Cliff is one of the three leaders of the GO Rocket team in Pokémon GO. You can find it by collecting mysterious Team GO Grunts components from captured PokéStops. When you have six, you can build a rocket radar to locate a leader's hideout.
Cliff has a new lineup of Pokémon to use each month. You won't have a hard time taking it apart, and you'll want to focus on using durable Pokémon to meet its exceptional collection.
First Pokémon
The first Cliff Pokémon used against you is Pinsir a Bug-type Pokémon. Pinsir is a fairly difficult first challenge, so you need to be careful in your approach. Pinsir is weak on Fire, Flying, and Rock types, so you might want to bring a durable, heavy Pokemon to fight it. Some great choices include Charizard, Moltres, Scyther, Gigalith, Golem, Armaldo, Togekiss, or Darmanitan.
Second Pokémon
The next choice is a throw between three options.
- Omastar a type of rock and water
- Marowak a type of sun
- Electivire an electric type
Your best option would probably be to choose a sturdy Grass-type Pokémon for this encounter. While Electivire is not weak on weed, one type of weed could reliably resist their attacks and cause severe damage to Marowak and Omastar as they are both weak to that type. For one type of weed, you can use Leafeon, Torterra, Venusaur, Exeggutor, Cacturne, or Carnivine.
Any Electric or Water-type Pokemon would be too much of a risk because if Cliff has Electivire you could get stuck pretty quickly. A Grass-type remains a safe bet with a series of reliable attacks capable of damaging any of these options.
Third Pokémon
Much like Cliff's second choice, his third is a mix of three options.
- Swampert a type of water and soil
- Torterra a grass and soil type
- Tyranitar un type Rock and Dark
The best option would be another Grass guy against this trio. A Grass-type could severely damage Tyranitar and Swampert if Cliff uses them. It wouldn't do any significant damage against Torterra, but it would be a great choice to fight with during this engagement. You will be able to use any of the above options mentioned for Cliff's second choice.
You'll want to avoid Electric, Fire, or Rock-type Pokémon during this final fight. You will find that these Pokémon can take them out quickly, and you will quickly find yourself without a reliable team to withstand Cliff's attacks. If you need to vary your approach for Pokémon, you can always use a bug type, like Heracross, Scizor, Escavalier, or Armaldo against this trio. Swampert won't be weak to them, but Torterra and Tyranitar will feel it.
You'll want a solid lineup of Pokémon to take on Cliff. While you can focus on damage outside of its roster, you will find it much more useful to come into battle, ready to have an endurance commitment. You want to resist the attacks, while still dealing a reasonable degree of damage to Cliff's roster. Make sure you are prepared for the long haul.