Pokémon GO Cliff Counters Guide - Pokemon GO Hub

Learn how to defeat GO Rocket Leader Cliff and which Pokémon they have during the month of February 2026. Includes Cliff’s current Pokémon line-up, best counters and teams to use, and rewards for defeating Cliff.

• 🔔 Fully updated with the start of Precious Pals: 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 Magikarp.

• Shadow Magikarp

Slot #2

Cliff’s second Pokémon is Shadow Skarmory, Cradily, or Annihilape.

• Shadow Skarmory
• Shadow Cradily
• Shadow Annihilape

Slot #3

Cliff’s third Pokémon is Shadow Tyranitar, Gallade, or Camerupt.

• Shadow Tyranitar
• Shadow Gallade
• Shadow 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:

• Magnezone
• Primarina
• Hero Zacian
• Moltres
• Kyogre
• Scizor

• With strong and quick Electric and Fairy-type charged moves, Zacian (Hero) is solid in this battle as it can handle Shadow Magikarp, Annihilape, Skarmory, Tyranitar, and Gallade with its usual moves, while also dishing out high neutral damage to others.
• Magikarp can be handled by almost any Pokémon given how weak it is, so you shouldn’t worry about Cliff’s lead, rather the second and third Pokémon.
• Primarina is absolutely stellar in this battle, using its strong Water and Fairy moves to cut down Annihilape and being particularly effective against any of the final Pokémon: Tyranitar, Gallade, or Camerupt. Its Water moves deal neutral damage to Skarmory, but you should switch out Primarina and ideally leave it for the last slot. You can even opt for Kyogre instead.
• Charizard/Moltres brings extra oomph to the mix as its Fire and Flying moves successfully deal with Skarmory, Annihilape, and Machamp. But, you need to be careful about Rock attacks from Cradily and Tyranitar.
• Metagross is perfect for Cradily, Tyranitar, and with Earthquake, it even punishes Camerupt.
• Scizor can deal with a multitude of targets, including Cradily, Annihilape, and Tyranitar.

💡 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 Magikarp counters

Shadow Magikarp

Shadow Magikarp is a pure Water-type Pokémon. It is weak to Electric and Grass, and is a weak Pokémon, making it perfect fodder to bait through shields while not losing too much HP.

You should always start with a strong Pokémon that can burn Cliff’s shields fast, while still having utility after rotation. Spam charge moves and bait shields whenever possible. Here is our recommendation:

Shadow Magikarp counters

Pokémon	Moves
Magnezone	Volt Switch, Wild Charge, Flash Cannon
Regieleki	Lock-On, Thunder Cage
Electivire	Thunder Shock, Thunder Punch
Alola Exeggutor	Bullet Seed, Seed Bomb
Sceptile	Bullet Seed, Leaf Blade

Shadow Skarmory counters

Shadow Skarmory

Shadow Skarmory is a Steel/Flying-type Pokémon. It is weak to Electric and Fire moves.

• Magnezone’s or Zacian (Hero)’s Wild Charge, Charizard’s Blast Burn, or Moltres’ Overheat are good enough to take out the troublesome Skarmory.

Skarmory Counters

Pokémon	Moves
Charizard	Ember, Blast Burn
Magnezone	Volt Switch, Wild Charge
Moltres	Fire Spin, Overheat
Hero Zacian	Metal Claw, Wild Charge
Blacephalon	Incinerate, Mind Blown
Therian Thundurus	Volt Switch, Wildbolt Storm

Shadow Annihilape counters

Shadow Annihilape

Shadow Annihilape is a Ghost/Fighting-type Pokémon. It is weak to Fairy, Flying, Ghost, and Psychic-type moves, which opens up a wide variety of excellent counters.

Using any farmed Charged Moves by your first Pokémon is a wise decision.

Annihilape Counters

Pokémon	Moves
Primarina	Charm, Disarming Voice, Hydro Pump
Hero Zacian	Metal Claw, Play Rough
Moltres	Fire Spin, Sky Attack
Staraptor	Wing Attack, Fly
Xerneas	Geomancy, Moonblast
Moltres	Wing Attack, Sky Attack

Shadow Cradily Counters

Shadow Cradily

Shadow Honchkrow is a Grass/Rock-type Pokémon. It is weak to Bug, Fighting, Ice, and Steel moves.

Shadow Cradily Counters

Pokémon	Moves
Metagross	Bullet Punch, Meteor Mash
Mamoswine	Powder Snow, Avalanche
Magnezone	Volt Switch, Wild Charge
Scizor	Fury Cutter, Iron Head, Night Slash
Lucario	Force Palm, Aura Sphere
Conkeldurr	Counter, Dynamic Punch

Shadow Camerupt counters

Shadow Camerupt

Shadow Machamp is a Fire/Ground-type Pokémon. It is double weak to Water and also weak to Ground moves.

Shadow Camerupt Counters

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

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.

Tyranitar Counters

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, Flying, and Ghost moves.

Shadow Gallade Counters

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.