Pokémon GO: How To Beat Cliff (August 2024 Lineup & Counters)

Cliff is one of the villainous Team GO Rocket Leaders that you can face off against in Pokémon GO once you've collected enough Mysterious Components to form a Rocket Radar. His lineup has changed as part of the Adventure Week: Taken Over event in August 2024, so it's important to know what you'll be up against and the best counters to defeat his team.

After you've defeated six Grunts in Pokémon GO, you'll have enough Mysterious Components to form a Rocket Radar. This handy item lets you find one of three Team Go Rocket Leaders - Cliff, Sierra, or Arlo - and battle them. Cliff has always been a difficult opponent, and that's no different with his new lineup that features Shadow Pokémon like Lileep, Aerodactyl, and Tyranitar.

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Cliff Lineup & Counters In Pokémon GO (August 2024)

Be Prepared For Battle

Battles against Cliff are separated into three waves. In the first wave, he will always send out Lileep, which makes this stage of the battle relatively easy to prepare for. In the second wave, he'll send out one of three potential Pokémon at random, and then do the same again in the third and final wave. These two stages are much harder to plan for, but knowing what they could be will help.

You can see all of Cliff's potential team members (thanks to LeekDuck for the help with this information), their weaknesses, and some of the best counters to defeat them in the table below:

Wave Pokémon Weaknesses Counters 1 Lileep Bug

Fighting

Ice

Steel Terrakion

Lucario

Metagross

Conkeldurr

Mamoswine 2 Aerodactyl Electric

Ice

Rock

Steel

Water Xurkitree

Kyogre

Metagross

Rampardos

Mamoswine Kingdra Dragon

Fairy Palkia

Xerneas

Garchomp

Dragonite

Gardevoir Marowak Grass

Ice

Water Kartana

Kyogre

Zarude

Greninja

Mamoswine 3 Cradily Bug

Fighting

Ice

Steel Terrakion

Lucario

Metagross

Conkeldurr

Mamoswine Crobat Electric

Ice

Psychic

Rock Mewtwo

Xurkitree

Rampardos

Rhyperior

Mamoswine Tyranitar Bug

Fairy

Fighting

Grass

Ground

Steel

Water Terrakion

Buzzwole

Lucario

Conkeldurr

Machamp

When looking for counters to take on Cliff, it's a good idea to start with a strong Fighting-type and a strong Ice-type, as most of his lineup is vulnerable to at least one of these attack types. Tyranitar, in particular, is extra vulnerable to Fighting-type attacks, so you should definitely have a Fighting-type Pokémon like Lucario, Terrakion, or Conkeldurr on your team.

Best Team To Beat Cliff In Pokémon GO

Cover All Your Bases

Close

One of the best teams you can use to defeat Cliff in Pokémon Go right now is Lucario, Mamoswine, and Gardevoir. Not only do these three Pokémon provide coverage for most of the Team GO Rocket Leader's potential lineup, but they're also incredibly strong when powered up to their highest CP level.

The first member of your team should be a strong Fighting-type like Lucario, so you can swiftly deal with Cliff's guaranteed first Pokémon, Lileep. They'll also be able to take on two of Cliff's potential wave two Pokémon, Cradily and Tyranitar. Follow this up with a strong Ice-type like Mamoswine, which can take on wave two's Aerodactyl and Marowak, as well as wave three's Crobat.

Your final Pokémon can either be a Fairy-type or a Dragon-type to counter Cliff's remaining potential team member, Kingdra, although a Fairy-type like Xerneas will also give you an extra option to use against Tyranitar.

Another great team option for battling Cliff would be Terrakion, Galarian Darmanitan, and Xerneas. If you don't have any of these recommendations, simply choose your strongest Fighting-type, Ice-type, and Fairy-type and give it your best shot.

These teams are a great starting point, but you might need to switch some Pokémon out once you know the final lineup Cliff is using. For example, if he sends out Lileep, Aerodactyl, and Cradily, all of the are weak to Ice-type attacks so you might opt for a team like Mamoswine, Galaraian Darmanitan, and Weavile with strong Ice-type movesets to target their weaknesses.

The good news is you can battle Cliff as many times as you need using a single Rocket Radar, so if you find that the team you've chosen isn't working, try a new formation and rematch him.

Rewards For Defeating Cliff

Catch A Shadow Pokémon

The main reward for defeating Cliff in Pokémon GO is the chance to catch his first wave Pokémon, which in this case is the Rock/Grass-type Lileep. Not only will this be a powerful Shadow version, but there's also a slightly higher chance of encountering a rare Shiny variant this way than if you caught one in the wild.

Lileep's final evolution, Cradily, puts in a solid performance in the Great League and it can also be used as a budget Grass-type attacker in Raid Battles if you don't have any stronger options.

You'll also get some Stardust and a few handy items, which could include Max Potions, Max Revives, or even an Unova Stone if you're lucky. Finally, if you have a free slot in your Egg storage, you'll be rewarded with a 12km Egg (also known as a Strange Egg) when defeating Cliff in battle. Rare Pokémon like Varoom, Larvitar, and Salandit have a chance to hatch from these Eggs.

How To Find Cliff In Pokémon GO

Equip A Rocket Radar

In order to find Cliff in Pokémon GO, you'll need to equip a regular Rocket Radar. This is a rare item that can be obtained by putting together six Mysterious Components. These are given out as a reward every time you defeat a Team GO Rocket Grunt at a PokéStop, so you'll need to defeat six of them before you have a chance at taking on Team GO Rocket Leader Cliff.

Once you've got a Rocket Radar, equip it from your item bag and return to the map screen. Tap on the Rocket Radar symbol and a new map will appear showing nearby locations that could be Cliff's hideout. Be aware that a Rocket Radar can also lead you to Sierra or Arlo, but you can simply tap off the screen if you don't want to battle them. Keep looking for PokéStops until you find Cliff.

It's also possible to get a Rocket Radar as a reward for completing a Special Research story. You can even purchase one from the in-game shop for 200 PokéCoins if you're struggling to get one through regular gameplay, although there's no need to spend real money if you don't want to as they are readily available through other methods in Pokémon GO.

Source: LeekDuck