OVERVIEW]
Cresselia possesses absurd physical and special bulk, which allows it to take on even the most threatening Pokemon in the tier such as Choice Band Zygarde and most variants of offensive Landorus-T. This, combined with a great support move in Lunar Dance, makes it a reliable Trick Room setter. Lunar Dance is a particularly great asset on a Trick Room setter because it allows Cresselia to bring a fully healed teammate safely into the battle after setting Trick Room. Despite its excellent defensive capabilities, Cresseila's low Special Attack turns it into a rather passive Pokemon that can be taken advantage of by some setup sweepers like Swords Dance Mega Mawile and Quiver Dance Volcarona, meaning it will usually be forced to use Lunar Dance right after setting up Trick Room to regain momentum and prevent a sweep. It's also heavily reliant on its one-time use Mental Herb; without it, Pokemon with Taunt such as Tapu Koko and Heatran can easily shut it down.
[SET]
name: Trick Room
move 1: Trick Room
move 2: Ice Beam / Psychic
move 3: Moonlight
move 4: Lunar Dance
item: Mental Herb
ability: Levitate
nature: Relaxed
evs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Trick Room is a powerful tool against offensive teams because it allows slower teammates to move before faster opponents for five turns, thus rendering useless the opponent's offensive checks and any fast revenge killers. Ice Beam, while rather weak because of Cresselia's low Special Attack, provides Cresselia with neat coverage against the likes of Zygarde and Garchomp, which it struggles to threaten otherwise due to their modest bulk. Psychic is an optional move that hits neutral targets such as Mega Medicham harder thanks to the STAB boost and also does a significant amount of damage to Mega Heracross, a big threat to the Trick Room archetype. Moonlight lets Cresselia stay alive throughout a battle in case it finds an opportunity to set up Trick Room a second time. Finally, Lunar Dance lets Cresselia heal a teammate and bring it safely to the battle at the cost of itself.
Set Details
========
Maximum HP and Defense investment with a Relaxed nature minimizes the damage Cresselia takes from some strong wallbreakers such as Choice Band Zygarde and Swords Dance Garchomp, thus letting it set up Trick Room against them. No Speed IVs with a Speed-reducing nature make it as fast as possible under Trick Room. Its Levitate ability gives it a key ground immunity, allowing it to pivot into Ground-types like Landorus-T and Garchomp that threaten common Trick Room sweepers like Alolan Marowak and Magearna.
Usage Tips
========
Thanks to Cresseila's immense mixed bulk, it finds plenty of opportunities to pivot into offensive threats like Tapu Koko, Zygarde, and Mega Medicham and set up Trick Room mid-game. Once Trick Room has been set up, it should avoid staying in on the field for too long because this takes valuable time away from its teammates. Using Lunar Dance right after Trick Room is a great way of regaining momentum without wasting too many turns in pivoting around to get a Trick Room sweeper into the game. However, there are some instances where sacrificing a weakened teammate to bring a healthy one into the battle works better because it allows Cresselia to set up Trick Room again and use its Lunar Dance later. This is also helpful on instances where Cresselia needs to be preserved until the end-game to switch into an opposing threat.
Team Options
========
This set only fits on the Trick Room archetype, with potent and slow wallbreakers such as Alolan Marowak, Magearna, Mega Mawile, and Mega Heracross as teammates. Since it usually ends up being sacrificed after using Trick Room followed by Lunar Dance, additional Trick Room setters such as Porygon2, Cofagrigus, and Magearna make for great partners. A suicide lead with access to Trick Room and Stealth Rock is also appreciated, as Cresselia usually won't attempt to set up Trick Room until late-game. Pokemon like Uxie and Bronzong can fulfill this role.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Other items such as Leftovers and a Colbur Berry can be used providing Cresselia with extra recovery and an easier time setting up Trick Room against Dark-types once in a game, respectively. However, the lack of Mental Herb means that common Taunt users can prevent it from setting up Trick Room, making it hard to justify any of these items over it. Hidden Power Fire can be used instead of Ice Beam, notably hitting Ferrothorn and Mega Scizor for super effective damage, though the lack of Ice Beam hurts Cresselia's ability to check Zygarde and Landorus-T. Dual screens with Light Clay is another option to bring in a sweeper with Lunar Dance, although it struggles to beat common Defoggers like Mew and Mega Scizor because of it being so passive. A support set with Thunder Wave can be used on teams that are looking for a blanket check to a good amount of the metagame, even though it's usually too passive for these teams.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Strong Dark-types**: Choice Specs Ash-Greninja, Hoopa-U, and both Tyranitar and its Mega Evolution can 2HKO Cresseila with their respective STAB moves, meaning it can't come in on them to set up Trick Room. Pursuit trappers like Weavile can also put it in an awkward situation if it's weakened enough.
**Ghost-types**: When equipped with a Choice Specs, Gengar can 2HKO Cresselia with Shadow Ball, Mimikyu can use it as setup fodder, and Cofagrigus can take advantage of Trick Room and start setting up with Nasty Plot.
**Taunt**: After its Mental Herb is consumed, Pokemon with Taunt can prevent Cresselia from setting up Trick Room, bringing a teammate with Lunar Dance, or recovering with Moonlight, rendering it pretty much useless.
