Gen 1 is the hardest generation to grade well, because 151 bodies have to cover 22 jobs that the full 1,025-body pool was designed around. There is exactly one body above 400 kg in the whole generation and only two above 300 kg, which means the interior line has to be built out of 100-120 kg bodies and the second defensive tackle is always a compromise. Within those limits there is a maximum, and it is 22 names worth 1,275 grade points.
For context, the ceiling on a board drawn from all nine generations is 66.4 overall, and a mid-pack board — every slot filled with roughly the 36th-best body for the job — grades 38.2. Gen 1 sits in the middle by design: deep enough to fill every slot with a real player, shallow enough that four starting jobs end up in the 40s no matter what you do.
The board
Here is the full 22, in slot order, with the stat that drives the grade and the reason the body belongs in that job rather than somewhere else. The grades are what the same grader in the game returns for each pairing.
| Slot | Pick | Key stat | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Charizard (63) | sp. attack 109, speed 100 | The best quarterback in the generation and the only body that pairs a 100+ sp. attack with 100 speed and a 90.5 kg frame inside the 40-130 kg band. |
| RB | Poliwrath (57) | speed 70, attack 95, hp 90 | Balanced everywhere: 95 attack and 90 hp carry the 40% that is not speed, and water/fighting are both favoured at running back. |
| WR1 | Alakazam (65) | sp. attack 135, speed 120 | The single best receiver grade in Gen 1. 135 sp. attack and 120 speed on a 48 kg frame is the ideal receiver build. |
| WR2 | Magmar (63) | speed 93, sp. attack 100 | No passing on Pikachu's best slot: speed 93 and sp. attack 100 give Magmar a 63 without breaking the 70 kg weight ceiling. |
| TE | Dewgong (56) | hp 90, sp. defense 95 | The tight end band starts at 60 kg and runs to 220 kg; Dewgong's 120 kg at 1.7 m sits inside it while 90 hp and 95 sp. defense carry the physical half. |
| LT | Golem (51) | defense 130, 300 kg | The heaviest body not named Snorlax. 130 defense and 300 kg are the only way to get a real anchor after the top tackle is spent. |
| LG | Venusaur (47) | hp 80, defense 83, 2.0 m | Two metres tall with 80 hp and 83 defense. He misses the type bonus but keeps the guard slot out of the 40s. |
| C | Rhydon (57) | attack 130, defense 120 | Center leans hardest on defense of any line slot, and Rhydon's 120 defense plus a 1.9 m, 120 kg frame is the best interior fit in the generation. |
| RG | Exeggutor (49) | hp 95, attack 95 | A 120 kg body with 95 hp and 95 attack covers the guard weights; his 55 speed is irrelevant at this slot. |
| RT | Moltres (50) | sp. attack 125, 2.0 m | Right tackle is the closest thing to a leftover slot on this board; Moltres at least brings 2.0 m and 90 hp into the 120-960 kg band. |
| K | Jolteon (55) | sp. defense 95, speed 130 | The kicker slot reads hp and defense first and nobody in Gen 1 does that well, so frame decides it. Jolteon is the only 130-speed body under the 45 kg weight ceiling, and 95 sp. defense carries the rest. |
| LE | Arcanine (59) | attack 110, 155 kg | Edge rusher wants attack first; 110 attack on a 155 kg, 1.9 m frame lands inside the 80-300 kg band with fire in the favoured types. |
| DT1 | Snorlax (67) | hp 160, 460 kg | The best interior defender in the generation by eight points. 160 hp and 460 kg is the only true nose-tackle body in the pool. |
| DT2 | Kangaskhan (47) | hp 105, 2.2 m | The weakest slot on the board, and it has to be: after Snorlax and Golem the next heaviest body is 155 kg. Kangaskhan supplies 105 hp and height. |
| RE | Dragonite (57) | attack 134, 210 kg | 134 attack with 210 kg is a genuine edge rusher, and the dragon typing is neither helped nor hurt at this slot. |
| LOLB | Machamp (65) | attack 130, 130 kg | Fighting is the best linebacker type in the game, and 130 attack with 130 kg puts Machamp in the top bracket on the strong side. |
| MLB | Cloyster (70) | defense 180, 132.5 kg | The highest grade on the board. Defense is the first weight at middle linebacker and Cloyster's 180 is the biggest number Gen 1 has. |
| ROLB | Mewtwo (57) | attack 110, 122 kg | Mewtwo's real home in Gen 1 football is linebacker: 122 kg and 2.0 m inside the 60-190 kg band with 110 attack as the top weight. |
| CB1 | Fearow (59) | speed 100, 38 kg | Cornerback is 50% speed, and Fearow's 100 speed comes with a 1.2 m, 38 kg frame that fits the 20-70 kg band with no penalty. |
| CB2 | Electrode (58) | speed 150 | The fastest body in the generation starts at the second corner job, where 150 speed is worth more than any other stat he owns. |
| FS | Nidoking (60) | speed 85, attack 102 | Free safety wants speed first and a little bit of everything else; Nidoking's 102 attack and 62 kg are the best balance left after the corners. |
| SS | Tauros (63) | speed 110, attack 100 | Strong safety weights speed and attack, and Tauros is the only Gen 1 body with 110 speed and 100 attack on an 88 kg frame. |
Total: 1,275 grade points, 58.0 overall — 55.7 on offense, 60.2 on defense. Simulated over 4,000 seasons this board averages 9.8 wins and produces a perfect season roughly once in 3,000 attempts.
