CAP Premier League XII Power Rankings

By spoo, shnowshner, earthflax, CapitanPabloskii, Gekokeso, Da Pizza Man, Airwind, Spammernoob, and TGA. Released: 2025/06/28.
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CAPPL XII Banner

Logo by Spammernoob.

Welcome to the twelfth edition of CAP Premier League, and the second ever TFP-sponsored CAPPL Power Rankings! And just in time for Week 5, no less. Right on schedule! As a reminder, these Power Rankings are purely for fun and don't claim to measure objective skill levels. Bragging rights do, however, come included. Enjoy responsibly.

An immense thank you goes out to the managers of each team who anonymously sent in rankings, and to all of the writers who made this production possible: spoo, shnowshner, earthflax, CaptainPabloskii, Gekokeso, Da Pizza Man, Airwind, Spammernoob, and TGA. Additionally, this article wouldn't be possible without dex, Rahul, Lumari, and Spammernoob for their involvement in GPing, HTMLing, and creating incredible art. And thank you, the reader, for your patience and continued interest in reading this article!

Now let's get into the team overviews!

Mollux Mafia

Mollux Mafia

Having more than proven their worth in both the CAP circle and across many of Smogon's subcommunities as frequent partners in crime, the Mollux Mafia's very own Baddy and Quinn have conspired to not only guide their team to victory, but to help secure that lauded first-place title themselves. Neither player needs much introduction, holding impressive all-time records of 17-5 and 13-6, respectively, most of which come from their 8-0 and 6-2 showings from last year's CAPPL. Factor in Baddy's current ownership of the CAP Circuit Champion title and a prior CAP Champion's League dub from Quinn in 2024, and it's no shock this duo have garnered so much respect from their competitors. To list off achievements in SV tiers beyond CAP is a task too great for the scope of this article; just know that when it comes to the Tera Generation, there's simply no contest among managers. With the SV teambuilding core fully locked down, they felt comfortable picking up Lacks, a newcomer to CAP but far from a new name to Smogon, if being an OUPL champion alongside Baddy wasn't enough of a dead giveaway. Since Lacks’' initial dive into CAP was via SSCL, with a just-positive 5-4 performance, one may assume this repositioning to SV may be in hopes of finding a more suitable home. In reality, there's just no reason to worry about SS when you've got Ikaishi for pennies on the dollar, an outrageous 10k retain from last year's now-defunct Storming Saharajas that the Mafia jumped on immediately. Don't let the meager records in CAP alone fool you, as Ikaishi has gone from a relatively middling player to one of the most confident and passionate names in the generation. Still, that's 40k down the drain pre-auction, and a strong SV core can only bring you so far in such a volatile generation—especially one which has just been intruded upon by the terror that is Obliteryx. If the Molluxes can't round out their oldgens, these slugs will have to accept trailing behind the competition. This makes their 28k purchase of Micaiah—a longstanding CAP veteran and two-time CAPPL Champion under the Wu-Tang Clants he helped lead—all the more indicative of a trophy-worthy lineup, providing the team with much-needed strength in the CAP oldgens. The return of Lostmemories to Smogon at the helm of ORAS, surely with some support from Mic, solidifies a roster of players that may as well be a shoe-in for playoffs. No draft is without faults, however. Taka isn't yet proven in SM and holds a shaky-at-best record in other tiers, to say nothing of the potential mental debuff that may come from him asking to load a different unviable Fighting-type CAP every week. Shucklegigas is completely new to CAP team tours as a whole, and expectations are low as a result, especially as a player without many standout achievements in BW. A minimal substitute list can also be nerve-wracking and may leave the Molluxes feeling shallow should things go awry. Even the smallest of faults in their all-star cast could spiral into disaster. Should the team's supporting cast lift these two up to their competitors, however, the Mafia can look forward to donning their custom with pride.

