Best generation 1 Pokémon

A mere 4 ELO points separate Gengar from Arcanine at the top of the Pokémon ranking, after 134736 duels.

The podium is razor-thin. Gengar holds first place with 1473 ELO points and a 66% win rate across 713 duels, but Arcanine trails by just 4 points at 1469 ELO. Mewtwo sits third with 1467 ELO, making the top three nearly indistinguishable in strength. The competition remains fierce throughout the upper ranks, with Gyarados claiming fourth at 1448 ELO after 638 duels. The sharpest divide in the entire ranking emerges between ranks 4 and 5, where 23 ELO points separate Gyarados from Charizard despite the fire starter's impressive 66% win rate matching Gengar's performance. At the bottom of the 151 contenders, Weedle languishes with 934 ELO and a 32% win rate across 609 duels, while Drowzee and Kakuna barely fare better in the final three spots, suggesting these designs failed to win over the community.

This ranking draws on 134736 duels cast by 185 players across all 151 first-generation Pokémon, with data current as of 11 October 2026. The tight margins at the summit suggest no consensus favorite has emerged from Kanto's original roster. Cast your own votes on VAINKEURZ to shift the standings and champion your preferred pocket monster.

Updated on October 11, 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 →