The five decisions that build this board
Spend the one great interior body first
Snorlax is the only 400+ kg Pokémon in Gen 1, and his 67 at defensive tackle is eight points clear of the next best interior grade. Lock him in at DT1 before anything else, because every alternative use of him costs you the one slot where the pool has real depth.
Give the receivers the fast light bodies
Alakazam at 135 sp. attack and 120 speed is a 65, and Magmar at 93 speed with 100 sp. attack is a 63. Both fit the 20-70 kg band. Every other fast Gen 1 body of that shape grades worse, which is why those two names are fixed.
Put the heavy leftovers in the line
Golem (300 kg), Rhydon (120 kg) and Exeggutor (120 kg) exist to hold the interior together. They are ordinary at other jobs and useful here, which is the definition of a correct late pick.
Use the fastest bodies in the secondary, not at running back
Electrode's 150 speed is worth 58 at corner and 58 at running back, but a corner needs two of them and Fearow's 100 speed only reaches 57 at the second corner job. The single-jobs rule decides it: put the speed where the pool is thinnest.
Accept the four weak slots
Left guard (47), right guard (49), right tackle (50) and DT2 (47) cannot be fixed inside Gen 1. A player who spends picks trying to raise those four usually breaks two stronger slots in the process and ends up below 1,275.
Two boards tie at 1,275 — the shape is your choice
The total is what the grader rewards, and more than one arrangement reaches it. The second shape keeps the same core and moves three names: Golem takes over the interior while Snorlax slides to the second tackle job, Mewtwo drops back into guard and Blastoise takes the right outside linebacker job. Same 1,275 points, different risk profile.
| Slot | Board A | Board B |
|---|---|---|
| LT | Golem (51) | Venusaur (47) |
| LG | Venusaur (47) | Exeggutor (49) |
| RG | Exeggutor (49) | Mewtwo (52) |
| DT1 | Snorlax (67) | Golem (51) |
| DT2 | Kangaskhan (47) | Snorlax (67) |
| ROLB | Mewtwo (57) | Blastoise (52) |
Board A keeps Snorlax at the nose, where his 67 is the highest interior grade in the generation. Board B spreads him to the second tackle job and lets Golem do the grunt work, which is two points worse at the tackle alone but pulls three points back through Mewtwo's guard grade. The difference between the two is which unit you would rather watch break first — and both are correct.
The grade ceilings this pool cannot reach
It helps to know what Gen 1 is physically incapable of. These are the best grades available at each slot before the single-jobs rule is applied — in other words, what you could score if Snorlax were allowed to start six times.
| Slot | Ceiling | Body |
|---|---|---|
| QB | 63 | Charizard |
| RB | 58 | Electrode |
| WR1 | 65 | Alakazam |
| WR2 | 63 | Alakazam / Magmar |
| TE | 63 | Machamp |
| LT | 65 | Snorlax |
| LG | 65 | Snorlax |
| C | 59 | Snorlax |
| RG | 65 | Snorlax |
| RT | 65 | Snorlax |
| K | 55 | Jolteon |
| LE | 59 | Arcanine |
| DT1 | 67 | Snorlax |
| DT2 | 67 | Snorlax |
| RE | 57 | Arcanine / Dragonite |
| LOLB | 67 | Cloyster |
| MLB | 70 | Cloyster |
| ROLB | 67 | Cloyster |
| CB1 | 59 | Fearow |
| CB2 | 58 | Electrode / Magmar |
| FS | 60 | Nidoking |
| SS | 63 | Tauros |
Read that table as a list of temptations. Snorlax appears at six slots, Machamp could take tight end, Cloyster is the best linebacker at all three positions. The board above is what happens when you stop asking which body is best and start asking which body is hardest to replace.
The tool below runs the same grader used in these numbers. Set the generation filter to Gen 1, fill the slots in the order listed above, and check the per-slot grades as you go. Any slot that comes back six points below the ceiling is a slot worth revisiting.
How to run this board
- Open the builder and set the generation filter to Gen 1 so the pool drops from 1,025 bodies to 151.
- Fill QB, DT1, MLB, SS, WR1 and CB1 first — those six slots have a clear best answer and everything else flows from them.
- Fill the interior line last, with the heaviest bodies still available: Golem, Rhydon, Exeggutor and one 2.0 m body for the remaining tackle job.
- Read the grade sheet before simulating. If any slot is more than four points under this board's number, you have spent a body that belongs somewhere else.
- Simulate. The same board swings between roughly 5-12 and 14-3, so judge it over several runs rather than one season.
Want the mixed-generation version instead? The best-lineup guide covers the strongest possible board from all nine generations, which grades about eight points higher than any Gen 1 build.
Draft the original 151 into 22 jobs
Gen 1 filter on, 151 bodies in the pool, every slot competing for the same short list of heavy and fast picks. Simulate the season when the board is full.