Cresselia
The Meta as Defined by a Duck from Space by Warren Arnold
Since Cresselia’s release back in gen 4 it has had a major presence within the large majority of metagames it has been a part of. From being a bulky support to a trick room setter, and finally a hard-hitting special attacker, it can fill many spots on a team in any format it is a part of.
Pokémon Spotlight: Cresselia
Screenshot from Smogon
The psychic type pokemon Cresselia has the ability, Levitate, giving it an immunity to Ground type moves as well as not being affected by any Terrains. Cresselia has a base stat total of 580 excelling in hp, defense, and special defense. This Pokemon typically performs well as a defensive wall especially on a trick room teams. When compared to some other original trick room setters such as Bronzong with base 500 stats or Musharna with base 487 stats, Cresselia has the best move pool out of these 3 and outclasses the other mono psychic trick room setters like Musharna. Bronzong really saw its niche in 2016 with the Dual Primal core that was popular that year and saw some success since then in recent years. Coming forward into the newer generations with the addition of Indeedee and Farigaraf which bring new consideration to the table. Farigaraf with the ability Armor Tail, which blocks any priority moves, is very strong in scarlet and violet as combos like dragonite/chien-pao are quite common. Indeedee saw massive success when paired with Armarouge as the setting of psychic terrain, from Indeedee’s Psychic Surge ability, also denies priority moves like Armor Tail, and only works on grounded pokemon.
History of Cresselia in Competitive Play:
Cresselia has made appearances in every world championship since its release, if it was in the format. Even if it did not make the Masters top cut in those years it did top cut in other divisions or at other major events such as the National Championships. In 2012, Cresselia was on 7 out of the 8 top cut teams at the World Championships.
Modern-Day Uses in VGC:
Currently, like in the past, Cresselia is used as a bulky trick room setter and as a support pokemon. It is one of the few pokemon that has had barely any fluctuations in its use. The major changes that Cresselia has undergone in Scarlet and Violet are the use of moonlight compared to the new move, lunar blessing, opting out of using calm mind for a secondary attacking move like dazzling gleam or psychic, and Cresselia losing 10 less Defense and Special Defense in its stat block in this new generation.
These are 2 of the most standard Cresselia sets and gives you the choice between either psychic or tera fairy boosted dazzling gleam.
Example Sets:
Set 1:
Cresselia @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 228 HP / 164 Def / 116 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Ice Beam
- Lunar Blessing
- Trick Room
A Cresselia with psychic can offensively hit Amoonguss super effectively while not being affected by spore due the usage of Safety Goggles. It can deal decent damage to iron hands with psychic as well or ice beam when Iron Hands goes to tera grass. Having Ice beam on Cresslia helps cover popular Pokemon such as Landorus-Therian, Tornadus, Rillaboom, and Dragonite!
Set 2:
Cresselia @ Mental Herb
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 92 Def / 4 SpA / 156 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Trick Room
- Dazzling Gleam
- Lunar Blessing
Opting for Dazzling Gleam over psychic means that you can still hit Iron Hands super effectively and receive a STAB boost if you terastalize your Cresselia. Both sets are very solid and will provide you with good defenses and offenses that can do well into the current metagame.
Example Teams:
Screenshot from Pokemon Showdown
This team placed both 4th and 7th respectively in the Masters Division at the World Championships this past weekend in Japan. Cresselia and Ursaluna, along with Iron Hands, form a solid trick room core. While Dragonite, Urshifu, and Flutter Mane provide a faster option if Trick Room is not a viable option in the given matchup.
Conclusion:
After very solid placements across most divisions in the latest World Championships I feel it is safe to say that Cresselia has stood the test of time, and at this point, will be viable in any metagame it finds itself in.
Disclaimer: The opinions/stories expressed in the blog post are those of the author and are not necessarily reflective of the platform or its affiliates.
Author Bio:
Warren Arnold has played Pokemon since 2007 starting in the TCG and then moving to VGC in 2013-2014. He has multiple top cuts and wins in locals and some decent placements in Regionals (top 32) and Internationals (Top 64).