Learn how to defeat GO Rocket Leader Cliff and which Pokémon they have during the month of July 2026. Includes Cliff’s current Pokémon line-up, best counters and teams to use, and rewards for defeating Cliff.
- 🔔 Currently being updated with the start of Flying Taxi: Taken Over
- 🔗 Other GO Rocket guides: Giovanni lineup and counters, Sierra lineup and counters, Arlo lineup and counters, Team GO Rocket Grunt lineups
Cliff’s Pokémon Lineup
Cliff is one of the Team GO Rocket Leaders in Pokémon GO, next to Arlo, Sierra, and Giovanni. Rocket Leader Cliff is currently using the following Shadow Pokémon:
Slot #1
Cliff’s first Pokémon is always Shadow Axew.
Slot #2
Cliff’s second Pokémon is Shadow Snorlax or Shadow Weezing.
Slot #3
Cliff’s third Pokémon is Shadow Tyranitar, Gallade, or Camerupt.
Best Pokémon for beating Cliff
To beat Cliff’s current Pokémon, you need to use their weaknesses and pick the best counters you can use to defeat each one. Cliff’s lineup is varied, but there is enough overlap to pick good counters. Here are some of the best Pokémon you can use against Cliff in Pokémon GO:
- Mamoswine is excellent, eliminating Axew, Weezing, and Tyranitar.
- A strong Fighting type like Lucario comes in handy against Snorlax and Tyranitar, and Shadow Ball as a second Charged Attack can help take out Gallade.
- Garchomp with Dragon Tail, Twister, and Earth Power takes out Axew, Weezing, and Tyranitar, with Earth Power doing heavy damage in general against other Pokémon.
- Primarina is absolutely stellar in this battle with Water and Fairy type moves. It can handle Axew, and is particularly effective against any of the final Pokémon: Tyranitar, Gallade, or Camerupt.
- Baxcalibur, in general, does a lot of damage to nearly everything with Glaive Rush and also debuffs their ATK with Icy Wind.
💡 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.
Shadow Axew counters
Shadow Axew
Shadow Axew is a pure Dragon-type Pokémon, making it weak to Dragon, Fairy, and Ice type Pokémon. It is important to burn those shields as quickly as possible so you can get some real damage done.
You should always start with a strong Pokémon that breaks through Cliff’s shields fast, while still having utility after rotation. Spam charge moves and bait shields whenever possible. Here is our recommendation:
| Pokémon | Moves |
|---|---|
Mamoswine
|
Powder Snow, Icicle Spear |
Garchomp
|
Dragon Tail, Twister |
Gyarados
|
Dragon Breath, Twister |
Walrein
|
Powder Snow, Icicle Spear |
Baxcalibur
|
Dragon Breath, Icy Wind |
Shadow Snorlax counters
Shadow Snorlax
Shadow Snorlax is a pure Normal-type Pokémon, making it weak only to Fighting-type moves.
| Pokémon | Moves |
|---|---|
Lucario
|
Force Palm, Aura Sphere |
Blaziken
|
Counter, Aura Sphere |
Machamp
|
Karate Chop, Cross Chop |
Terrakion
|
Double Kick, Sacred Sword |
Keldeo
|
Low Kick, Sacred Sword |
Poliwrath
|
Counter, Dynamic Punch |
Shadow Weezing counters
Shadow Weezing
Shadow Weezing is a pure Poison-type Pokémon, making it weak only to Ground and Psychic-type moves.
| Pokémon | Moves |
|---|---|
|
Garchomp
|
Mud Shot, Earth Power |
|
Mamoswine
|
Mud-Slap, High Horsepower |
Excadrill
|
Mud-Slap, Drill Run |
Groudon
|
Mud Shot, Precipice Blades |
Therian Landorus
|
Mud Shot, Sandsear Storm |
Mewtwo
|
Psycho Cut, Psystrike |
Shadow Camerupt counters
Shadow Camerupt
Shadow Camerupt is a Fire/Ground-type Pokémon. It is double weak to Water and also weak to Ground moves.
| Pokémon | Moves |
|---|---|
Kyogre
|
Waterfall, Origin Pulse |
|
Gyarados
|
Waterfall, Aqua Tail |
Greninja
|
Water Shuriken, Hydro Cannon |
Swampert
|
Mud Shot, Hydro Cannon |
|
Garchomp
|
Mud Shot, Earth Power |
Shadow Tyranitar counters
Shadow Tyranitar
Shadow Tyranitar is a Rock and Dark-type Pokémon. It is weak to Fighting, Bug, Fairy, Grass, Ground, Steel, and Water type moves. Note that it is double-weak to Fighting-type moves.
| Pokémon | Moves |
|---|---|
|
Lucario
|
Force Palm, Aura Sphere |
|
Terrakion
|
Double Kick, Sacred Sword |
Conkeldurr
|
Counter, Dynamic Punch |
|
Machamp
|
Counter, Dynamic Punch |
Primarina
|
Charm, Disarming Voice |
|
Kyogre
|
Waterfall, Origin Pulse |
Shadow Gallade counters
Shadow Gallade
Shadow Gallade is a Psychic/Fighting-type Pokémon, so it is weak to Fairy, , and Ghost moves.
| Pokémon | Moves |
|---|---|
|
Primarina
|
Charm, Disarming Voice |
Moltres
|
Wing Attack, Sky Attack |
Staraptor
|
Wing Attack, Fly |
Altered Giratina
|
Shadow Claw, Shadow Ball |
Togekiss
|
Air Slash, Dazzling Gleam |
How to battle Cliff in Pokémon GO?
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
1000×
Stardust
Random drop of two of these:
-
4×
Revive
-
2×
Max Revive
-
4×
Hyper Potion
-
2×
Max Potion
-
1×
Unova Stone
-
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.
