The Rocket Boss Cliff from Pokémon GO can be quite hard to defeat. You need to battle his Pokémon like Tyranitar or Torterra. We show you the best counters and reveal how you can defeat Cliff.
How to battle Cliff? To do this, you need to collect a Rocket Radar. You get components for each battle against Team GO Rocket Grunt. Once you have 6 mysterious components, you can activate the Rocket Radar and search for Cliff, Arlo, and Sierra.
The best counters against Cliff – as of May 19
This team uses Cliff: The Rocket Boss relies on 7 different Pokémon, for which you should always have a good counter ready. His team looks as follows:
- First Pokémon: Samurott
- Second Pokémon: Quagsire, Kingler or Hariyama
- Third Pokémon: Torterra, Sharpedo or Tyranitar
As the first Pokémon, Cliff always uses Samurott. You can also catch it as Shiny after the battle with some luck.
The best counters against Samurott: This Pokémon is weak against Dragon and Flying types. Good attackers are:
- Dragonite with Fire Breath and Dragon Claw or Hurricane
- Noctowl with Air Slash and Shadow Ball or Mud Bomb
- Heatran with Fire Spin and Iron Head or Flamethrower
There are plenty of Pokémon to choose from. It’s important to choose a monster with a fast charging attack so you can quickly break through Cliff’s shields.
The best counters against Kingler: Effective are attacks from Grass or Electric types in the fight against Kingler. These Pokémon can be:
- Torterra with Razor Leaf and Solar Beam or Stone Edge
- Gloom with Razor Leaf and Mud Bomb or Moonblast
- Thundurus with Volt Switch and Thunderbolt or Focus Blast
Alternatively, a Togekiss or Gardevoir is a good choice. Dragonite with Fire Breath and Dragon Claw or Hurricane can also shine here.
The best counters against Hariyama: Fairy and Psychic Pokémon have an advantage against this fighter. Use, for example, these:
- Togekiss with Charm and Ancient Power or Flamethrower
- Gardevoir with Charm and Synchronoise or Shadow Ball
- Florges with Charm and Moonblast or Fairy Wind
The best counters against Quagsire:
- Togekiss with Charm and Ancient Power or Flamethrower
- Gardevoir with Charm and Synchronoise or Shadow Ball
- Torterra with Razor Leaf and Solar Beam or Stone Edge
- Gloom with Razor Leaf and Mud Bomb or Moonblast
The best counters against Tyranitar:
- Machamp with Counter and Dynamic Punch
- Lucario with Counter and Power-Up Punch
- Kyogre with Waterfall and Surf
Tyranitar is doubly weak against Fighting Pokémon. It’s best to use a Machamp or Lucario here, as they deal by far the most damage against Tyranitar. Another alternative would be Machoke.
If you don’t have a Fighting Pokémon, you can also exploit Tyranitar’s many other weaknesses. A Kyogre with water attacks is, for example, a good choice.
The best counters against Torterra: The following Pokémon stand a good chance in battle:
- Dialga with Fire Breath and Iron Head or Draco Meteor
- Ho-Oh with Incinerate and Brave Bird or Earthquake
- Articuno with Ice Shard and Blizzard or Ice Beam
- Dragonite with Fire Breath and Dragon Claw or Hurricane
- Reshiram with Fire Breath and Crunch or Inferno
The best counters against Sharpedo:
- Melmetal with Thunder Shock and Superpower
- Quagsire with Mud Shot and Dynamic Punch
- Mega Venusaur with Razor Leaf and Solar Beam
- Machoke with Counter and Cross Chop
- Raikou with Thunder Shock and Volt Switch
The best team against Cliff
A team that often performs well against Cliff looks like this. Keep in mind that this may change depending on the setup of Cliff’s team.
| First Pokémon | Second Pokémon | Third Pokémon |
| Dragonite | Togekiss | Machoke |
Counters against other bosses: Are you having trouble with other bosses? Then check out our guides:
Which Pokémon do you like to use against Cliff? Share your suggestions in the comments. Keep in mind that there is no “perfect” team against Cliff, as it always depends on the Pokémon he uses.
