How to beat Cliff in Pokemon Go (April 2024): Best counters & weaknesses

❘ Updated: 2024-03-21T14:27:00

team go rocket leader cliff in pokemon go

Niantic/The Pokemon Company

Going up against Team Go Rocket Leader Cliff is challenging for Pokemon Go players, thanks to his powerful team of Shadow Pokemon. So, here’s a complete guide for defeating his April 2024 team, including the lineup, its weaknesses, and the best possible counters.

Starting from the World of Wonders: Taken Over event in Pokemon Go, Team Go Rocket Leafer Cliff has a new lineup and you must be raring to use your Pokemon to beat this villainous NPC.

In this guide, we’ll cover Cliff’s latest Shadow lineup in April 2024 and help you build the best Pokemon Go team to beat him, with details on their weaknesses and the best counters to use.

How to beat Cliff in Pokemon Go
How to counter Cliff’s Machop in Pokemon Go
How to counter Cliff’s Kingdra, Gallade, or Aerodactyl in Pokemon Go
How to counter Cliff’s Tyranitar, Cradily, or Crobat in Pokemon Go
Best team to defeat Cliff in Pokemon Go

How to beat Cliff in Pokemon Go

pokemon team go rocket leaders promo image

Cliff uses some of the most hardest-hitting Pokemon in his team.

Cliff continues to be one of the toughest challenges in Pokemon Go, and his team will come at you with full force.

After the Team Go Rocket Taken Treasures event in February, Cliff’s lineup changed as seen below:

First Battle: Machop
Second Battle: Kingdra / Gallade / Aerodactyl
Third Battle: Tyranitar / Cradily / Crobat

To take down Cliff, you’ll have to make sure that you have Pokemon that can cover various typings, both for defense and offense.

How to counter Cliff’s Machop in Pokemon Go

pokemon go team rocket leader cliff shadow machop

Shadow Machop is Cliff’s main shield breaker, so watch out.

Machop is a pure Fighting-type Pokemon, which means it’s weak to Fairy, Flying, and Psychic-type attacks. When picking your Pokemon for battle, you should also consider that Machop can resist Bug, Dark, and Rock moves.

If you stick to type effectiveness, you shouldn’t have much trouble defeating Machop, so we recommend picking Pokemon with Fairy, Flying, or Psychic-type moves. Of course, the battle strategy is up to you. Many players like to use quick openers to spam fast Charged Moves and leave Cliff without shields early in the battle.

With that said, here are some of the best counters for Machop:

Shadow Mewtwo with Psycho Cut and Psystrike.
Mega Latios with Zen Headbutt and Psychic.
Metagross with Zen Headbutt and Psychic.
Shadow Gallade with Psycho Cut and Leaf Blade
Alakazam with Psycho Cut and Psychic.

How to counter Cliff’s Kingdra, Gallade, or Aerodactyl in Pokemon Go

Cliff will use Kingdra, Gallade, or Aerodactyl on his second turn.

Kingdra

Kingdra is a dual Dragon and Water-type Pokemon, so it’s weak against Bug, Ghost, Dark, Grass, and Electric-type moves. It’ll resist Psychic, Steel, Water, Fire, Fighting, and Ice-type attacks, so you won’t really have many viable options.

Here are some of the best counters to defeat Cliff’s Kingdra in battle:

Tyranitar with Bite and Brutal Swing.
Gengar with Shadow Claw and Shadow Ball.
Xurkitree with Spark and Discharge/Power Whip.
Hydreigon with Bite and Brutal Swing/Dark Pulse.

Gallade

Gallade is a dual Psychic and Fighting-type Pokemon, which means it’s weak against Flying, Ghost, and Fairy-type attacks. It’s resistant only to Fighting, and Rock-type moves, so you have a lot of options for dealing neutral damage.

If you want to bet on Ghost and Fairy-type Pokemon for this battle, here are some recommendations:

Togekiss with Charm and Dazzling Gleam.
Gardevoir with Charm and Shadow Ball.
Xurkitree with Spark and Dazzling Gleam.
Gengar with Shadow Claw and Shadow Ball.
Giratina with Shadow Claw and Shadow Force.