Tomohawk Pro Skaters

Tomohawk Pro Skaters

The manager duo of Razachu and Steam Buns, having prior experience managing together in WCAP as Oceania, are returning with a vengeance. The two of them have put together a well-rounded starting lineup with no weak slots yet few standout ones either. This doesn't mean there aren't any strong players, however—Steam Buns and entrocefalo, both ranked second in their respective pools, comprise most of the team's star power. Steam Buns has been around the block in ORAS, having played the tier since it was current gen and duking it out in nearly every CAP team tour since CAPPL VII, accumulating a resume that easily earns them this spot. Since entrocefalo's first foray into CAP four years ago on the Hemogoblins, in which he finished with a mere 1-2 record, he's gone on to rack up wins in this tier like few other players can match and hopes to keep the momentum going from his undefeated WCAP as he finds himself on a new franchise this time around. The SV starters, too, boast an impressive list of accomplishments, such as Shadow beating down Baddy in two dominant sets to take home first place in CAP's recent Winter Seasonal, Axzel riding on an OUPL championship title and a 6-3 campaign on one of the most successful SPL franchises of all time, the Tyrants, and Fragments, who quite frankly has too many deep runs in CAP circuit tours, team tours, and beyond to even count. Notably, all three of Axzel, Shadow, and Fragments reside in the top ten of the SV rankings—the only SV core other than the Molluxes' to claim such a feat. While the former two players may be less familiar with the format, they should be able to rely on building and prep assistance from Fragments, Lasen, and perhaps even our benched hero Turn Up to make up for it. Speaking of Lasen, he takes up the SM slot here, weighing in at sixth in his pool. Although his ranking isn't particularly impressive, he comes with an unmatched social presence and invaluable experience in many of these formats; his unique ability to glue an entire team together should not be overlooked. In BW, evakiyama! departs from her prior stint in SM to take the reins in a (mostly) new CAP generation. Given her fantastic 6-2 SM record last year—albeit with building support from one of SM CAP's finest, Jordy—it'll be interesting to see how she performs in a generation that she is ostensibly more familiar with. If support from Steam Buns is anything to rely on, and it certainly should be, it's more than clear why evakiyama fell into the top three of her pool. Last up is Laurel, returning from CAPPL X off a victory, having led the Wu-Tang Clants into glory with a stunning 6-1 record. In what is perhaps the most competitive DPP pool in CAPPL's history, we'll see if he's able to successfully shake off any rust and enter the ring guns blazing, or if last year was nothing more than a Cinderella run. With strong presences in all old gens and no shortage of support from the likes of Lasen and Steam Buns, these hawks seem to be set up for success. However, the question remains: will it be enough for the Tomohawk Pro Skaters to soar to the top? After all, going from a hawk to a champion is no small matter.

Ababo Blasters

Ababo Blasters

The Ababo Blasters are arguably the newest faces on the block when it comes to their history in CAPPL, as this is not only the managing debut of ILSB and HSBT in this tournament, but their debut in the tour as a whole. This isn't much of a point against them, though—the two players are coming from a spectacular, almost dreamlike underdog run in the first edition of WCAP, where they managed Team Argentina to win the entire tournament. As they now step up for CAPPL, the test will be to see if they can keep up the momentum and replicate their success in the format's most established flagship tournament. Their top three most important slots are most likely their SM, ORAS, and BW slots. Clem and Fogbound Lake are players that need little introduction on the CAP scene, for both are ranked as the strongest players in their respective pools, and for good reason. Clem is one of the strongest CAP regulars in the SM CAP tier, most recently going 5-1 in WCAP and boasting a long list of accolades from previous editions of CAPPL. Fogbound Lake is the only player in CAP history to have won not just one, not two, but four editions of CAPPL—back-to-back since CAPPL VIII—always attaining sky-high records in the tournaments, such as his 7-2 record in CAPPL XI. He was a critical piece of the puzzle for the Storming Saharajas' and Wu-Tang Clants' former dynasties; however, with Fogbound Lake transitioning out of his historical home in SS into BW, one of the biggest questions this tournament is whether he'll be able to replicate his soaring successes in a brand-new tier and take home an absurd fifth consecutive ring. While SCL winner Enzonana would've been a fine player on any team, one can only imagine that after winning WCAP with a 6-1 ORAS record, the shared trust and loyalty between him and his Argentinian managers will keep him extremely motivated—especially since HSBT's own abilities in the tier should position him to provide ample support. The Ababos' SV lineup isn't too shabby either, with the natural standout among them being Plague. Plague, a former Clants member and retain who, like Fogbound, won the previous CAPPL, weighs in at fourth place in a highly competitive SV pool. If the power rankings are to be trusted, Plague's top-four status positions the Ababos as one of only three or four teams with a true tiebreak-caliber SV option, a major leg up on their competitors if they're able to claw their way to a playoffs run. While Galarian Blades and ILSB are ranked much lower at sixteenth and twentieth, respectively, the two should be fairly self-sufficient, and ILSB is nonetheless an excellent builder who's capable of steering the SV core's team choices in the right direction. The team's weakest points are ostensibly SS and DPP, with MTB comfortably falling into the bottom three in the SS pool, and fakenagol into the bottom two of DPP. While fakenagol is certainly a strong player, if his results in OU formats and his OUPL championship title are any indication, he has one whole winpost on Smogon for any game in the fourth generation. It should be safe to say that he'll need to learn the ropes of the DPP CAP metagame and will be fairly support-reliant. The Ababo Blasters certainly have a strong team on their hands (do Ababos have hands?), but whether these two managers will be able to catch lightning in a bottle for a second time in a row after WCAP, or find themselves blasting off again, remains to be seen.

