vaporeon
Moderator
[GAL=53598]Cresselia[/GAL]
:vg_psychic:
:vg_psychic:
On nights around the quarter moon, the aurora from its tail extends and undulates beautifully.
-Pokemon Black and White pokedex Entry
-Pokemon Black and White pokedex Entry
Here she in all her glory. The Pokemon that helps you sleep better at night by making all your dreams good and I mean by taking away your nightmares. They also make great pillows. I can also see a sitcom where a Trainer owns a Cresselia and a Darkrai. Seems like a fun day. Joking aside, unlike most Legendary Pokemon rivals, Cresselia stands NO chance at beating her rival Darkrai; which is a bit funny to me but we are here to talk about her greatness. Why is she great? Well, she is good at many different thing but one of her best traits is her bulk. Lets have a look.
Base Stats:
HP: 120
Attack: 70
Defense: 120
Special Attack: 75
Special Defense: 130
Speed: 80
Yeah, Cresselia is what a Juggernaut would be in Call of Duty. She has very beefy defensive stats and is decently fast. There are many ways you can use her. Well cover a few sets and one that can be used in VGC. One of the other great things about her is her ability.
Ability One- Levitate
This is a pretty standard Ability for these type of Pokemon. The Ability Levitate makes you immune to all Ground type move. This Ability basically makes Cresselia a Psychic/Flying type but without the Weaknesses of the Flying type.
Cresselia has NO Dream World ability. It does not make her bad but I would have like to see her with maybe Multiscale, Magic Guard, Regeneration because of her lack of good healing moves or even Magic Bounce to help her defend her team. We can dream right?
[GAL=53639]Cresselia[/GAL]
Item: Flame Orb
Nature: Calm (+ Special Defense, - Attack)
Ability: Levitate
EV’s: 252 HP, 156 Defense, 96 Special Defense
-Psycho Shift/ Moonlight
-Calm Mind/Moonlight
-Psyshock
-Trick
Here we have a Flame Orb set. Flame Orb will burn Cresselia at the end of the turn. You'll take no damage that turn though. Why would you use it? Well, when you use it with Psycho Shift, you can give your status condition to your opponents battling Pokemon if its not affected by something. You can cripple a Physical attacking Pokemon by giving them your burn and your opponent would not even see it coming. You can only use it every once in a while so you'll end up taking some damage.
Your next move would be Calm Mind. This attack increases your Special Attack and Special Defense by 1 stage. This is good because it allows you to attack other walls with ease. You also have the option of Moonlight here as well if you choose to not use Calm Mind or Psycho Shift. Psyshock uses your Special Attack stat so it pairs well with Calm Mind but it hits your opponents Pokemon Defense stat. This can destroy a Pokemon like Blissey Your last move in this set is Trick. You may not want your Flame Orb and would want something else. You trade your Flame Orb for your opponents Leftovers. She is used as a tank so you can steal many items and that will hurt your opponent.
This Cresselia’s Advantages
Her bulk is her main advantage and that she can give her status problems to a enemy Pokemon. She can heal if you choose and buff her stats. Tricking Flame Orb around can also bring down your opponents Pokemon then you take it back when the Pokemon would go down to Trick it to the next Pokemon they send out. its a fun set. Calm Mind just makes her more annoying because your opponents special attackers get weaker. her physical bulk will also keep physical attackers at bay. You can also put a burn on them.
This Cresselia’s Disadvantages
Taunt. This move will cripple and support tank because Taunt makes you only able to use attack move that do damage. You can't use status move. This will force you to switch allowing your opponent free setup. If you don't switch, they still get setup so its hard. You'll have to play around Pokemon that can use Taunt carefully. Another thing is getting stuck with burn. Sometime you won't be able to pass it. This is really painful when you don't have Moonlight on your set. Moonlight is her best healing option next to Rest. She does not learn Recover. It still restores 50 percent of your max HP but if the Rain or Sandstorm is out, it gets cut to 25 percent recovery. Moonlight is best used on Sun team as you recover 75 percent HP.
My next set focus on full support.
