cresselia) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 36 SpD / 56 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonlight
- Stored Power / Psyshock
- Skill Swap / Substitute

[SET COMMENTS]

Set Description
=============
Leftovers combined with Calm Mind allows Cresselia to defeat Icy Wind + Encore Primarina sets. Moonlight provides reliable recovery allowing Cresselia to defeat Choice Band Zeraora and non-SD Landorus-Therian. Stored Power allows Cresselia to break through opposing Calm Mind Pokemon such as Primarina; or power through resists such as non-SD Ferrothorn and some Celesteela. Psyshock can be used to still help break through opposing Calm Minders as well as defeating Nihilego at the expense of being worse into resists. Skill Swap allows Cresselia to defeat Aroma Veil Aromatisse and be better into Regidrago as well as defeating some Unaware Pokemon if running Psyshock such as Clefable and Quagsire but notably not Pyukumuku. Substitute allows Cresselia to improve odds of not getting KO'd by a Critical Hit while clicking Calm Mind as well as helping with some Sylveon sets. (do u need skillswap for sylv? sub also for goodra)

EVs
=============
Special Defense to live 252+ Primarina Moonblast into Torrent Hydro Cannon and Speed for base 60s such as Primarina, Sylveon, and Magnezone. The rest is put in Defense to live hits from Pokemon such as Zeraora, Landorus-Therian, and Haxorus.

Usage Tips
=============
Most Cresselia matchups are straightforward: Calm Mind until Stored Power is strong enough such that continuing clicking Calm Mind has less of a return on investment. For example, if Stored Power can 3HKO at +3 or can 2HKO at +4 and Cresselia does not need the Special Defense boost it is preferable to start attacking earlier. That way you get more chances to Critical Hit potentially turning Stored Power into a 2HKO with a crit. Otherwise, use Moonlight whenever Cresselia is low on HP, be wary of Moonlight's measly 8 PP. If possible attempt to keep Cresselia's HP high enough such that even a Critical Hit will not KO Cresselia. Finally, Skill Swap is generally used for Aromatisse, taking Aromatisse's Aroma Veil so that Aromatisse cannot Encore nor Disable Cresselia. It can also be used versus some Regidrago sets where Skill Swap should be clicked T1. This reduces the damage of Special Attacks the same amount as Calm Mind would with the added benefit of also weakening the damage of Regidrago's physical attacks. Against Unaware pokemon such as Clefable and Quagsire if not running Stored Power, Cresselia will need to use Skill Swap while avoiding being Encored into Skill Swap so Cresselia can OHKO with a Calm Mind boosted Psyshock. Cresselia should be unpredictable with using Skill Swap while using Calm Mind to boost and Moonlight to stay healthy. Be aware that Pyukumuku is generally favored as a Unaware user due to being able to use the combination of Taunt, Mirror Coat, and Recover to prevent Cresselia from boosting fast enough without being taken out by Mirror Coat. (skillswap also helps vs landot so u can mention that maybe)

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Rest can be run instead of Moonlight but this is generally not recommended as Cresselia oftentimes enjoys the immediate 50% recovery from Moonlight. Rest does however allow Cresselia to defeat Pokemon which use Toxic such as Pressure Stall Entei which it previously was unable to. Reflect can be used instead of Skill Swap to deal with certain physical attackers but this is more common on a Kee Berry set.

[SET]
Icy Wind (Cresselia) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 60 SpD / 68 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonlight
- Icy Wind
- Stored Power

[SET COMMENTS]

Set Description
=============
Leftovers paired with Calm Mind and Icy Wind gives Cresselia a good matchup against most sets of the Water Fairies: Primarina, Tapu Fini, and Azumarill. Moonlight provides consistent recovery allowing Cresselia to set up safely in front of many pokemon which do not outdamage Leftovers + Moonlight recovery such as Kyurem and Choice Specs Naganadel. Stored Power allows for Cresselia to defeat some opposing Calm Minders including the aforementioned Tapu Fini and Primarina as well as breaking through resists such as Steelix and non-Metal Sound Magnezone. Icy Wind flips many matchups most notably versus Taunt users such as Tapu Fini, Tapu Koko, and Tapu Bulu as well as Swords Dance variants of Garchomp and Landorus-Therian.

