Pokemon GO: How to Beat Cliff (November 2021)

Cliff may have the same roster of characters for November 2021 as he had last month in Pokemon GO, but that doesn’t mean battling him will be easy. Players still need to bring effective type-advantages and the best counters to defeat the Team Rocket Leader.

To start the challenge against Cliff in Pokemon GO, trainers must first collect 6 Mysterious Components by defeating Rocket Grunts at select PokeStops. He can then appear in floating Rocket Balloons, or at PokeStops.

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Defeating Cliff leads to an encounter with a shadow Pokemon that can be purified in Pokemon GO, 1000 Stardust, and a random selection of 2 of the following rewards:

• x1 12km Egg
• x1 Revive
• x1 Max Revive
• x1 Max Potion
• x1 Unova Stone
• x1 Sinnoh Stone

Cliff's First Pokemon - Seedot

Seedot is always the character Cliff will pick first in Pokemon GO. Seedot is a pure Grass-type Pokemon, making it weak to Flying, Poison, Bug, Fire, and Ice-type moves. It has resistances to Ground, Water, Grass, and Electric-type moves. Although not the most powerful of the following choices, Ho-Oh and Moltres are good picks to enter a battle with Cliff because they are dual Flying and Fire-types. This means they can be used in future encounters.

Best Seedot Counters

Cliff's Second Pokemon - Poliwrath, Kingler, Hariyama

Cliff's second and third Pokemon are randomly selected, and there is no way to tell which one he will pick before the battle begins. This is why it's important to try and pick characters that are effective against multiple options.

Best Poliwrath Counters

Poliwrath is both a Water and Fighting-type weak against Flying, Grass, Electric, Psychic, and Fairy-type moves. It resists Rock, Bug, Steel, Fire, Water, Ice, and Dark-type moves. The most powerful counters for Poliwrath are strong Psychic-types like Mewtwo. Other effective Pokemon and their preferred movesets include:

Best Kingler Counters

Kingler is a Water-type Pokemon with weaknesses to Grass and Electric-type moves. It resists Steel, Fire, Water, and Ice. Zekrom is probably the best counter to Kingler, due to its effectiveness against other possible battles with Cliff. More great options are:

Best Hariyama Counters

Hariyama is a Fighting-type Pokemon, making it weak to Flying, Psychic, and Fairy-type moves. Hariyama is resistant against Rock, Bug, and Dark-type moves. Fairy Pokemon don't have great DPS potential, so a strong Psychic-type like Mewtwo is effective, along with:

Cliff's Third Pokemon - Tyranitar, Sharpedo, Torterra

Best Tyranitar Counters

Tyranitar is a dual Rock and Dark-type Pokemon weak to Fighting, Ground, Bug, Steel, Water, Grass, and Fairy-type moves. It resists Normal, Flying, Poison, Ghost, Fire, Dark, and Psychic-type moves. Fighting-types are the best option to counter Tyranitar, and some great options include:

Best Sharpedo Counters

Sharpedo is both a Water and Dark-type, so it is weak to Fighting, Bug, Grass, Electric, and Fairy-type moves. It resists Ghost, Steel, Fire, Water, Ice, Dark, and Psychic-type moves. Good Fighting-types like Lucario are again very effective while battling Cliff, but strong Electric Pokemon work well too. Great options include:

Best Torterra Counters

Torterra is both a Grass and Ground-type Pokemon that is weak against Ice, Flying, Bug, and Fire-type moves. It resists Ground, Rock, and Electric-type moves. Using Fire and Flying-types like Ho-Oh and Moltres is effective against Torterra and many other off Cliff's Pokemon. Some powerful options include:

Pokemon GO is available now on Android and iOS devices.

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