Heartbreaker Hemogoblins

Heartbreaker Hemogoblins

As the oldest competing team in the league, the Hemogoblins look to make 2026 their year and finally snag that elusive gold medal. A managerial core of spoo and earthflax may seem like an invitation to sever one's neural pathways, but no doubt can be cast about the motivation these two have for fostering a lively team environment. Complementing these two is Brigtel, the most expensive player in the entire pool at 33k, and for good reason: his knowledge of older generations in BW and, critically, DPP is invaluable for covering a support blind spot between the two managers. Also reflected in this monstrous price tag is his ability to double as someone who can aid in modern generations, having a 5-1 SV WCAP record as co-captain of Team France and a second-place finish in last year's Circuit Championships after dominating 2025's circuit. kDCA returns as a last-minute signup the Hemos brought on board with extreme speed, one of the biggest names currently in SV following an impressive 9-3 record in SPL, a deep run into OST, and his dominant first-place standing in Smogon Tour as of writing. As the star player of 2025's Heartbreakers and ranked second in this year's SV pool, a repeat performance is vital, and the pressure will be on both managers to ensure they provide their ace pilot with ample support. heileone is another solid OU player with a World Cup win and a handful of SPL sets under their belt but will need to learn CAP quickly in order to translate those wins into a strong season. Rounding out their SV is Achimoo, a former member returning after a quiet 2025, looking to redeem their unimpressive 1-3 scoreline from CAPPL X. The Hemogoblins' SV lineup is strewn across the rankings—kDCA poised to repeat exploits from Smogon's most prestigious tours; heileone, a potential wildcard with a modest ranking of twelfth; and Achimoo, lying fairly low at nineteenth place due to middling past showings combined with comparative inactivity. So far, so good, but the team isn't quite there yet, looking a bit tame for the type of energy one might expect from a spoo team. That's where the trifecta of sealoo in SS, pannu in SM, and Nalorium in BW break onto the scene, three respectable players who each bring their own special brand of play and banter into the mix. If nothing else, the Hemogoblins would surely win the award for funniest teamcord, but the threat level presented here is no laughing matter. pannu in particular is a formidable opponent whose innovative team structures and aggressive play land them in a contentious spot as one of SM CAP's best—but also most volatile. Nalorium may have skipped a year like Achimoo, but the list of accomplishments in BW hasn't gone anywhere, and confidence in his abilities still holds strong and lands him in the top half of the pool's rankings. Compared to them, sealoo has struggled a lot more with finding his footing in CAP, though being a reliable SS player may be second to the actual role as head of Pokerich Clique relations. Last is KlefkiHolder, a name that may be unfamiliar to many and is burdened with zero CAP experience, reflected by placing dead last in their pool. Those knowledgeable in ORAS OU, however, are certainly familiar with their enthusiasm for the format, let alone the teams they've developed as a supporter for US Midwest and the Classiest in SPL. But building skill alone won't cut it when ORAS is crowded with no shortage of strong, self-sufficient mainers to face off against. The Hemogoblins boast an overall promising assortment of players this edition, but that's nothing new for the CAP leader's franchise; his teams almost always come out of the power rankings looking like potential title contenders. Still, with every opportunity missed, the stakes continue to rise higher—and a fourth loss at odds with the strength of their draft may be too much heartbreak to handle.

Golden Time Equilibras

Golden Time Equilibras

One Last Kiss and Tempo de Anguria have slowly become one of the most iconic duos not only in CAP but in various other metas where the two complement each other, especially after their performance in last year's CAPPL, where they took the Golden Time Equilibras to the first seed in the regular season of the tournament. The two have so much in common, it's like they're twins—they have the same teambuilding philosophies, the same desire to push the level at which Latin American players perform in CAP tournaments, the same e-girls to date, and most importantly, the same willingness to subject Spammernoob to the CAP equivalent of working at an Amazon fulfillment center on Prime Day. It came as nobody's surprise that the Libras were not willing to part ways with Spammernoob, and who can blame them? His meteoric rise to the top as one of CAP's most influential players can be largely attributed to his ability to both provide significant amounts of teambuilding support and to pilot those very structures himself to a great deal of success. With him as the shadow third manager of the team, there's no doubt that many of the starters, especially in SV, will get access to solid prep for the weeks to come—and luckily for the Libras, they've got no shortage of strong pilots across their roster. Both managers decided to slot themselves in as starters in a bold, but not at all unreasonable, decision, given they've both had phenomenal runs in both individual and team tour SV CAP formats before. Accompanying Tempo in SV are LB and Leroipolux, two decent but admittedly not as impressive players as their manager, with the three of them ranked tenth, eighteenth, and twenty-first, respectively. Still, it's more than possible they perform up to par given Spammernoob's steady support. OLK is starting in SS with a good-but-not-great fourth-place ranking, but honestly, he and Tempo could swap at any point due to their proficiency in both generations. They could even pass the baton to some of their other players like Leroipolux, Horii, or eldids; with a team this size, there's frankly no shortage of options to fall back on if their initial lineup configuration doesn't pan out. Coming in hot with a second-place ranking in SM is LBN, one of the most prolific SM CAP players in the community, joining the Libras once more after his great 6-3 performance last year. It's a rare sight to see him go negative in a CAP tournament, and considering the slot is well supported thanks to having decent backup options like waffle04, who, at the very least, could help LBN prep each week, this team's SM prospects are about as strong as they could be. TGA has been fighting washed allegations with every passing year he fails to reach the highs of his 5-1 CAPCL run in 2024, in which he notably 3-0ed the current most expensive BWer, tier. After his 2-5 showing in the last CAPPL, he now finds himself in an unimpressive fifth place in a pool that's arguably even weaker. However, he's nonetheless one of the most well-versed BW slots, and backed by last year's BW CAP standout seraphz, he may even be able to return to his once-great heights. In DPP we have mielke, ranked dead last in a terrifyingly strong pool. Known more in OU circles for his ADV exploits than DPP, he's certainly got his work cut out for him this year. While there's a minor supporting cast for this slot between bello figo and metagross does architectu, mielke is simply too unproven for the power rankings to do him any favors. Other than weak points in DPP and, to an extent, SV, the Libras seem to have drafted a powerful army once more. OLK and Tempo have already proved their might by achieving the first seed last year, but it's not hard to do anything just once—the real challenge lies in consistent and repeated success. Whether they'll finally make it past semifinals, win the tournament, or even make playoffs in the first place is anyone's guess, but it's clear that this is a team with the right tools to make magic happen. Let's just hope Spammernoob isn't too burnt out when everything's said and done.