EVs
=============
Special Defense to live max Special Attack Modest Specs Volcanion Steam Eruption into +1 Steam Eruption assuming burn and speed for Garchomp at -1. The rest is put into Defense for live attacks from Garchomp, Scarf Darmanitan-Galar, and Tapu Bulu. emphasize rolls

Usage Tips
=============
Calm Mind should be clicked versus Tapu Fini and Icy Wind should only be used if Tapu Fini Taunts Cresselia. Since Cresselia loses to Trick Tapu Fini regardless of the move clicked being locked into Icy Wind is just as losing as being locked into any other move therefore clicking Calm Mind turn 1 is optimal. Icy Wind should be clicked Turn 1 versus Garchomp and Landorus-Therian as this allows Cresselia to Moonlight in the face of potentially getting 2HKOed by Band Outrage from Garchomp and providing better rolls to 2HKO as Cresselia against Swords Dance Knock Off variants of Landorus-Therian. Cresselia generally outspeeds most Tapu Bulu variants so clicking Calm Mind Turn 1 is generally safe and subsequently alternating between Icy Wind and Stored Power after getting Taunted to avoid potentially losing a turn to Disable. It is worth noting that Tapu Bulu can win if it clicks Taunt turn 1 but this risks losing to Trick Cresselia thus turning the matchup into a 50/50. Finally, Calm Mind should be clicked against Tapu Koko and Icy Wind should only be clicked after getting Taunted.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Psyshock can be used instead of Stored Power but this is generally not preferable as it sacrifices reliability in the Tapu Fini matchup although it does help versus Acid Spray + Meteor Beam Nihilego where clicking Calm Mind into Psyshock generally KOs Nihilego while avoiding a KO by Nihilego. Rest can also be used over Moonlight to help versus certain Toxic users like Pressure Entei and Chansey but this sacrifices reliability in matchups versus Pokemon such as Choice Band Zeraora so it is generally not advised.

[SET]
Scarf (Cresselia) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 196 HP / 16 Def / 64 SpA / 232 Spe
Bold Nature
- Psychic / Psyshock
- Ice Beam / Moonblast / Calm Mind
- Trick
- Rest / Moonlight

[SET COMMENTS]

Set Description
=============
Choice Scarf in combination with Trick allows for Cresselia to force passive mons to be trapped into weak attacks or status moves while healing off with Rest. This allows Cresselia to defeat Stall Cresselia, Tapu Koko, and Pressure Stall Entei. Psychic is used to defeat Urshifu-Rapid-Strike while Psyshock is better vs Nihilego with both attacks helping against Sawk. Ice Beam gives Cresselia a favorable matchup against Garchomp as well as most Landorus-Therian sets. Moonblast is an option to defeat no bulk Urshifu-Single-Strike while Calm Mind provides a better matchup against Sylveon especially when combined with Moonlight. Moonlight is an option to have more reliable recovery at the expense of being weaker against status moves and having less PP. This helps against certain Spectrier sets but gives up matchups against some Stall mons like Chansey.

EVs
=============
64 Special Attack evs to 2HKO 4 SPD evs Haxorus. 232 Speed evs allow Cresselia to outspeed Tapu Koko. 196 HP with 16 Def evs combined with a Bold Nature allows Cresselia to live 2 Adamant Haxorus Outrage while maximizing HP. If running Moonblast instead of Ice Beam Cresselia should run 44 Special Attack evs to still 2HKO Haxorus while OHKOing 4 SPD Urshifu-Single-Strike with 232 Speed evs for Tapu Koko and the remaining 232 evs into HP to retain living 2 Adamant Haxorus Outrages

Usage Tips
=============
Cresselia should generally click Trick to lock the opponent into a move which due to Cresselia's bulk combined with recovery from Rest or Moonlight allows for Cresselia to stall out many attacks. However, Cresselia should be wary of clicking Trick into opposing Choiced Pokemon where instead Cresselia should click an attack if Cresselia can KO before getting KO'd such as versus Naganadel and Urshifu-Rapid-Strike. Additionally, versus weaker Choice Scarf + Trick Pokemon such as Scarf Tapu Fini Cresselia should click Trick first as if Scarf Tapu Fini clicks an attack Cresselia can stall by clicking Rest, and if both used Trick then this will reset the position. This should be repeated until Trick is out of PP and then Rest should be clicked as well and Cresselia will win the resulting Struggle battle.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Scarf Cresselia can run maximum Speed evs with a Timid Nature which allows Cresselia to defeat Pheromosa without running the risk of losing to Skitter Smack variants as well as improving the Sawk matchup however this is generally not advised as it requires Cresselia to lose some bulk as well as run more speed which is generally inadvisable when Cresselia enters Struggle wars versus opposing Choice Scarf Trick + Rest users in which being slower allows for the slower Struggle such as in the Scarf Cresselia mirror match.

[SET]
Defensive Kee (Cresselia) (F) @ Kee Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Moonlight
- Calm Mind
- Stored Power / Psyshock
- Reflect / Skill Swap

[SET COMMENTS]

Set Description
=============
Kee Berry with Maximum Defense EVs combined with Reflect allows Cresselia to defeat most physical attackers most notably Choice Band Darmanitan-Galar. Reflect also helps against Choice Band Haxorus Outrage whose Unnerve ability means that Cresselia's Kee Berry does not get consumed. Calm Mind combined with Stored Power allows for Cresselia to break through resists such as Celesteela and Ferrothorn. Moonlight provides reliable recovery allowing Cresselia to remain healthy while boosting up. Psyshock is an option to defeat Nihilego but this loses reliability versus the aforementioned Steel types. Skill Swap can be used to defeat Aromatisse as well as some Sylveon and Regidrago at the cost of reliability into many physical attackers.

EVs
=============
Maximum Defense EVs with a Bold Nature is used to provide Cresselia the best odds to defeat Choice Band Darmanitan-Galar.

Usage Tips
=============
Defensive Kee Cresselia is straightforward to use. Versus physical attackers Cresselia should generally use Reflect followed up by boosting with Calm Mind and healing with Moonlight whenever low and finally KOing with Stored Power. Versus special attackers Cresselia should forgo clicking Reflect and instead start setting up immediately with Calm Mind. When facing Ferrothorn in particular Cresselia should Calm Mind first instead of Reflect as Cresselia is not immediately threatened by Ferrothorn's attacks and should only click Reflect when Ferrothorn clicks Swords Dance to minimize wasted Reflect turns. Finally, it is important to be aware that this Cresselia set in particular provides many opportunities for the opposing pokemon to crit through Cresselia's boosts or get powerful secondary effects meaning while using Cresselia one should be wary of this. This set is particularly vulnerable to Taunt Pokemon such as Tapu Fini and Tapu Koko due to the lack of Icy Wind resulting in Cresselia's only attack being a weak 20 BP Stored Power. this makes it sound like cress is losing bc of a weak move, can u reword to highlight icy wind dropping speed

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Cresselia can run a fast Kee berry set which sacrifices reliability into physical attackers such as Darmanitan-Galar but gains a better matchup into common stall answers such as Taunt Tapu Fini allowing Cresselia to outspeed Taunt giving Cresselia the opportunity to boost with Calm Minds eventually overpowering Tapu Fini. Additionally a Rocky Helmet set is an option for Cresselia to punish physical attackers most notably Power-Up-Punch Metagross and zera bc u run psychic on helmet also mention helps vs haxorus question markallowing Cresselia to flip this matchup while retaining many other physical attackers while reducing chances to get crit.

[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/mishlef.509647/

Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/nunnbetter.501592/
add me here
Grammar checked by:
[insert user link]
really well done, 2/2 when implemented

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