Pokemon GO Cliff counters and lineup (May 2025)

The Pokemon GO Cliff counters will help you take down this GO Rocket boss in May 2025. For now, he has Shadow Cubone as the lead, although this may change with the Crown Clash Taken Over event later this month.

Check what the best counters to the Pokemon GO Cliff May 2025 lineup in your collection are:

• Water&@Water&cp2000-
• Fairy&@Fairy&cp2000-

You can also check out the other GO Rocket Leader guides:

• Giovanni: How to beat, weaknesses, and counters
• Sierra: How to beat, weaknesses, and counters
• Arlo: How to beat, weaknesses, and counters

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Best team to beat Cliff in Pokemon GO (May 2025)

Sportskeeda Gaming's pick of the best team to counter Cliff in Pokemon GO is as follows:

• Primal or Shadow Kyogre with Waterfall and Surf: Kyogre provides you with the perfect start, with Cubone being weak to Water-type moves. The Pokemon also has relevance if you encounter Marowak and Tyranitar next. Mega Swampert is also a great pick.
• Shadow Gardevoir with Confusion and Dazzling Gleam and Triple Axel: The Fairy- and Psychic-type coverage gives you an edge over Machoke, Annihilape, Machamp, Tyranitar, and Crobat. On top of that, Triple Axel (provided you have it) gives you an added Ice-type move.
• Rayquaza with Dragon Tail and Breaking Swipe: Base Rayquaza or Mega Rayquaza is an excellent option that provides an all-round coverage against many of Cliff's Pokemon.

We discuss more about Cliff's counters and Pokemon lineup below.

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Pokemon GO Cliff May 2025 team

Pokemon GO Cliff May 2025 team (Image via TPC)

The following is the Pokemon GO Cliff May 2025:

Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3
Shadow Cubone	Shadow Annihilape	Shadow Machamp
	Shadow Machoke	Shadow Tyranitar
	Shadow Marowak	Shadow Crobat

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How to beat the Pokemon GO Cliff team in Pokemon GO

Defeating the Pokemon GO Cliff May 2025 team is straightforward and can be done using a Water- and a Fairy-type Pocket Monster. Have a neutral pick like a Dragon-type at the back, but you are unlikely to need it. As always, try to eke out the two shields as quickly as possible and switch to type counters when necessary.

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Best counters against Pokemon GO Cliff

The following are the top counters for each of Cliff's Pokemon in GO:

Shadow Cubone Counters

• Kyogre with Waterfall and Surf
• Mega Swampert with Water Gun and Hydro Cannon

Shadow Machoke Counters

• Mega Rayquaza with Air Slash and Dragon Ascent
• Mega Gardevoir with Confusion and Psychic

Shadow Annihilape Counters

• Mega Rayquaza with Air Slash and Dragon Ascent
• Mega Gardevoir with Confusion and Psychic

Shadow Marowak Counters

• Kyogre with Waterfall and Surf
• Mega Swampert with Water Gun and Hydro Cannon

Shadow Machamp Counters

• Mega Rayquaza with Air Slash and Dragon Ascent
• Mega Gardevoir with Confusion and Psychic

Shadow Tyranitar Counters

• Kyogre with Waterfall and Surf
• Lucario with Counter and Aura Sphere

Shadow Crobat Counters

• Mega Rayquaza with Air Slash and Dragon Ascent
• Shadow Mewtwo with Psycho Cut and Psystrike

With how good Shadow Marowak is in Pokemon GO's Great League meta, Cliff is a TGR leader you'd want to farm.

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Check out our other Pokemon GO guides:

• Ditto disguises
• Buddy Evolution Adventure Together guide
• Best Fast Attacks in Pokemon GO
• Pokemon Type Calculator