Aerodactyl

Aerodactyl could be the most troublesome to deal with, as its counter-compatibility with other members of Cliff’s lineup doesn’t match all too well and could mess up your strategy if you encounter it. But we have selected a few safe choices that can also help you deal with some of Cliff’s remaining Pokemon.

Here are some recommended Pokemon to beat Cliff’s Aerodactyl:

Metagross with Bullet Punch and Meteor Mash.
Swampert with Water Gun and Hydro Cannon.
Mega Blastoise with Water Gun and Hydro Cannon.
Shadow Rampardos with Smack Down and Rock Slide.
Shadow Rhyperior with Smack Down and Rock Wrecker.

How to counter Cliff’s Tyranitar, Cradily, or Crobat in Pokemon Go

Cliff can have Tyranitar, Cradily, or Crobat as his third Pokemon.

Tyranitar

Tyranitar is a dual Rock and Dark-type Pokemon, which means it’s weak against Bug, Fairy, Fighting, Grass, Ground, Steel, and Water-type moves. It’s resistant to Flying, Poison, Ghost, Fire, Psychic, and Dark-type attacks.

With that in mind, you’ll need a very different Pokemon to beat it. Here are some of the best counters:

Lucario with Counter and Power-Up Punch.
Swampert with Water Gun and Hydro Cannon.
Conkeldurr with Counter and Dynamic Punch.
Machamp with Counter and Close Combat.
Breloom with Counter and Dynamic Punch.

Cradily

Cradily is a dual Rock and Grass-type Pokemon, so it’s weak against Bug, Fighting, Steel, and Ice-type attacks. It’s also resistant to Electric and Normal-type moves, so you’ll have to go with a different strategy here.

To defeat Cradily you can pick one of these counters:

Metagross with Bullet Punch and Meteor Mash.
Lucario with Counter and Power-Up Punch.
Conkeldurr with Counter and Focus Blast.
Galarian Darmanitan with Ice Fang and Avalanche.
Terrakion with Double Kick and Close Combat.

Crobat

Crobat is a dual Flying and Poison-type Pokemon, meaning it’s weak against Psychic, Electric, Rock, and Ice-type attacks. It will resist Bug, Grass, Fighting, Ground, Poison, and Fairy-type moves, so pay attention to your lineup in case you end up having one of these types.

With only a few weaknesses to exploit, it’s always better to pick Pokemon that can also work against some of Cliff’s other Pokemon. These are some of the best counters to use:

Metagross with Bullet Punch and Meteor Mash.
Shadow Rampardos with Smack Down and Rock Slide.
Shadow Rhyperior with Smack Down and Rock Wrecker.
Shadow Mewtwo with Confusion and Psystrike.
Mega Latios with Zen Headbutt and Psychic.

Best team to defeat Cliff in Pokemon Go

Since you can only pick three Pokemon to face Team Rocket Leader Cliff in Pokemon Go, you’ll need to cover different typings to be prepared for whatever he throws at you.

Considering Cliff’s lineup, opening with a Psychic-type Pokemon can be a great move. That way, you can deal with Machop and Gallade, if that’s what you get. As you can see, Tyranitar is a powerful choice that will help you deal with some of Cliff’s strongest Pokemon. Metagross is another great Pokemon for these battles as long as you have the right combination of Psychic and Steel-type moves.

Having a Fairy-type Pokemon like Togekiss can be great for dealing with Tyranitar and Kingdra, while a Psychic-type Pokemon can help you take down Gallade and Crobat.

Aerodactyl can be quite troublesome, as it will mess up your lineup, but having Rhyperior or Tyranitar will help you counter it with ease and can serve for the third round if Cliff brings out Crobat.

A team composed of Rhyperior/Rampardos and Togekiss/Metagross should work wonders against Cliff’s lineup for March 2024. Having Tyranitar on your team can’t harm you, but be careful when facing Cradily or Kingdra.

That’s all you need to know to beat Team Go Rocket Leader Cliff in Pokemon Go. For more Pokemon Go content, be sure to check out our other guides: