
[OVERVIEW]
Cresselia's niche lies in its ability to be one of the most reliable Trick Room setters in the tier. Additionally, Cresselia's exclusive access to the move Lunar Dance allows it to be the ideal supportive Pokemon for Trick Room teams, as it's able to give Trick Room sweepers a second chance to sweep after being weakened or just provide vital late-game momentum. Cresselia's astronomical bulk allows it to absorb even the most powerful super effective attacks such as U-turn from Scizor and Dark Pulse from Hydreigon and reliably set up Trick Room. Its access to a wide range of useful utility and coverage options such as Lunar Dance and Psychic allows the user to customize Cresselia's set based on the needs of the individual Trick Room team. However, Cresselia is very niche and can only be fit on a very specific subset of teams due to it being outclassed in roles such as a Calm Mind sweeper by Latias and Mega Slowbro due to the limited PP of Moonlight and its lack of offensive presence, limiting its overall viability. Cresselia is often left strapped for moveslots, and this leaves it complete setup bait for certain Pokemon based on its set. Finally, Cresselia's poor defensive typing leaves it easily KOed by a myriad of the tier's top offensive threats after being worn down, which is very common, as it has to take a hit to set up Trick Room before switching into a sweeper.
[SET]
name: Trick Room
move 1: Trick Room
move 2: Lunar Dance
move 3: Moonlight
move 4: Moonblast
item: Mental Herb
ability: Levitate
nature: Relaxed
evs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Trick Room is Cresselia's main niche and the focal point of this set, causing its slower teammates to move first and taking away offensive momentum from the opponent. Lunar Dance is a very useful utility move that can be used in the later stages of a battle in order to both gain momentum and completely heal up a Trick Room sweeper such as Alolan Marowak or Stakataka. Moonlight is a solid option that extends Cresselia's longevity, allowing it to set up Trick Room often throughout the match. Moonblast allows Cresselia to 2HKO Hydreigon and heavily damage other Dragon-types such as Latias. Moonblast also nails Dark-types such as Mega Sharpedo and Crawdaunt that may be troublesome otherwise. Hidden Power Fire can be used in this slot in order to nail Choice Band Scizor, which is a huge threat to the myriad of Psychic- and Dark-types found on Trick Room teams. Psychic can be used over Moonlight due to its solid overall damage output as a STAB attack that heavily damages Pokemon such as Heracross that are threatening to Trick Room teams.
Set Details
========
Maximum HP and Defense EVs with a Relaxed nature ensure that Cresselia can sponge physical attacks in general while taking Bug- and Dark-type attacks from Pokemon like Heracross, Scizor, and Crawdaunt if needed. Holding a Mental Herb allows Cresselia to set up Trick Room once versus Taunt users such as Gengar and Azelf, which can be very useful if Cresselia has to heal up a teammate with Lunar Dance. Colbur Berry can be used to circumvent Cresselia's Dark-type weakness, but the utility of Mental Herb is much preferred for general use. Levitate is Cresselia's sole ability and it allows Cresselia to easily switch into threatening offensive Ground-types such as Mamoswine and Nidoking.
Usage Tips
========
Cresselia is a Trick Room setter first and foremost, so it should prioritize setting up Trick Room in as many scenarios as possible. Additionally, avoid using Lunar Dance until late-game if possible so that Cresselia can fully heal a Trick Room sweeper to clean late-game. While Cresselia can take hits from basically any Pokemon in the tier, try to set up Trick Room versus Pokemon that cannot heavily damage it such as Alomomola or Mega Altaria in order to maximize the number of times that it can switch in. After setting up Trick Room, it's usually best to switch into a Trick Room sweeper instead of attacking the foe because they can do much more damage to the opposing team while avoiding wasting Trick Room turns.
Team Options
========
Cresselia should be used on full or semi-Trick Room offenses due to that being its main niche. Cresselia is best paired with Trick Room sweepers such as Alolan Marowak and Stakataka that appreciate its ability to set up Trick Room and support them late-game with Lunar Dance. Trick Room sweepers such as Crawdaunt and Bewear that can switch into Dark- and Bug-type moves that threaten out Cresselia make good teammates due to them being able to easily switch in without requiring a free switch. Finally, other Trick Room setters such as Uxie and Stakataka make excellent teammates due to them being able to take pressure off of Cresselia to set up Trick Room.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Toxic is a useful utility move that can be used to allow Cresselia to cripple bulkier Pokemon like Swampert so that teammates such as Stakataka and Alolan Marowak have an easier time breaking through them. Another option on the Trick Room set is Skill Swap, which can be used to strip Pokemon of important abilities, most notably removing Guts from Heracross. Cresselia can attempt to use a bulky Calm Mind set, but the presence of Scizor makes it hard to run this set effectively, and this set is usually outclassed by Latias due to its better recovery move, higher Speed tier, and stronger offensive presence. Cresselia can use a defensive set on stall teams with Moonlight and Toxic, but it struggles to be effective due to Cresselia's poor defensive typing, its tendency to be Pursuit trapped, and Moonlight's low PP.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Ghost-types**: Ghost-types such as Chandelure and Alolan Marowak that can threaten the rest of Trick Room teams are arguably the most problematic Pokemon for Cresselia due to it being very passive and not being able to break their Substitutes easily. Gengar can utilize Never-Ending Nightmare to outright OHKO Cresselia, preventing Trick Room from being set up.
**Bug-types**: Bug-types such as Heracross and Choice Band Scizor can threaten to do significant damage to Cresselia because they hit it super effectively, meaning that it won't be able to set up Trick Room later on in the match. However, Scizor has to watch out for Hidden Power Fire when switching into Cresselia, and Heracross has to watch out for Psychic and Moonblast.
**Dark-types:** Offensive Dark-types such as Crawdaunt and Hydreigon are problematic for Cresselia because they do heavy damage with STAB Dark-type moves. Hydreigeon is problematic in particular because it can cause Cresselia to flinch with Dark Pulse. Additionally, Pursuit trapping can significantly weaken Cresselia and make it much harder to set up Trick Room later on in the game.
Last edited: