The Kanto region's Pokemon and mechanics garner a lot of nostalgia, even for people who weren't alive when the original Pokemon games released. It's no surprise, then, that RBY Smogon battles are quite popular on Pokemon Showdown. The tiers found in this generation have been set in stone for a long time. Those tiers, however, are for a 6v6 Singles battle. What happens to the ranking a Pokemon accrues if it is the only Pokemon you can use? What happens if we pit every Gen 1 Pokemon against every other in a mano a mano fight to the fainting?
Welcome to the Kanto 1v1 Round Robin.
(This series assumes all Pokemon have their best 4 attacking moves, all multi-hits hit the maximum damage, and no moves crit. Chance effects that decide a battle round to the nearest whole number, meaning an over 50 percent chance indicates a success.)
Alakazam
Alakazam, for a long time, was considered the best OU Pokemon in Gen 1. While it is still excellent, it's usage has declined due to the meta coming around to countering it. This isn't immediately a death sentence for its 1v1 prospects. Those counters often require other Pokemon on the team to set up. However, Alakazam only has 2 attacks that make sense to use: Psychic and Seismic Toss.
This means that all the OU dual type Psychic Pokemon have an advantage. Alakazam has no coverage for these Pokemon, and they can hit it back with a neutral STAB. Jynx, Exeggutor, and Starmie all beat it.
Additionally, the only OU normal-type that loses to it is the slow and specially weak Snorlax. Tauros is strong and fast enough to take it down first, whereas Chansey can progressively do slightly more damage than Alakazam can return.
Because of the mechanics of Wrap in Gen 1, Dragonite is very likely to KO with a post-wrap Hyper Beam. Alakazam has about a 20% chance of even living past that point, and returning enough damage in those 2 turns is an unlikely thing.
Rhydon, due to its dual STAB on Earthquake and Rock Slide, has a wide enough physical attack pool to overwhelm Alakazam on that front.
Lapras just barely ekes out a win against Alakazam by spamming Blizzard, which KOs one turn before Alakazam can KO back. Articuno does the same, but quicker.
Final score: 139/150
Exeggutor
A fair mirror of Alakazam with much better coverage, Exeggutor will be wielding Mega Drain, Psychic, Hyper Beam, and Double Edge.
Exeggutor has many of the same losses as Alakazam. It loses to Dragonite, Tauros, Chansey, Lapras, and Articuno for all the same reasons. Jynx wins against it due to its Ice type preventing either STAB type from mattering for the egg-noggin.
Any good Flying, Fire, or Ice type Pokemon, or those with coverage in those types, also has a fair shot at Exeggutor. This means Zapdos, Moltres, Dodrio, Charizard, and Gyrados. Seeing as Flying is a physical type, these Pokemon have an easier time beating the cracked egg, but Ice types don't shy from the fight either. You might think this means Dewgong comes out on top, but its not bulky to the point where it can take Exeggutor's attacks long enough.
Final score: 137/150
THE SCORES SO FAR:
1. Mew (150/150)
2. Mewtwo (149/150)
3. Snorlax (140/150)
4. Alakazam (139/150)
5. Exeggutor (137/150)
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