Breezin' Breezis

Breezin' Breezis

In past campaigns of the Breezin' Breezis, managers Potatochan and zioziotrip employed an auction strategy that focused on buying players from their home communities of 1v1, and to a lesser extent, Draft and OMs. Lineups were cheap, socially synergistic, and often featured entirely unknown players (s/o voltorblover483762). Word on the street was that this year, their lineup would be less nepotistic. Did they deliver? Mostly, yes—the only clear nepo picks on this starting lineup seem to be Jojen in SS and crow crumbs in ORAS. The former had a five-game stint in SS last year, finishing 2-3 with wins over dex and entrocefalo, while the latter returns to the Breezis for a third year in a row despite only having one sheet game across the past two editions. Jojen was even a retain from last year, although with an eighth-place ranking in SS, it stands to reason he could've been purchased in the auction for much less than 10k. However, if the decision to lock down Jojen pre-auction is any indication of how confident these two managers are in him, we might be looking at one of the team's prime candidates to perform above and beyond initial assessment. As for crow crumbs, well, at least they aren't last. Another win for nepotism, it seems. The rest of the team is fairly well-rounded—vk, hailing from OU, should be instantly recognizable by anyone who's so much as glanced at the official tournaments subforum in the past few years; MGdos16, the late-season ORAS savior of SPL XVII's Cryonicles, finds himself in SV for the second time after his freshman WCAP performance; Ming549 puts the skills he honed during the legendary CAPTT IV to good use in his home tier of SM; and tier, repping the team's biggest price tag at 21.5k, sits at a formidable second place in a BW pool with many fresh faces. The final two players on the roster are the managers themselves: Potatochan and zioziotrip. Both have a long and mostly positive tenure in CAP team tours, yet find themselves each wading around in the middle of their respective pools. Potatochan, sporting a highest rank of third place and lowest of seventeen—he's divisive!—sits directly below vk and above MGdos in the SV rankings, despite the many respectable showings in various tiers he's put up throughout the years. zioziotrip, too, falls at fifth place in the single most expensive tier in the tournament, DPP. Are they washed, or are the other managers just haters? The jury is still out on this one. Without a strong DPP resume from zio like every player above him, it's hard to say his ranking is entirely unjustified, but both managers will need to punch above their weight if the Breezis are to be a playoffs-level roster. However, the same could be said about most of this roster aside from the highly ranked BW slot. Power rankings tend to show bias for players who have played in CAP tournaments before—perhaps because of doubts that a new player can pick up the tier quickly, or will be sufficiently motivated, or perhaps just out of sheer unfamiliarity with their name or their game—and outside of tier and the two managers, there are few players here who've played much CAP at all. If the Breezis can overcome this initial hurdle, though, they may end up breezing right past everyone's expectations—and the rest of the competition while they're at it.

Nocturne Necturnas

Nocturne Necturnas

Managers Concept and Gekokeso reunite to manage the Nocturne Necturnas, with the latter being over a year removed from his CAPCL triumph with the Kookoo Quesos and the former having won the previous edition with the Shoenice Skwovets. In a heartwarming homage to the championship-winning Quesos team, the Necturnas' drafting strategy seemed to be to unite as many drastically different personalities as possible; who needs "vibes" and "activity" anyways? Manager Concept seeks to redeem some disastrous past campaigns by self-buying once more. It remains to be seen if the purchase will be valuable, though a Week 1 substitution and a dead-last power ranking do not bode well for Concept's 2026 campaign. Aside from Concept, the Necturnas' SV core is rounded out by the African duo of Silent Waltz and KeshBa54, two CAP newcomers who will rely on the exhaustive prep skills of their managers to get up to speed in the tier. Both players are playing for their continent in WCoP, with the former having also made the finals of OST, but it is undeniable that a CAP Premier League title is what they have always truly had their eyes on. While KeshBa finds himself neighboring his manager in a second-to-last SV ranking, Silent Waltz did manage to jump a few places ahead to seventeenth in the pool. Still, it's not enough to save the SV core from being the lowest ranked in the tournament by a large margin. The Necturnas' SS is also a reprise from the Quesos' CL-winning lineup, with their tiebreak hero Kate looking to continue her streak of having more wins in SS CAP than lines in her teamcord. The Necturnas seem to have forgotten multiple times that there is only one slot per old gen, though, which has led to familiar faces being placed in unfamiliar tiers. On the other side of the Quesos' CAPCL-clinching SS tiebreak game was dex, who has now joined the Necturnas as their SM player. Moreover, retain and DPP standout Ainzcrad was quickly supplanted by his managers' purchase of Sheik, forcing him into ORAS CAP. Though dex's last CAPPL win in SM was in 2021 and Ainzcrad's last ORAS win was in 2022, they are both more than capable of stringing together wins, though the extent of their success in this tour is anybody's guess. With dex in fourth place in SM and Ainzcrad in sixth in ORAS, expectations seem to be fairly lukewarm. Rounding out the non-Fairy gens are jackuzzler in his BW CAP debut and the previously mentioned Sheik, who excelled in his DPP CAP debut but is trying to redeem himself after a sophomore slump last year. The Necturnas' bench of Nemosse, LOOR, Hairoll, GabrieLopez, and paysa is more than capable of slotting in to play recent CAP gens, but might find themselves out of their depth if issues arise in generations 4 through 6; moreover, builder support is scarce among the Necturnas' substitutes, leaving prep almost entirely to the players and managers. Overall, the Necturnas' lineup boasts some very strong names—notably Kate and Sheik, both third place in their pools—but how well the team gels, how consistently they can prep each slot week in and week out, and how select players perform in relatively foreign slots are the main roadblocks between Gekokeso and Concept and another ring.

