[overview]
**Draft Order**: Round 5 onwards
**Price Range**: 8-10 points
**Overview**: Cresselia is defined by its excellent bulk, which can be used to provide support and facilitate setup with Calm Mind. On the other hand, it has nearly no immediate power, which often forces it to rely on teammates and status moves to make progress. Levitate helps protects it from certain attackers, especially when combined with Tera, which creates plenty of setup opportunity.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Defensive Utility**: Cresselia is typically best suited to support teammates with its wide array of utility moves. Its bulk and reliable recovery allow it to switch into foes multiple times throughout games, shielding teammates from dangerous attacks. It can then hinder foes with Thunder Wave and Trick or continue keeping teammates healthy via dual screens or Lunar Dance. On offensive teams based around Trick Room, Cresselia is one of the premier Trick Room setters. It struggles to deal meaningful damage most of the time, but it has the coverage to strike certain targets for super effective damage.
**Setup Sweeper**: Cresselia can attempt to win games by setting up with Calm Mind, though it needs several turns to build up enough power. These sets usually need to run Stored Power, so they can be fairly predictable and easy to disrupt.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Psyshock, Psychic, Stored Power, Future Sight
**Setup Moves**: Calm Mind
**Utility Moves**: Lunar Dance, Moonlight, Thunder Wave, Trick, Reflect, Light Screen, Trick Room, Substitute
**Coverage**: Moonblast, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Shadow Ball, Power Gem, Energy Ball, Grass Knot
Niche Moves
========
**Icy Wind**: Icy Wind can be used despite its low power to slow down foes without being blocked by Taunt.
**Lunar Blessing**: Lunar Blessing is often inferior to Moonlight, but it can be used to protect Calm Mind sets from Toxic.
Common Items
========
**Leftovers**: Leftovers is a natural fit for many sets on such a bulky Pokemon, though it typically doesn't help with the common answers to Cresselia.
**Mental Herb**: Mental Herb gives Cresselia an extra turn to act against foes with Encore or Taunt, which can lead to a crucial Thunder Wave or Lunar Dance.
**Rocky Helmet**: Rocky Helmet allows Cresselia to deal damage to most physical attackers without relying on its weak offensive stats.
**Light Clay**: Light Clay lets Cresselia more effectively support its team's attackers with dual screens.
Niche Items
========
**Eject Button**: Eject Button is used early-game to keep up offensive momentum. Cresselia can usually tank a hit and then come back to provide other support later on.
**Red Card**: Red Card is Cresselia's only phazing option, so it can be helpful for stopping some setup sweepers.
**Resistance Berries**: Resistance Berries grant Cresselia a chance to strike back at boosted attackers with super effective moves or lure in and paralyze a specific target.
**Choice Scarf / Lagging Tail**: Cresselia can use Trick to deal with some setup sweepers. Before using Trick, Choice Scarf lets it land a surprise hit on faster foes, and Lagging Tail makes it act slower than many attackers without revealing its item.
**Weakness Policy**: Weakness Policy pairs well with Cresselia's many weaknesses and lack of power, and it can potentially lead to a deadly Stored Power.
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Heavy-Duty Boots grants Cresselia an immunity to Stealth Rock, which can occasionally protect it from specific 2HKOs.
**Damage-boosting Items**: Items like Life Orb and Expert Belt help Cresselia reach respectable levels of damage against the foes it can hit super effectively.
**Covert Cloak**: Cresselia wants to sit on the field for long periods, and Covert Cloak can protect it from harmful effects like status and stat drops as it takes hits.
Tera
========
Cresselia is a solid secondary Tera Captain. It can fill support roles well enough without using Tera, so it can pair well with Pokemon that need to Tera more regularly. In matchups where Cresselia is attempting to sweep with Calm Mind, Tera can make it much more difficult to take down with regular attacks. Tera Electric, Steel, and Poison leave it with very few weaknesses, especially with Tera Steel and Poison being immune to Toxic, and Tera Fairy powers up Moonblast to help deal with Dark-types. Other Tera types like Tera Water and Ghost can be chosen for their defensive attributes.