[GAL=53639]Cresselia[/GAL]
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Calm (+ Special Defense, - Attack) or Bold (+ Defense, - Attack)
Ability: Levitate
EV’s: 252 HP, 252 Defense, 6 Special Defense or 252 HP, 252 Special Defense, 6 Defense
-Reflect/Light Screen
-Light Screen/Moonlight
-Thunder Wave
-Lunar Dance
I really like using this set on my Cresselia. You have your choice of build to best fit your team. She is normally my starter. She can take the hits and then ether drop a Thunder Wave, then setup screens on the following turn. You then make the appropriate switch. I believe this set will be most useful for those who use suicide leads. This Cresselia means you'll be using a team of 5 Pokemon if you have 6 and 3 if you are doing doubles in a format of bring 6 and use 4.
Getting into the set. This Cresselia is purely for defense and team support. You'll want to lead with her. Its not a big deal if you get hit with a Taunt. That just means the first turn was pointless for both parties and your opponent would want to set up Stealth Rocks, still giving you a free switch. If they don't Taunt, you just Thunder Wave them to cripple them. Depending on the Pokemon your opponent uses, you can setup and screen you like.
Lunar Dance is a tricky attack. This attack will make Cresselia faint but in return you get to select a Pokemon and when that Pokemon is sent out, it regains all its HP and removes all status that Pokemon had, giving a Pokemon second life. Do note that the attack only works on a Pokemon that has at least 1 HP remaining. You can't choose a Pokemon that has 0 HP. It would be nice though. I, as of now don't know if Stealth Rocks and Spikes will do their damage first or if Lunar Dance will go off first.
If you're one of those players who prefer one screen or the other, just replace the one you don't like with Moonlight. Not only would you take hits well, you can then just heal it off. just make sure you pick the right Nature and EV spread for her set.
This Cresselia’s Advantages
Her ability to tank hits and setup screens will help your team out the most. You can setup your Thunder waves to slow the opponent down. You can use her to sponge attacks as well you don't want to be taking. Depending on your setup, you'll be able to take hit, disrupt and heal off any damage you take. She also gives you the option to to fully heal one of your other Pokemon if Cresselia's HP is getting to low to the point you can't effectively or would be going down soon. Throw your opponent for a loop and bring in a new Pokemon to take their Pokemon down.
Many things won't take her down in one hit because of her huge defensive stats so use that to your advantage.
This Cresselia’s Disadvantages
Again, Taunt is a big thing, like I said above. Another thing is you can't lose all your attackers or you just lose because she can't fight back. Those are really the only big things against her. Just a note though. Most wall don't like poison or burn damage because like to heal so it may be best to pair her with a Pokemon that can use Heal Bell or related attacks that can heal the team. Be careful during switching because it may become predictable. Be cautious when switching around entry hazards such as Stealth Rocks, Spikes and Toxic Spikes.
For my last set. We'll be talking about a set for VGC. Some things to keep in mind during VGC. Pokemon hit hard and fast, so you'll want your tank to be powerful and repealing attacks. Items are also really powerful and if you play bad, the game may be over in 5 turns.
For Cresselia, she is really good at VGC because dark, bug and ghost types are not use too much so you'll get to enjoy the perks of being a very huge tank. Scizor does show up every now and then but you'll be able to work around it.
[GAL=53639]Cresselia[/GAL]
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Calm (+ Special Defense, - Attack)
Ability: Levitate
EV’s: 178 HP, 236 Special Defense, 96 Defense
-Charge Beam/Thunder
-Light Screen
-Helping Hand/Magic Room
-Protect/Icy Wind
This is a very specialized set. Her EVs allow her to take hits well. She should also be used as a starter. She will pair well with other Pokemon that can use the move 'Heal Pulse', which is a move that heal the HP of your partner Pokemon. You'll need to be able to support her so Pokemon like Slowking, Latias and Lucario are good examples of great Pokemon that can use Heal Pulse. Lucario is a good choice because it resist dragon type attacks like Draco Meteor from Latios. S(he)'ll also take the hit better because of Light Screen. They also have access to Close Combat, Crunch, Swords Dance and or Extreme Speed. Of cource you'll need to work in Heal Pulse.