Loire River Slowpokes

Loire River Slowpokes

After successfully managing the Loire River Slowpokes to a second-place finish in SSCL, managers Slowpoke Fan and YoruNoxx once again team up in an attempt to recreate their success with their CAPPL debut. Their presence in other parts of the website radiates through their lineup, predominantly composed of former teammates across various World Cups. However, drafting players you're familiar with over experienced players can be a mixed bag, as while it does ensure a welcoming team environment, it also leaves the team lacking in star power. Leading the charge in SV, we have Mimikyu Stardust, a man with an incredibly concerning obsession with the VTuber Ui Shigure and a crippling addiction to loading Prime Pult. Looking past these eccentricities, Mimikyu Stardust is a very strong player, having an extensive history of performing well in various tournaments across the website, notably including both SPL XVI and SCL V. RaJ.Shoot, once one of the most feared names in CAP back in their prime, returns after several years of absence, but his rustiness and lack of familiarity in SV CAP raise doubts about his ability to replicate his past successes. Finishing off SV, we have haxlolo, the star player on the Slowpokes' lineup. With a total record of 8-3 across CAPPL XI and WCAP I, haxlolo has established himself as a force to be reckoned with and will be a key player in the success of his team. While the Slowpokes have a solid SV core, their old gens generally leave some room to be desired. Da Pizza Man, despite having extensive knowledge of SS CAP and being a strong builder, struggles to perform consistently well in-game, reflected in his 4-8 record across CAPCL III and SSCL. His upset victory against entrocefalo in the first week proves that he at least has the capacity to do well, and support from Slowpoke Fan strengthens his already solid building prowess—however, given the overall strength of the SS pool, it will undoubtedly be an uphill battle. Iza, despite ranking second to last, has quite a few accomplishments to his name in the SM scene, most relevantly going 4-0 in SM CAP during WCAP. Whether his low ranking is due to a lack of familiarity from the other managers, or perhaps the strength of the rest of the pool, isn't entirely clear; however, alongside support from seth and Airwind, the Slowpokes' SM slot has the potential to become a true force to be reckoned with. cloud and book ranks similarly low, but unfortunately his rank appears to have a bit more historical justification if his 1-3 debut record in WCAP is anything to go off of. That being said, his accomplishments in ORAS OU should leave no doubts about his capabilities as a player; if he's able to adjust to CAP, his prospects may not all be doom and gloom after all. magialice is a fresh face for BW CAP, and while she is a decent old gen player, her lack of familiarity with the tier and shortage of support put her in a tough spot. Rounding out the starting lineup is Nuxl, looking to redeem his mediocre 2-4 performance from last year. With the DPP pool as threatening as ever, though, he'll have to work hard to ensure that his fate doesn't repeat itself. As far as bench support goes, Airwind and seth both provide invaluable backup in SM, with the former also being a great help in ORAS. The remainder of the Slowpokes' subs, unfortunately, don't appear to help much with building, leaving most of the team's players to fend for themselves. Overall, it's safe to say that the Slowpokes are one of CAPPL XII's biggest underdogs, with many of their players either being inexperienced in the tiers and/or having a history of performing inconsistently. Don't count them out, though; if other teams end up underestimating the Slowpokes only for them to give it their all, they may very well become the kind of unexpected powerhouse that just makes you want to root for them.

