Best big cats

936 duels later, Black Panther is still #1 in the Big Cats & Co. ranking, with Snow Leopard close behind at 1289 ELO points.

The top of the ranking reveals a commanding lead: 93 ELO points separate Black Panther from Snow Leopard, the widest gap in the podium. Black Panther dominates with 1382 ELO points and a 69% win rate across 113 duels, cementing its status as the community's clear favorite. Snow Leopard and Lynx battle for second place, separated by a single point at 1289 and 1288 ELO respectively. Tiger, despite its 60% win rate, sits at rank 4 with 1265 points, while Leopard rounds out the top 5 at 1245. At the bottom, the community shows less enthusiasm for smaller felines: Puma closes the ranking at 1107 ELO points with a 38% win rate, just behind Ocelot at 1114 points and Serval at 1131. The lower ranks suggest voters favor the mystique and power of larger, rarer cats over their smaller cousins.

This ranking draws from 936 duels cast by 19 players across 15 contenders, updated on 12 October 2026. The results capture a clear hierarchy in feline appeal, with melanistic big cats and elusive mountain dwellers claiming the spotlight. Head to VAINKEURZ to cast your own votes and shape the standings.

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 →