How to Beat Cliff in Pokemon GO: Counters and Weaknesses (June 2023)

Cliff is one of the Team GO Rocket Leaders in Pokemon GO. A tough foe, you have a chance to face him after defeating a number of grunts. Wielding a variety of Shadow Pokemon can make beating Cliff an endeavor. Here’s how to beat Cliff in Pokemon GO.

How to Beat Cliff in Pokemon GO: Team Composition and Counters

As part of the Team GO Rocket Takeover, you need to defeat Cliff, Arlo, and Sierra to complete Timed Research. Cliff’s team starts off with Shadow Aerodactyl, who’s weak to Rock, Electric, Water, Steel, and Ice moves. Metagross, Weavil and Blastoise are good counters for Shadow Aerodactyl.

The 2nd Pokemon on Cliff’s team can be Shadow Slowking, Shadow Gallade, or Shadow Cradily.

• Shadow Slowking is a Water/Psychic Pokemon, making it weak to Bug, Ghost, Grass, Electric, and Dark type Pokemon. If you took Weavil on your team, it will be good against Shadow Slowking, along with Gengar and Zekrom.
• Shadow Gallade has weaknesses to Fairy, Flying, and Ghost moves. Gengar, Togekiss, and Gardevoir are great counters in this case.
• Shadow Cradily can be bested by Bug, Fighting, Ice, and Steel Pokemon. Again, I would suggest Weavil for the fight, as well as Metagross or Scizor.

Image via Niantic

The final Pokemon for Cliff’s team could be Shadow Mamoswine, Shadow Dusknoir, or Tyranitar.

• Fire is your friend against Shadow Mamoswine. It’s also weak to Fighting, Grass, Steel, and Water moves. Scizor and Excadrill are other good counters.
• Shadow Dusknoir is only weak to Dark and Ghost Pokemon. Weavil is a good answer, as well as Hydreigon and Gengar.
• To give Shadow Tyranitar a good thrashing, you will want to utilize a Pokemon that knows any Fighting, Ground, Steel, Water, Grass, Bug, or Fairy moves. Conkeldurr and Pheromosa are good choices for your team.

When creating a team to fight against Cliff, you will want to look at the possible combinations his team could have, as well as the most common weaknesses. Dark, Ice, and Steel would do the best against more of the opponents, with a more niche Pokemon for your third spot.

You should also be aware that your first two Charge Attacks will be blocked with a shield. If you fail, you can always tweak your team and go in for another match.

Rewards for Defeating Cliff

Once you have knocked out all of Cliff’s Pokemon, you will receive 1,000 Stardust, have your Hero Medal leveled up, and get two of the following:

• 4x Revives
• 2x Max Revives
• 4x Hyper Potions
• 2x Max Potions
• 1x Unova Stone
• 1x 12km Egg

You’ll get a chance to catch Shadow Aerodactyl after you defeat Cliff as well.

If Cliff wasn’t the last leader you needed to face, you’ll need to redo the encounter process to face off against Sierra or Arlo. If he was the last leader, you’ll have the opportunity to take down Giovanni. For help with beating Sierra or other battles, check out our Pokemon GO guides page.

Featured image via Niantic