SV Pool

  1. Baddy
  2. kDCA
  3. Quinn
  4. Plague
  5. Fragments
  6. Lacks
  7. haxlolo
  8. Tempo di anguria
  9. Axzel
  10. Shadow079
  11. Mimikyu Stardust
  12. heileone
  13. vk
  14. Potatochan
  15. MGdos16
  16. Galarian Blades
  17. Silent Waltz
  18. LB
  19. Achimoo
  20. ILSB
  21. Leroipolux
  22. Raj.Shoot
  23. KeshBa54
  24. Concept

The SV pool this season of CAPPL is quite possibly the most competitive it's ever been in the tour's twelve iterations. Despite the shark pit of challengers, though, one player seems to stand head and shoulders above the rest, ranked unanimously in first place: Baddy. One could point to his 8-0 finish last CAPPL as evidence to support his placement. Alternatively, one could point to his first-place finish in the 2025 CAP Circuit Championships—or, truthfully, any number of his other deep tour runs in CAP or successful campaigns in official SV OU tournaments. It should be uncontroversial to state that he's the player to watch this tour. Not far behind him are fellow mollusks Quinn, in third place, and Lacks in eighth, propelling the Molluxes' overall SV ranking to the top of the list by no small margin. This towering SV core looks to be an iron wall for any team looking to take home the ring this year. But enough about the Molluxes—how do the other teams look this year? Somewhat humorously, the Breezis take up three back-to-back placements further down the list; despite Potatochan's historical prowess in this format and vk's notable successes in SV OU, they find themselves trapped in the dead middle of the pool. Most other teams, however, have their players spread from the top of the list to the very bottom, with the exception of the Tomohawks (the only other team to boast top-ten rankings for all SV slots) and rather unfortunately the Necturnas (of whom all players fall into the bottom eight). It's an electric pool this year—you've got tiebreak-caliber SPL players, an OST finalist, WCAP breakouts, and good ol' CAP mainers, all standing shoulder to shoulder. Looking at this list, it's sort of unclear what even goes into a player being ranked highly or poorly beyond vibes or aura. Perhaps it comes down to familiarity with CAP, a high price tag, or even a dope custom avatar collection. All would be good guesses, but honestly, who's to say. If there's one takeaway from this pool, though, it should be that most players here—essentially all of them besides the top three and bottom two, in fact—carry at least one vote of high confidence and at least one vote of utter faithlessness. Opinions differ wildly, and it's up to the players themselves and themselves alone to carve out their destiny. Will Baddy defend his nigh-unbeatable status? Will Concept play more than three games? Will Mimikyu Stardust load Prime Pult every week and still finish positive? Who knows—predicting performances in these tours is as much an art as it is a science, after all.

SS Pool

  1. Ikaishi
  2. entrocefalo
  3. Kate
  4. One Last Kiss
  5. sealoo
  6. MTB
  7. Da Pizza Man
  8. Jojen

The SS pool, as usual, is dominated by high-level pilots with extensive results across Smogon; however, the departure of several top players from prior editions has opened the doors to newer faces. Dominant showings in CAPPL's previous edition and the recently concluded SSCL combined with plenty of other high-level SS results over the past year, including his status as an SPL and WCoP starter, cements Ikaishi as the player to beat in this SS pool. Tailing him are two more exceptional players in entrocefalo and Kate, both of whom have an extensive pedigree in SS CAP coupled with sitewide results in SS and beyond. The three players ranked at the top of the SS CAP pool are all more than qualified in the tier and in general, and the distinguishing factor between them could very well be how well they will be supported by their respective teams. The Golden Time Equilibras manager, One Last Kiss, comes in next; though the majority of his results in CAP have come in SV, he has played a smattering of SS CAP to decent results. Following him is sealoo, the three-time Hemogoblin who hopes to continue to perform in the tier. The middle two players in this pool are both tenured in CAP but lack significant results in SS or elsewhere on the site; it will not be particularly surprising if either player can string together plenty of quality wins, though they will certainly need to work for them. MTB is a relatively new face to CAP but is coming off an impressive WCAP campaign that included a win against pool-topping Ikaishi; if anything, this result shows how little can be taken for granted in the SS CAP pool. Ranked seventh is Da Pizza Man, a longtime CAP user who has extensive experience in SS, but whose clicking skills can, at times, leave something to be desired; still, one shouldn't count out a builder of his pedigree, as his Week 1 victory versus entrocefalo showed. Rounding out the SS CAP pool is Jojen, the Breezin’' Breezis retain who has played in CAPPL's last edition as well as WCAP to fairly modest success. That a player who started in 8 SS CAP games at the highest level over the last year ranks last is a testament to the strength of this pool; each SS starter, regardless of their history in the tier, recent performances, and skill in-game, will undoubtedly have to fight hard for each and every win.

