Best Pokémon openings

Pokémon Theme wins 68% of its duels and tops the Pokémon opening ranking ahead of I'm Proud.

A 25 ELO point gap separates Pokémon Theme from I'm Proud at the top, the sharpest divide in the ranking and a sign of clear community preference. I Want to Be a Hero sits at third with 1266 points, just one point ahead of The Ultimate Quest at 1265 points. With You rounds out the top five at 1253 points after 232 duels, the highest duel count in the podium. At the bottom, Under the Alolan Moon holds 25th place with 1132 points and a 38% win rate, while The Extreme Tournament and The Challenge of Life share 1129 points each at ranks 26 and 27. The tight clustering at both ends suggests the community has distinct favorites but few consensus picks beyond the established leaders.

This ranking draws on 3121 duels submitted by 27 players across 27 contenders, updated 12 October 2026. Cast your own vote and shift the standings: every duel refines the order, redistributes ELO points, and brings new openings into contention. The ranking evolves with each matchup, reflecting the collective voice of fans who continue to weigh nostalgia against newer themes.

Updated on October 12, 2026

How this ranking is computed

Every duel won lifts a contender and every loss drops them, by an amount that depends on the opponent's strength: beating the leader is worth more than beating the last. It is an ELO, the same principle as in chess. Duels are not drawn at random — an adaptive entropy sort puts the least predictable match-ups first, which settles the ranking far faster than a full round robin. A worldwide ranking is only published past 30 completed plays. Known limit: a contender who has faced few opponents keeps an approximate score, and the bottom of the table moves more than the podium.

How our rankings are made →