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Cresselia Trio Raid Guide

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Tier 5 Raid Boss Guides
Cresselia-Trio
Difficulty:

Doable at trainer level 30 with optimized counters or weather boost

HP15,000 ATK131.93 DEF223.57
CP Range
Lvl 20 1555 - 1633 Lvl 25 1944 - 2041

Notable Weather

Boosts Boss's Moves Boosts Counters' Moves
Snow, Windy, Cloudy Fog

Fast Move Difficulty

Move Difficulty
Psycho Cut Easy
Confusion Challenging

Charge Move Difficulty

Move Difficulty
Aurora Beam Easy
Moonblast Intermediate
Future Sight Intermediate

Overview

Cresselia is well known for its more defensive stat-line, in particular its high Defense stat which makes it a pain to fight. However, Cresselia also has a weakness to some of the strongest attackers in the game, so it's a very manageable duo with the right team. That said, this guide will focus on the far easier Trio.

Approach

Team composition

  • Dark Types tend to rule this raid, with monsters like Mega Tyranitar and Shadow Tyranitar tearing it up pretty hard. 
  • The top Ghosts have DPS comparable to the top Dark Types, but far less TDO, especially when they have a weakness to Psychic Type moves.

Battling strategy

  • Front-load glass cannons to maximize their DPS output.
  • Watch out for Moonblast when using Dark Types. Be ready to dodge it.
  • Cresselia doesn't hit extremely hard, but Confusion can cut some wounds that make charged moves more dangerous, even if resisted.

Note: "Good" movesets are not necessarily viable at the level indicated.

Best Raid Boss Counters

Supreme Mega Evolution Counters

Mega Tyranitar Mega Tyranitar
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The top counter for this raid by a mile, Mega Tyranitar may not quite manage to top the DPS charts for this raid, but it makes up for that with tremendous TDO! Mega Tyranitar not only sits near the top of the damage charts, but it lasts for a very long time, outright forcing Cresselia to battle it for a prolonged period of time. 

Mega Gengar Mega Gengar
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While substantially less bulky than Mega Tyranitar, especially when faced with Cresselia's strong Psychic Type moves, Mega Gengar carves its own niche as the DPS king for this raid. Nothing can quite compare to this toxic ghost's onslaught, as it cuts huge amounts of HP off of Cresselia in short order. It works especially well against Moonblast thanks to its Fairy resistance, but becomes a bit iffier when Cresselia is packing Confusion in particular. 

Good Mega Evolution Counters

Mega Banette Mega Banette
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Mega Banette basically has Gengar's TDO and Mega Tyranitar's DPS, so it's pretty much the worst of both worlds. That said, both of these Mega Evolutions are still genuinely great, so Mega Banette still manages to sit in a good position!

Mega Rayquaza Mega Rayquaza
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Mega Rayquaza just can't keep its nose out of raids. Even when fighting with neutral damage, it just has to show up and out-perform the majority of the competition without breaking a sweat.

Mega Rayquaza actually has a great mix of DPS and TDO, and is a universally useful raid option here. The one major problem is the fact that it lacks a relevant Mega boost, so it does little for the team. It's behind the options above, but it's still great if you've already Mega Evolved your Rayquaza and don't want to expend additional resources.

Mega Houndoom Mega Houndoom
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A great middle-ground option, Mega Houndoom resists Aurora Beam and only takes neutral damage from Moonblast while also sporting the customary double-resistance to Psychic Type attacks. It's a solid TDO Mega Evolution that has a good matchup regardless of Cresselia's moveset.

Mega Absol Mega Absol
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A bit of an underwhelming option in comparison to the other Dark Type options on offer, but still decent in its own right.

Mega Gyarados Mega Gyarados
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Bite Crunch Best

Another solid TDO option, Mega Gyarados can put in good numbers while on the field, but its DPS is a bit on the low side. All-in-al, it's generally a worse Mega Tyranitar.

Mega Pinsir Mega Pinsir
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Mega Pinsir is the best bug for this raid, for what that may be work. It's not the worst of the Mega Evolutions, but Bug remains a very under-powered type that can't compete with the Ghost and Dark titans that run rampant.

Mega Mega Beedrill
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Mega Beedrill is not going to last for long, though it can work for a bit of damage.

Supreme Counters

ShadowTyranitar Shadow Tyranitar
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In much the same way that Mega Tyranitar is the top Mega counter, Shadow Tyranitar is the top non-Shadow option. The best general option for this raid, it tears Cresselia down very quickly and stays on the field for a long time.

shadow_chandelure Shadow Chandelure
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This lantern packs a major punch, and is easily among the best of the non-Mega Ghosts for this raid, arguably the outright best. If you're lucky enough to have a good Shadow Chandelure, then definitely bring it along for the ride.

ShadowWeavile Shadow Weavile
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While not as bulky as some other counters on this list, Shadow Weavile's Dark typing does its longevity some major favors against Psychic Type movesets, as does its Ice typing against Aurora Beam. 

Shadow Mewtwo Shadow Mewtwo
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A powerful generalist counter that can put major pain on Cresselia with Shadow Ball, Shadow Mewtwo is a solid average attacker for this raid that puts in great work despite only having resisted Fast Moves.

Tyranitar Tyranitar
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Bite Crunch Best

While not on a par with its Shadow forme, Tyranitar is still a classic threat that puts in great work.

Good Counters

Chandelure Chandelure
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One of the top ghosts, Chandelure works especially well against Aurora Beam and Moonblast.

Hydreigon Hydreigon
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In general a top counter, but with the added disadvantage of having to worry about Aurora Beam and specially Moonblast.
Gholdengo Gholdengo
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It's easy to overlook Gholdengo, but it's got a great standing thanks to its solid stat-line and great typing that makes it very much worthwhile.

ShadowHoundoom Shadow Houndoom
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Good, but pretty under-powered for a Shadow.

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One of the better Dark Types overall, Darkrai has a solid performance that unfortunately still falls behind Tyranitar. Here's hoping for Dark Void soon!

Giratina Origin Forme Pokemon GO Giratina (Origin Forme)
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One of the true classic Ghosts, Giratina has great performance despite being weak to Moonblast and Aurora Beam.

ShadowMismagius Shadow Mismagius
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A good, vanilla Ghost type. However, it's not good enough to really stand out in any regard.

hoopa Hoopa (Confined)
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Hoopa - Confined is a ghost that resists Psychic Type moves... and that's about all that's really worth mentioning about it.

Volcarona Volcarona
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Easily among the best bugs, but bugs still fall short of the competition in most cases.

hoopa unbound Hoopa (Unbound)
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Well, it double resists Psychic this time, but its lack of a Dark Type moveset results in disappointing performance relative to its tremendous attack stat.

Pinsir Shadow Pinsir
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Pinsir exists.

Glass Counters

shadow-gengar Shadow Gengar
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Shadow Gengar has one of the absolute highest DPS totals for this raid, allowing it to very quickly cut huge gashes into Cresselia. However, it also has low bulk, a weakness to Psychic Type moves, and a Shadow boost, all coming together to make Shadow Gengar very frail. Honestly, it might not even be worth utilizing against Confusion.

Pheromosa Pheromosa
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Pheromosa packs a punch, but it's unlikely to see its first Charged Move if facing down Confusion.

Shadow-Honchkrow Shadow Honchkrow
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ShadowBanette Shadow Banette
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Shadow Absol Shadow Absol
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Raid Graph