SM Pool

  1. Clem
  2. LBN
  3. pannu
  4. dex
  5. Taka
  6. Lasen
  7. Iza
  8. Ming549

SM CAP, historically one of the most competitive and beloved tiers in the tournament's lineup, features yet another stacked lineup for this edition of CAPPL. In first place there's Clem, our resident Pinsir enjoyer, who managed to ride an amazing record all the way to the finals of WCAP's recent debut; expectations are surely high for them in this year's CAPPL as a result. Close behind them is LBN, one of CAP's all-time winningest players known for classic picks like Infernape, Dragon Dance Latios, and Mimikyu. With an impressive 6-3 run in CAPPL XI that just scratches the surface of his all-time resume, he has more than enough results to back up his teambuilding choices, and along with his ORAS compatriot Spammernoob, LBN finds himself as the centerpiece of this year's Golden Time Equilibras. Up next in third place is CAP's favorite Swede, pannu, who just continues to improve with every additional tournament they play. While they finished comfortably positive at 5-2 last CAPPL, pannu followed it up with an unfortunately winless WCAP campaign; this time around, they'll certainly be looking to get revenge on some of the players who dealt them losses over this past year—like LBN, one of their only two defeats along with evakiyama! last edition. Behind pannu is dex, a well-known CAP player who primarily plays SS. It's not like he's entirely new to SM, though, having played it in CAPPL VIII. Despite being largely unproven in this tier, underestimating him could be a deadly mistake; it's not a stretch to say that he's a strong enough player to win against anyone here. In fifth place is Taka, an Ubers main who's had quite a good career in every gen he touches. With a positive all-time record across multiple CAP teamtours, an impressive run in Ubers World Cup, and even a victory in the prestigious CAP Cyclohm Cup, it's clear that Taka can hold down the fort in SM for the Mollux Mafia—though, it seems his lack of a real tenure in this tier is preventing him from being ranked above the veterans in the pool. Not among those veterans is Lasen, one of the most experienced SM CAP players of all time. While Lasen rarely puts up eye-popping positive records in CAP teamtours, he's unarguably a force to be reckoned with and knows the tier inside and out. Having fallen into the bottom three rankings, we can only hope for him to unleash his full potential, bring some heat, and dish out losses to everyone who underestimated him—he's the kind of player that performs best with a chip on his shoulder, after all. Lastly, we've got lza in seventh and Ming549 last in eighth. lza comes out ahead due to his great breakout performance in WCAP, going 3-0 in pools and beating GabrielLopez in quarterfinals. With only a small sample size of games in CAP, though, it looks like opinions about his ranking were rather conservative in their estimation. Ming549 is a strong RU player who has dabbled in SV CAP before, notably playing USUM CAP back when it was current gen. Despite his creativity as a builder, historical experience in the tier, and decent support from the rest of the Breezis, it was simply too big of an ask for a placement any higher than last. Spectators will be anxiously waiting to see if his glory days are ahead of him, or if they were left behind in an era when CAPPL was not even CAPPL yet.

ORAS Pool

  1. Spammernoob
  2. Steam Buns
  3. Lostmemories
  4. Enzonana.
  5. crow crumbs
  6. Ainzcrad
  7. cloud and book
  8. KlefkiHolder

The ORAS pool is a lively mix of old players, newer faces from WCAP, and total wildcards. At the top of the power rankings is Spammernoob, who has a towering 8-2 all-time CAPPL record in the tier despite being historically unable to play a game longer than 40 turns. This year, given his ranking at the top of the heap in ORAS, one must assume he's now able to play to at least turn 50 (just don't load Bisharp). Coming right behind is Steam Buns, known for their signature teambuilding style and willingness to experiment with more unorthodox structures like Tailwind and Rain. Impressively, 4 teams voted Steam Buns first in the pool, giving them an impressive median rating of 1, though their rank was dragged down by one stray 7th-place ranking. Both these players are mainstays of the ORAS CAP scene and clear favorites in a pool with few other regulars to point to. In third place is Lostmemories, a strong ORAS player who returns to the fray after coming back at the end of 2025 from a year-long forced hiatus. He's no slouch in the tier, evidenced by his performances during WCAP and CAPPL X, but it's still not quite enough to put him in the same league as the two ORAS veterans above him. Behind him is Enzonana., who made his debut during WCAP for Team Argentina, where he led his team to victory with an impressive 5-1 record. It's unclear where he's getting support from, or if he's entirely self-sufficient in the tier himself; however, a 5-1 record on a winning team isn't anything to scoff at. If Enzo can keep his head above water in the builder, he should be in for a promising season. Finally, we have four players who are unproven in this tier to varying degrees. crow crumbs and Ainzcrad are both players who have been around CAP teamtours for some time, though they don't have many games in ORAS. crow crumbs has one game (and win) in the tier from CAPPL X, while Ainzcrad has mostly bounced around other tiers like DPP or SV, with his last win in the tier being three years ago. Nonetheless, they're both solid, well-rounded players if their results in non-CAP metagames are any indication. cloud and book is an ascending ORAS OU player who also made his CAP debut during WCAP, though with a much less impressive 1-3 record, being perhaps the player in the pool with the least amount of data to judge from. KlefkiHolder competes for this claim, though, as a largely unknown name himself with a lot to prove. While a prolific builder in ORAS OU, his tournament history is more subdued. We'll see if he is able to live up to his namesake and terrorize the ORAS pool with swagger.