**Status Inducers**: Status conditions like poison and sleep cripple Cresselia and give it a harder time doing its job.
Cresselia possesses absurd physical and special bulk, which allows it to take on even the most threatening Pokemon in the tier such as Choice Band Zygarde and most variants of offensive Landorus-T. This, combined with a great support move in Lunar Dance, makes it a reliable Trick Room setter. Lunar Dance is a particularly great asset on a Trick Room setter because it allows Cresselia to bring a fully healed teammate safely into the battle after setting Trick Room. Despite its excellent defensive capabilities, Cresseila's low Special Attack turns it into a rather passive Pokemon that can be taken advantage of by some setup sweepers like Swords Dance Mega Mawile and Quiver Dance Volcarona, meaning it will usually be forced to use Lunar Dance right after setting up Trick Room to regain momentum and prevent a sweep. It's also heavily reliant on its one-time use Mental Herb; without it, Pokemon with Taunt such as Tapu Koko and Heatran can easily shut it down.
[SET]
name: Trick Room
move 1: Trick Room
move 2: Ice Beam / Psychic
move 3: Moonlight
move 4: Lunar Dance
item: Mental Herb
ability: Levitate
nature: Relaxed
evs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Trick Room is a powerful tool against offensive teams because it allows slower teammates to move before faster opponents for five turns, thus rendering useless the opponent's offensive checks and any fast revenge killers. Ice Beam, while rather weak because of Cresselia's low Special Attack, provides Cresselia with neat coverage against the likes of Zygarde and Garchomp, which it struggles to threaten otherwise due to their modest bulk. Psychic is an optional move that hits neutral targets such as Mega Medicham harder thanks to the STAB boost and also does a significant amount of damage to Mega Heracross, a big threat to the Trick Room archetype. Moonlight lets Cresselia stay alive throughout a battle in case it finds an opportunity to set up Trick Room a second time. Finally, Lunar Dance lets Cresselia heal a teammate and bring it safely to the battle at the cost of itself.
Set Details
========
Maximum HP and Defense investment with a Relaxed nature minimizes the damage Cresselia takes from some strong wallbreakers such as Choice Band Zygarde and Swords Dance Garchomp, thus letting it set up Trick Room against them. No Speed IVs with a Speed-reducing nature make it as fast as possible under Trick Room. Its Levitate ability gives it a key ground immunity, allowing it to pivot into Ground-types like Landorus-T and Garchomp that threaten common Trick Room sweepers like Alolan Marowak and Magearna.
Usage Tips
========
Thanks to Cresseila's immense mixed bulk, it finds plenty of opportunities to pivot into offensive threats like Tapu Koko, Zygarde, and Mega Medicham and set up Trick Room mid-game. Once Trick Room has been set up, it should avoid staying in on the field for too long because this takes valuable time away from its teammates. Using Lunar Dance right after Trick Room is a great way of regaining momentum without wasting too many turns in pivoting around to get a Trick Room sweeper into the game. However, there are some instances where sacrificing a weakened teammate to bring a healthy one into the battle works better because it allows Cresselia to set up Trick Room again and use its Lunar Dance later. This is also helpful on instances where Cresselia needs to be preserved until the end-game to switch into an opposing threat.
Team Options
========
This set only fits on the Trick Room archetype, with potent and slow wallbreakers such as Alolan Marowak, Magearna, Mega Mawile, and Mega Heracross as teammates. Since it usually ends up being sacrificed after using Trick Room followed by Lunar Dance, additional Trick Room setters such as Porygon2, Cofagrigus, and Magearna make for great partners. A suicide lead with access to Trick Room and Stealth Rock is also appreciated, as Cresselia usually won't attempt to set up Trick Room until late-game. Pokemon like Uxie and Bronzong can fulfill this role.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Other items such as Leftovers and a Colbur Berry can be used providing Cresselia with extra recovery and an easier time setting up Trick Room against Dark-types once in a game, respectively. However, the lack of Mental Herb means that common Taunt users can prevent it from setting up Trick Room, making it hard to justify any of these items over it. Hidden Power Fire can be used instead of Ice Beam, notably hitting Ferrothorn and Mega Scizor for super effective damage, though the lack of Ice Beam hurts Cresselia's ability to check Zygarde and Landorus-T. Dual screens with Light Clay is another option to bring in a sweeper with Lunar Dance, although it struggles to beat common Defoggers like Mew and Mega Scizor because of it being so passive. A support set with Thunder Wave can be used on teams that are looking for a blanket check to a good amount of the metagame, even though it's usually too passive for these teams.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Strong Dark-types**: Choice Specs Ash-Greninja, Hoopa-U, and both Tyranitar and its Mega Evolution can 2HKO Cresseila with their respective STAB moves, meaning it can't come in on them to set up Trick Room. Pursuit trappers like Weavile can also put it in an awkward situation if it's weakened enough.
**Ghost-types**: When equipped with a Choice Specs, Gengar can 2HKO Cresselia with Shadow Ball, Mimikyu can use it as setup fodder, and Cofagrigus can take advantage of Trick Room and start setting up with Nasty Plot.
**Taunt**: After its Mental Herb is consumed, Pokemon with Taunt can prevent Cresselia from setting up Trick Room, bringing a teammate with Lunar Dance, or recovering with Moonlight, rendering it pretty much useless.
**Status Inducers**: Status conditions like poison and sleep cripple Cresselia and give it a harder time doing its job.
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