Draft Strategy
========
Cresselia is typically drafted to round out a team's bulk, provide a valuable immunity to Ground, and provide support for offense. It can also serve as a bulky sweeper wincon, especially if your team has room for it in the Tera Captain budget.
**Wallbreakers**: Teammates with actual damage output are incredibly important to draft before Cresselia. Those that aren't bothered by disruption, like Ogerpon-W and the Urshifu formes, are especially nice to have, though several offensive threats are needed.
**Utility Options**: Additional utility Pokemon should be taken to fill the gaps left by Cresselia. Moves like Stealth Rock, Knock Off, Roar, and U-turn can be covered by teammates like Iron Treads and Hisuian Samurott.
**Speed Control**: Faster teammates like Meowscarada and Iron Moth prevent the team from getting easily overwhelmed by faster attackers. They can act as revenge killers and encourage foes to bring Speed-boosting natures and Choice Scarf rather than focusing on breaking through Cresselia's defenses.
**Anti-setup Pokemon**: Cresselia's passivity makes it a prime target for opposing setup sweepers and wallbreakers. As its disruption options are blocked by Substitute as well, some of its teammates should have access to Encore, Taunt, or phazing.
Checks and Counters
========
**Disruption**: Taunt and Encore can shut down most of Cresselia's sets, preventing it from using its vital utility moves and setting up.
**Phazing**: Cresselia's need for multiple turns of setup to become truly dangerous leaves it weak to Pokemon that can clear its stat boosts. Faster foes can use Haze or Clear Smog, while bulkier ones can use moves like Roar and Dragon Tail.
**Substitute**: Foes with Substitute can protect themselves from Thunder Wave and Trick, and Cresselia often struggles to break the Substitute. This can give foes free turns to set up.
**Steel-types**: Many Steel-types can easily wall Cresselia due to its low power and lack of super effective coverage options beyond Tera Blast.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/scionicle.599989/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/jscurf2.608304/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/vmnunes.613460/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/techno.527276/
**Draft Order**: Round 5 onwards
**Price Range**: 8-10 points
**Overview**: Cresselia is defined by its excellent bulk, which can be used to provide support and facilitate setup with Calm Mind. On the other hand, it has nearly no immediate power, which often forces it to rely on teammates and status moves to make progress. Levitate helps protects it from certain attackers, especially when combined with Tera, which creates plenty of setup opportunity.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Defensive Utility**: Cresselia is typically best suited to support teammates with its wide array of utility moves. Its bulk and reliable recovery allow it to switch into foes multiple times throughout games, shielding teammates from dangerous attacks. It can then hinder foes with Thunder Wave and Trick or continue keeping teammates healthy via dual screens or Lunar Dance. On offensive teams based around Trick Room, Cresselia is one of the premier Trick Room setters. It struggles to deal meaningful damage most of the time, but it has the coverage to strike certain targets for super effective damage.
**Setup Sweeper**: Cresselia can attempt to win games by setting up with Calm Mind, though it needs several turns to build up enough power. These sets usually need to run Stored Power, so they can be fairly predictable and easy to disrupt.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Psyshock, Psychic, Stored Power, Future Sight
**Setup Moves**: Calm Mind
**Utility Moves**: Lunar Dance, Moonlight, Thunder Wave, Trick, Reflect, Light Screen, Trick Room, Substitute
**Coverage**: Moonblast, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Shadow Ball, Power Gem, Energy Ball, Grass Knot
Niche Moves
========
**Icy Wind**: Icy Wind can be used despite its low power to slow down foes without being blocked by Taunt.
**Lunar Blessing**: Lunar Blessing is often inferior to Moonlight, but it can be used to protect Calm Mind sets from Toxic.
Common Items
========
**Leftovers**: Leftovers is a natural fit for many sets on such a bulky Pokemon, though it typically doesn't help with the common answers to Cresselia.
**Mental Herb**: Mental Herb gives Cresselia an extra turn to act against foes with Encore or Taunt, which can lead to a crucial Thunder Wave or Lunar Dance.