BW Pool

  1. Fogbound Lake
  2. tier
  3. evakiyama!
  4. Nalorium
  5. TGA
  6. magialice
  7. jackuzzler
  8. Shucklegigas

Starting the rankings is Fogbound Lake, who holds a ridiculous four consecutive CAPPL titles and is looking to pick up his fifth ring in a brand new tier. He's played an incredibly important role for the teams he played on previously, almost always putting up sheet-topping records and dominant tiebreak performances. CAP legend has it that whoever comes in contact with Fogbound Lake has all their playing skills erased; however, this may simply be due to his ability to adapt to any tier he plays in, and no doubt BW CAP will be the same regardless of the fact that it's his first time playing the tier. Now, picture this: it's 2068, CAP-GPT has taken over human civilization, every government has fallen, every rebellion crushed, but one man remains unconquered... tier, who is loading the 534th remake of his Tomohawk HO and, against all odds, probably still winning with it. At third comes evakiyama!, who went 7-2 in her CAPPL debut last year. Although six of those wins were in SM, she'll surely be looking to bring that same form into BW CAP, a generation where she should be even stronger on paper. Her strong performance last year and great deal of experience playing BW OU have even led three teams to rank her second. Coming in fourth place is Nalorium, who had an impressive record of 5-2 in CAPPL X playing BW CAP and is now back with a vengeance after a nine-month vacation from Smogon prevented him from playing in last year's edition. At fifth comes TGA, who will be trying his best to beat the bald fraud allegations. Enough said. magialice, like the other bottom-three players, will be making her CAPPL debut this year, having previously played BW OU in tours such as BWPL and ADPL. Her experience playing BW means she certainly has the capability to prove these rankings wrong, but hopes are overall low given the uphill battle she faces against the many veterans ahead of her. jackuzzler has finally had enough of Tera and joined the dark side, playing BW CAP for the very first time in an official tournament setting. Having found recent success in various BW tournaments, such as going 4-1 playing BW OU in DNPL (ping spoo with "dnpl?" for further information) and reaching the finals of BW Slam, The Kuzzler will look to translate his success to his debut in BW CAP and turn these rankings upside down. At the very bottom is Shucklegigas, whose ranking in this pool falls at about the same place as where you might find his two namesakes on your average viability ranking. That aside, Shucklegigas has played a truly massive number of tournaments over the past year alone, with fairly mixed results; his name seems to be everywhere, but also nowhere. Many of these tournaments have been in BW, though, so one must assume he knows how to click in the tier. His biggest advantage likely comes not from his own ability but from having his teammate Micaiah in his corner supporting him. With only two real BW CAP mainstays here between tier and TGA, it's safe to say that this is one of the most exciting and unpredictable tiers in the whole tournament.

DPP Pool

  1. Micaiah
  2. Brigtel
  3. Sheik :
  4. Laurel
  5. zioziotrip
  6. Nuxl
  7. fakenagol
  8. mielke

This year once again features the GOATs of DPP CAP: Micaiah, Laurel, Sheik, and Shock3600. Too bad one of these won't be playing DPP every week. The pool also features the two most valuable players in CAPPL XII—Micaiah at 28k and Brigtel at 33k—and a staggering total value of 140.5k across all players, over double the price of the entire ORAS pool and the most expensive past-gen pool in the tournament by far. This marks an important moment for Brigtel, being the only player in CAP history to sabotage his own team by price-fixing. But why was this pool so expensive in the first place? Well, it should go without saying that Brigtel and Micaiah are both top-notch players, but they're also coming off hot streaks in other recent tournaments and possess a coveted ability to support other slots that's baked into their price point. Interestingly, you could even argue that DPP is not the main tier for either of these players. Brigtel's been on a year-long tear in SV, and Micaiah has far more results in ORAS; in the past two years, only one DPP game has been played by either of them in CAPPL (which Micaiah won). Spectators will be watching with bated breath to see how these two giants of the CAP past-gen scene will stack up to their high expectations. Following them is Sheik :, a phenomenal past-genner whose debut tournament in CAP alongside the Heartbreaker Hemogoblins two years ago culminated in an undefeated 6-0 regular season. A middling 1-3 in CAPCL IV and 3-3 in CAPPL XI have taken some value out of his stock as a player since then, but he's already shown what he's capable of once. Laurel, despite being ranked below Sheik, has displayed a more consistent arc; he followed up a 5-3 record in CAPPL X with a 7-2 run last year, and given that he was drafted by a manager who can actually support his slot, the sky is truly the limit for him. Resident 1v1ers zioziotrip and Nuxl return after respectable performances to overthrow the CAPocracy, though their respective rankings of fifth and sixth place may pose some trouble. zio, despite sporting an all-time 6-3 DPP CAP record, likely isn't one of the people that comes to mind when you try to think of strong DPP CAP players. This is no fault of his own—he looks confident in the tier every time he plays, and clearly has no problem winning—but his proficiency and history in modern tiers like SS may cloud one's thoughts when considering his capabilities in the tournament's oldest generation. It doesn't help that the four players above him are monsters in their own right. Finally fakenagol and mielke make their debuts into the big leagues, but there's ostensibly no one on either of their teams who can build for these newcomers every week. Lacking experience and a proven ability to perform in this tier also won't cut it for these power rankings—not when the pool is as competitive as it is. Who will come out of this bloodbath crowned as the DPP player of the year? Only time will tell, but the battles will be DPPEAK.

Overall Team Rankings

Overall rankings were determined by granting each player a point value inverse to that of their ranking—a player ranked first in their pool would get eight points, while the second-place player would get seven points, and so on—and then tallying up the points of every team's players. The combined values of each team's SV starters was also divided by three to weight the scores more accurately. Without further ado, here are the final rankings:

OTR
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