Cliff Lineup and Counters (March 2024)

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Learn how to defeat GO Rocket Leader Cliff during the month of March 2024. Includes Cliff’s current Pokémon line-up, best counters and teams to use, and rewards for defeating Cliff.

Cliff is one of the Team GO Rocket Leaders in Pokémon GO, next to Arlo, Sierra, and Giovanni. In this article, we’ll share the best counters and strategies to beat Cliff in Pokémon GO during March 2024.

Cliff’s Pokémon Team Rocket icon

Rocket Leader Cliff is currently using the following Shadow Pokémon:

  • Cliff’s first Pokémon is Shadow Zubat
  • Cliff’s second Pokémon can be Shadow Kingdra, Shadow Aerodactyl or Shadow Gallade.
  • Cliff’s third Pokémon can be Shadow Tyranitar, Shadow Cradily or Shadow Crobat.

Best team to defeat Rocket Leader Cliff’s Pokémon

To beat Cliff’s current Pokémon, you need to exploit their weaknesses and use best counters you can use to defeat each one. One of the best Teams you can use against Cliff in Pokémon GO is Haxorus, Lucario, and Metagross. 

  • Lucario, as a superior Fighting-type, can help defeat Tyranitar to an extent. Lucario can be used to burn through shields quickly.
  • Metagross is an excellent choice against Cliff. Metagross will be super effective against multiple Pokémon in Cliff’s lineup so is a pretty safe bet.
  • Haxorus has some versatility against Cliff’s lineup, using Dragon Tail and Breaking Swipe.

💡 Note: In Trainer Battles, counters need not always be Pokémon that do super-effective damage. We include Pokémon that are more viable to defeat Cliff, rather than those who do maximum damage. Defeating Cliff rewards 3× Shadow Shards.


Best Pokémon to defeat Cliff’s Shadow Zubat

Zubat (Shadow)

Open with a strong opener that can burn shields efficiently while still having utility after rotation. 

Zubat is a dual Poison/Flying-type Pokémon. It is weak to Electric, Ice, Rock and Psychic type moves. It takes reduced damage from Bug, Fighting, Grass, Fairy, Ground and Poison-type moves.

Zubat Counters
Pokémon Moves
Mewtwo Confusion, Psystrike
Xurkitree Thunder Shock, Discharge
Rhyperior Smack Down, Rock Wrecker
Rampardos Smack Down, Rock Slide
Metagross Zen Headbutt, Psychic

Best Pokémon to defeat Cliff’s Second Pokémon

Cliff’s second Pokémon can be Shadow Slowking, Gallade or Cradily:

Follow up with a Pokémon that can burn through Cliff’s second choice quickly, be it through reusing your first Pokémon and charging up, or by simply destroying his pick. Your choice will depend on which second Pokémon Cliff uses, as they have quite varied counters. It is an interesting group of Pokémon, with some varied counter choices.

Kingdra counters

Kingdra (Shadow)

Shadow Kingdra is a Water and Dragon-type Pokémon. Shadow Kingdra is weak to Dragon and Fairy-type moves. It takes reduced damage from Steel, Fire, and Water-type moves.

Kingdra Counters
Pokémon Moves
Rayquaza Dragon Tail, Outrage
Salamence Dragon Tail, Outrage
Haxorus Dragon Tail, Breaking Swipe
Garchomp Dragon Tail, Outrage
Dragonite Dragon Tail, Outrage

Aerodactyl counters

Aerodactyl (Shadow)

Shadow Aerodactyl is a Rock and Flying-type Pokémon. Shadow Aerodactyl is weak to Electric, Ice, Rock, Steel, and Water-type moves. It takes reduced damage from Bug, Fire, Flying, Ground, Normal, and Poison-type moves.

Aerodactyl Counters
Pokémon Moves
Metagross Bullet Punch, Meteor Mash
Kyogre Waterfall, Origin Pulse
Rampardos Smack Down, Rock Slide
Rhyperior Smack Down, Rock Wrecker
Melmetal Thunder Shock, Double Iron Bash

Gallade counters

Gallade (Shadow)

Shadow Gallade is a Psychic and Fighting-type Pokémon. Shadow Gallade is weak to Fairy, Flying, and Ghost-type moves. It takes reduced damage from Fighting and Rock-type moves.

Gallade Counters
Pokémon Moves
Rayquaza Air Slash, Dragon Ascent
Chandelure Hex, Shadow Ball
Lunala Air Slash, Shadow Ball
Mewtwo Psycho Cut, Shadow Ball
Honchkrow Peck, Sky Attack

Best Pokémon to defeat Cliff’s last Pokémon

Cliff’s last Pokémon can be Shadow Tyranitar, Mamoswine, or Dusknoir:

Finish by dealing large amounts of super effective damage, depending on what you are faced against. Tyranitar is a fairly common Pokémon for Cliff’s lineups, and Cradily is fairly easy.

Tyranitar counters

Tyranitar (Shadow)

Shadow Tyranitar is a Rock and Dark-type Pokémon. It is weak to Fighting, Bug, Fairy, Grass, Ground, Steel, and Water type moves. It takes reduced damage from Dark, Fire, Flying, Ghost, Normal, Poison, and Psychic type moves.

Tyranitar Counters
Pokémon Moves
Terrakion Double Kick, Sacred Sword, Rock Slide
Conkeldurr Counter, Dynamic Punch, Stone Edge
Swampert Mud Shot, Hydro Cannon, Earthquake
Lucario Counter, Power-Up Punch, Shadow Ball
Machamp Counter, Close Combat, Stone Edge

Cradily counters

Cradily (Shadow)

Cradily is a Rock and Grass-type Pokémon. It is weak to Bug, Fighting, Ice and Steel type moves. It takes reduced damage from Electric and Normal type moves.

Cradily Counters
Pokémon Moves
Metagross Bullet Punch, Meteor Mash, Flash Cannon
Lucario Counter, Power-Up Punch, Aura Sphere
Terrakion Double Kick, Sacred, Sword, Close Combat
Darmanitan (Galarian) Ice Fang, Avalanche, Super Power
Conkeldurr Counter, Dynamic Punch, Focus Blast

Crobat counters

Crobat (Shadow)

Shadow Crobat is a Poison and Flying-type Pokémon. Shadow Crobat is weak to Electric, Ice, Psychic, and Rock-type moves. It takes reduced damage from Fairy, Ground, Poison, Bug, Fighting, and Grass-type moves.

Crobat Counters
Pokémon Moves
Mewtwo Psycho Cut, Psystrike
Metagross Zen Headbutt, Psychic
Rampardos Smack Down, Rock Slide
Rhyperior Smack Down, Rock Wrecker
Xurkitree Thunder Shock, Discharge

How to battle Cliff in Pokémon GO?

Cliff Counters
Cliff Counters

To fight with Cliff in Pokémon GO, you need to first defeat six Team GO Rocket Grunts to collect enough Mysterious Components to build a Rocket Radar.

Activate the Rocket Radar and you will be able to see the location of a Rocket Leader. The game will not tell you which Leader you are facing, but you have a 33% chance for it to be Cliff.

Fighting Cliff is more difficult than fighting Grunts, as Leaders use higher level Pokémon than Grunts. In order to defeat Cliff, we consider using good counters mandatory. 

You can rematch if you lose, and your Rocket Radar will be consumed if you win.


Rewards for defeating Team GO Rocket Leader Cliff

Trainers who manage to defeat Cliff – or any other Team GO Rocket Leader – will get a selection of rare rewards, including the chance to get a Team GO Rocket exclusive 12 km Strange Egg.

  • Trainers receive 1,000 Stardust when defeating a Rocket Leaders,
  • Trainers will receive two of the item bundles listed below when they defeat Team GO Rocket Leader like Cliff.
  • Trainers have the opportunity to catch a Shadow Pokémon used by the Leader. It is always the first Pokémon used by the Leader.
  • Shadow Pokémon from Rocket Leaders have a shiny chance of 1 in 64, if they are shiny eligible at the moment of defeating the Leader

Rewards for defeating Cliff in Pokémon GO

Defeating one of the Team GO Rocket Leader trio earns you two item bundles. If at least one of your Egg inventory slots is open, a 12km Strange Egg is guaranteed to replace one of those two bundles.

Receiving a Strange Egg does not have an effect on which item bundle drops alongside the egg.

A Strange Egg can drop into either your regular egg storage, or into your extra space if you already have 9 eggs.

Guaranteed

Stardust icon 1000× Stardust

Random drop of two of these:

  • Revive icon 4× Revive
  • Max Revive icon 2× Max Revive
  • Hyper Potion icon 4× Hyper Potion
  • Max Potion icon 2× Max Potion
  • Unova Stone icon 1× Unova Stone
  • Egg 12 km icon 1× Egg 12 km

As an example, a typical reward drop might contain 4 Revives and 4 Hyper Potions. Similarly, a reward drop might contain 1 Strange Egg and 2 Max Revives, or 1 Unova Stone and 1 Strange Egg.

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Zeroghan
Zeroghanhttps://pokemongohub.net/
Zeroghan started the Hub in July 2016 and hasn't had much sleep since. A lover of all things Pokémon, web development, and writing.

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