**Rocky Helmet**: Rocky Helmet allows Cresselia to deal damage to most physical attackers without relying on its weak offensive stats.
**Light Clay**: Light Clay lets Cresselia more effectively support its team's attackers with dual screens.
Niche Items
========
**Eject Button**: Eject Button is used early-game to keep up offensive momentum. Cresselia can usually tank a hit and then come back to provide other support later on.
**Red Card**: Red Card is Cresselia's only phazing option, so it can be helpful for stopping some setup sweepers.
**Resistance Berries**: Resistance Berries grant Cresselia a chance to strike back at boosted attackers with super effective moves or lure in and paralyze a specific target.
**Choice Scarf / Lagging Tail**: Cresselia can use Trick to deal with some setup sweepers. Before using Trick, Choice Scarf lets it land a surprise hit on faster foes, and Lagging Tail makes it act slower than many attackers without revealing its item.
**Weakness Policy**: Weakness Policy pairs well with Cresselia's many weaknesses and lack of power, and it can potentially lead to a deadly Stored Power.
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Heavy-Duty Boots grants Cresselia an immunity to Stealth Rock, which can occasionally protect it from specific 2HKOs.
**Damage-boosting Items**: Items like Life Orb and Expert Belt help Cresselia reach respectable levels of damage against the foes it can hit super effectively.
**Covert Cloak**: Cresselia wants to sit on the field for long periods, and Covert Cloak can protect it from harmful effects like status and stat drops as it takes hits.
Tera
========
Cresselia is a solid secondary Tera Captain. It can fill support roles well enough without using Tera, so it can pair well with Pokemon that need to Tera more regularly. In matchups where Cresselia is attempting to sweep with Calm Mind, Tera can make it much more difficult to take down with regular attacks. Tera Electric, Steel, and Poison leave it with very few weaknesses, especially with Tera Steel and Poison being immune to Toxic, and Tera Fairy powers up Moonblast to help deal with Dark-types. Other Tera types like Tera Water and Ghost can be chosen for their defensive attributes.
Draft Strategy
========
Cresselia is typically drafted to round out a team's bulk, provide a valuable immunity to Ground, and provide support for offense. It can also serve as a bulky sweeper wincon, especially if your team has room for it in the Tera Captain budget.
**Wallbreakers**: Teammates with actual damage output are incredibly important to draft before Cresselia. Those that aren't bothered by disruption, like Ogerpon-W and the Urshifu formes, are especially nice to have, though several offensive threats are needed.
**Utility Options**: Additional utility Pokemon should be taken to fill the gaps left by Cresselia. Moves like Stealth Rock, Knock Off, Roar, and U-turn can be covered by teammates like Iron Treads and Hisuian Samurott.
**Speed Control**: Faster teammates like Meowscarada and Iron Moth prevent the team from getting easily overwhelmed by faster attackers. They can act as revenge killers and encourage foes to bring Speed-boosting natures and Choice Scarf rather than focusing on breaking through Cresselia's defenses.
**Anti-setup Pokemon**: Cresselia's passivity makes it a prime target for opposing setup sweepers and wallbreakers. As its disruption options are blocked by Substitute as well, some of its teammates should have access to Encore, Taunt, or phazing.
Checks and Counters
========
**Disruption**: Taunt and Encore can shut down most of Cresselia's sets, preventing it from using its vital utility moves and setting up.
**Phazing**: Cresselia's need for multiple turns of setup to become truly dangerous leaves it weak to Pokemon that can clear its stat boosts. Faster foes can use Haze or Clear Smog, while bulkier ones can use moves like Roar and Dragon Tail.
**Substitute**: Foes with Substitute can protect themselves from Thunder Wave and Trick, and Cresselia often struggles to break the Substitute. This can give foes free turns to set up.
**Steel-types**: Many Steel-types can easily wall Cresselia due to its low power and lack of super effective coverage options beyond Tera Blast.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/scionicle.599989/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/jscurf2.608304/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/vmnunes.613460/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/techno.527276/
Last edited:
