As players go through the daily grind in Pokemon GO, they can continue to find and challenge the various members of Team GO Rocket. After assembling a Rocket Radar, players are able to take their fight to one of Team GO Rockets leaders. One of the ones players can encounter is Cliff.
Back in May 2021, the Luminous Legends Y event gave all of the Team GO Rocket leaders in Pokemon GO brand new parties of Pokemon. Cliff, of course, is included with him currently only retaining his Tyranitar. He still remains just as much of a challenge as before however.
Like the other leaders of Team GO Rocket, Cliff has one Pokemon that he will use in his first party slot. His second and third party slot however have pools of three Pokemon each that will be used in each encounter with Cliff. The only way to know what Cliff will use as his second and third Pokemon in an encounter is by losing to him and rematching him within the same encounter.
Cliff's First Pokemon - Seedot
Cliff's first Pokemon will always be Seedot. This Pokemon is a pure Grass-type, making it weak against Fire, Flying, Poison, Bug, and Ice-type moves. It, however, also resists Water, Grass, Electric, and Ground-type moves.
Being Cliff's weakest Pokemon, it can be the easiest to deal with. It is also the perfect point in the battle to force Cliff to waste all of his Protect Shields so he can't use them on his more powerful Pokemon. If players just want to deal with Seedot quickly, however, the best Pokemon for the job are:
Galarian Darmanitan - Ice Fang and Avalanche
Reshiram - Fire Fang and Overheat
Chandelure - Fire Spin and Overheat
Unovan Darmanitan - Fire Fang and Overheat
Yveltal - Gust and Hurricane
Cliff's Second Pokemon - Makuhita, Poliwrath, or Kingler
For Cliff's second Pokemon, he has the possibility to send out Makuhita, Poliwrath, or Kingler. As stated previously, there is no way to know for sure which of these Cliff will send out in an encounter unless players learned beforehand by battling him and losing within an encounter.
Makuhita is a pure Fighting-type Pokemon, making it weak to damage from Fairy, Flying, and Psychic-type moves. It also resists damage from Bug, Rock, and Dark-type moves. Some of the best counters against Makuhita are:
Yveltal - Gust and Hurricane
Rayquaza - Air Slash and Hurricane
Therian Tornadus - Gust and Hurricane
Mewtwo - Confusion and Psystrike
Delphox - Zen Headbutt and Psychic
Poliwrath is a dual Water and Fighting-type Pokemon. Its unique typing makes it weak against Fairy, Flying, Psychic, Electric, and Grass-type moves while also resisting damage from Steel, Water, Bug, Rock, Ice, Dark, and Fire-type moves. This means that the best Pokemon to use against it are:
Attack Deoxys - Zen Headbutt and Zap Cannon
Mewtwo - Confusion and Psystrike
Therian Thundurus - Thunder Shock and Thunderbolt
Alakazam - Confusion and Psychic
Zekrom - Charge Beam and Wild Charge
Finally, Kingler is a pure Water-type Pokemon. This means that it is only weak to Grass and Electric-type moves and resists Steel, Water, Ice, and Fire-type moves. Despite its simple type, it can still cause a lot of trouble, so players are recommended to use:
Therian Thundurus - Thunder Shock and Thunderbolt
Zekrom - Charge Beam and Wild Charge
Normal Deoxys - Charge Beam and Thunderbolt
Electivire - Thunder Shock and Wild Charge
Roserade - Razor Leaf and Solar Beam
Cliff's Third Pokemon - Torterra, Sharpedo, or Tyranitar
Like with the previous party slot, there are three more Pokemon that Cliff can possibly use as his final Pokemon in battle. These Pokemon are Torterra, Sharpedo, and Tyranitar.
Torterra is a dual Grass and Ground-type Pokemon, making it weak to Ice, Fire, Flying, and Bug-type moves. Defensively, however, Torterra resists damage from Rock, Ground, and Electric-type moves. The best Pokemon to use in order to counter it are:
Galarian Darmanitan - Ice Fang and Avalanche
Mamoswine - Powder Snow and Avalanche
Weavile - Ice Shard and Avalanche
Glaceon - Frost Breath and Avalanche
Jynx - Frost Breath and Avalanche
Sharpedo is a dual Water and Dark-type Pokemon, giving it weaknesses against Fairy, Bug, Electric, Grass, and Fighting-type moves. It, however, also boasts a massive amount of resistances, with Sharpedo resisting damage from Ghost, Steel, Water, Ice, Dark, Fire, and Psychic-type moves. With this in mind, the most effective Pokemon and movesets to use against Sharpedo are:
Therian Thundurus - Thunder Shock and Thunderbolt
Machamp - Counter and Dynamic Punch
Raikou - Volt Switch and Wild Charge
Sirfetch'd - Counter and Close Combat
Zapdos - Thunder Shock and Thunderbolt
Finally, the last possible Pokemon Cliff can use is his Tyranitar. This Pokemon is a dual Rock and Dark-type, making it weak to Fighting, Fairy, Ground, Bug, Steel, Water, and Grass-type moves. It also resists damage from Dark, Normal, Poison, Ghost, Flying, Fire, and Psychic-type moves. The best Tyranitar counters are:
Lucario - Counter and Aura Sphere
Conkeldurr - Counter and Dynamic Punch
Breloom- Counter and Dynamic Punch
Machamp - Counter and Dynamic Punch
Blaziken - Counter and Focus Blast
Pokemon GO is available on Android and iOS.
Source: Pokemon GO Info