About the moves. I find that Charge Beam is the safest move for Cresselia to have. It also work give a 70 percent chance to increase your special attack 1 stage. This can be troublesome to enemy Tornadus and Rain Dance teams. There is a 5 percent chance the attack will miss. You can also replace the attack with Thunder so you have that chance to paralyze your opponents Pokemon. It will also turn the tide against Rain teams.
Light Screen is standard for VGC because most attackers are special. This will also help the longevity of your team and allow for more powerful attacks from your team. Move slot 3 is just for team support. Helping Hand gives your partner a 50 percent boost. This can be huge for getting that kill on one of your opponents Pokemon. A side note. Helping Hand will fail if your partner uses it after the first Pokemon uses it but in Triple battles, 2 Pokemon can use Helping Hand while the other attacks. You can also use that slot for Magic Room. What Magic Room does is prevent all held items from being used. This can be used if you need to cripple a Pokemon or if your Cresselia gets tricked a item. Its a useful attack. Do remember that all choice items are also turned off, allowing them to use other attacks so be careful of that. Magic Room also has a -7 attack priority so you will be going last. Cresselia is faster then most walls so you will win a Trick Room priority war.
Lastly, you have Protect and Icy Wind. Cressy is pretty bulky so you may opt for Icy Wind over Protect. Explosion and Self-Destruct no longer half the defense stats of the Pokemon being hit so you wont have to worry much about going down it one hit. Icy Wind reduces the speed stat of each Pokemon being attacked by 1 stage. This would allow you to use other Pokemon to out speed enemy Pokemon. If you have speed mods covered then use Protect. All moves work well for them.
This Cresselia’s Advantages
She has the ability to help your team stay in the fight longer by allowing you to setup screens needed to help wall attackers. Reflect with raise your teams physical defense so physical attacks do less damage. This with Cresselia's high defense stat makes her harder to take down. With Light Screen, you take special attacks better. You'll also want to pair her with a powerful, fast attacker. Any of your choice will do. It will also help if that Pokemon had access to Taunt or Safeguard. Spore is a common attack used in VGC so protection from it will more then likely make your opponent only have 3 useable Pokemon. Safeguard also stays active for 5 turn so even if they switch out, Safeguard will say. Having Taunt will make support Pokemon almost useless.
Helping Hand is there to allow your Pokemon to hit harder. Sometimes you'll need a boosted Rock Slide, Earthquake, Blizzard or just a single target attack. This boosts the attack 50 percent. This Cresselia will stay in the fight a long time. her bulk and screen support is what your team would want. if used right, she will remain for the whole battle. She will also help against Trick Room teams if you start with her. Be sure to pair her with a Pokemon that can use Taunt.
This Cresselia’s Disadvantages
For the most part, you have to start with Cresselia for her to be effective. If you don't start with her, you won't be using her. Taunt will make her harder to use, forcing you to switch out into a less defensive Pokemon. There's not much of a disadvantage as she will do her job well. One thing to look out for is knowing what Screen to setup. If you call the wrong one, you'll waste a turn and suffer more damage then you needed to so VGC Pokemon knowledge will be needed. Another thing about using a Cresselia in VGC. Your opponent will almost always target down your other attackers, making your team effectively consist of 3 Pokemon so beware of your Pokemon choice for the battle. Cresselia will do her job well. She will setup screens and put out Icy Winds so make sure your other Pokemon can hold their own as well.
This is it for my review of Cresselia. A few sets here to help you make a choice when using a Cresselia of your own. She can do many things well from taking hits, supporting to all the way up to Calm Mind sweeping so you have some options to explore. Do remember that VGC is a very different format where anythings goes so make sure you have support for Cresselia as well. Like I said before. You'll want to use a team with access to both Taunt and Safeguard. Amoonguss can hurt your team if you start with Cresselia and you can't effectively deal with it. I recommend using Tornadus or another Powerful Pokemon with the Trickster ability with access to Taunt and or Safeguard. The use of a Pokemon like Moltres may also be helpful because they learn Safeguard so you have options of powerful support.
This concludes my review of Cresselia.
oh well your its your Cress 
