NU Premier League XIV Power Rankings

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Welcome to the fourteenth Neverused Premier League! This year the race for the title is closer than ever - the difference between the top and bottom team is smaller than it has ever been. We asked all players in the tournament to rank the pool of players for their tier, then averaged the score across all votes to calculate a ranking. With so little to separate the teams it's shaping up to be a great tournament full of twists and turns.

A big thanks to all those who helped with writing, GP, HTML, and everything else: Django, Tuthur, Bernardo, goldmason, vivalospride, Lyra, Lumari, sunny, earthfromthefuture, Dusk Mage Necrozma.

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1. Shengineer
2. zS
3. mind gaming
4. Danny
5. S1nn0hC0nfirm3d
6. DugZa
7. Django
8. Gondra
9. Tuthur
10. Shadow079
11. Diamonds_realm
12. OranBerryBlissey10
13. Fogbound Lake
14. Thiago Nunes
15. big tony 2014
16. tier
17. hellom
18. Fusien
19. THE_CHUNGLER
20. milliongatejumpguy
21. entrocefalo
22. myjava
23. HAVOCKNIGHT
24. brick
25. Dangerous
26. GeniusX
27. Ruffles
28. spell
29. Cow
30. LB
31. Envy
32. lotiasite

This should not be a surprise for anyone to see Shengineer on the top of this pool; he completely dominated SCL, going 9-1 in his first season, and since then, he has only kept pushing the metagame further to assert his place as number one. He should be able to lead his team to success and provide great support to his teammates. Speaking of them, S1nn0hC0nfirm3d also managed to get himself ranked fairly high; he's a returning NUPL champion who got the best SV records of 7-3 and won the final game of the tournament. His official sheet record is also very good, having nearly a 60% win rate over more than 80 games, which should distract you from his abysmal SCL V season. OranBerryBlissey10 joins him as a second ZU main token with a NU background; while he is usually playing SS in NU forum tournaments, OBB has some great results in SV as well. OBB won a seasonal in 2024, played one memorable game in SCL, and is constantly building teams with Alolan Sandslash. Eventually, myjava rounds up the team; despite being a new name to the NU scene, myjava is a very established tournament player in the official scene, being a spearhead of Tyrants and India SV OU success in the past SPLs and WCOPs, respectively. With the support of Shengineer and already proven success, the Flamigos establish themselves as the most menacing SV core in the tournament.

The Diancies enter the SV pool is one of the strongest cores in the tournament, narrowly missing out on the top overall spot. What makes this lineup especially threatening is how much quality they managed to secure for such a cheap price, with Diamonds_realm, DugZa, Gondra, and rik(Dangerous) all being players who could comfortably occupy top SV slots on most teams.

Diamonds leads the group after a strong 4-2 campaign and continues to stand out as one of the tier's most versatile players, notably making stall a real option in tournament settings. DugZa, coming off a 5-4 season and finals appearance, remains a highly respected tournament player who brings both championship experience and proven ability in high-pressure games. Gondra's 0-2 record from last year looks rough on paper, but neither game was in SV; when actually playing the tier, he posted an excellent 5-1 NUCL run. Rounding out the core is rik, another proven NU player whose consistency gives the lineup extra stability in the often-fragile SV4 slot.

Beyond individual skill, the Diancies stand out because of how complete the core feels. Every player is flexible in playstyle, while both DugZa and Gondra are proven tiebreak-level players with extensive official experience. On top of that, Mada and Lana are both capable of stepping in and performing at a starter level if needed. Altogether, this is a deep, stable, and dangerous SV lineup that sits near the top of the pool for a reason.

The Talonflames' SV core is an unusual mix of established talent and unproven names, which likely explains their middling ranking despite the obvious upside present in the lineup. Danny headlines the group as the clear star player. He is undeniably top-tier when locked in, coming off a dominant 5-0 NUCL run, though some concerns remain after last PL, where he went 2-1 but needed to be substituted multiple times throughout the season; not ideal for a team's most expensive player.

Alongside him is MGJG, an exciting but largely untested talent at the team tournament level. His individual results have been promising, but he still lacks experience on the bigger stage, making him one of the harder players in the pool to project. Chungler finds himself in a similar position: he is known for his ADV low-tier excellency, but he still lacks major SV NU accomplishments despite clearly being a strong overall player.

Rounding out the core is Tuthur, the most proven and consistent NU name of the group, though for whatever reason he continues to be viewed below the top SV1 tier given his price. After earning an SCL appearance, this feels like an important tournament for him to prove he deserves another shot at that level. Altogether, the Talonflames have a solid and potentially dangerous SV lineup. While they may not be viewed as one of the elite cores in the pool, they have enough talent to avoid being a weak point for the team.

Together, mind gaming and Fogbound Lave have won 2 SCL, 1 NUPL, and plenty of other forum team tournaments on the forums, so far. They are without a doubt two of the best lower-tier players on the website and have a great synergy. On the one hand, mind gaming is often considered one of the best players overall on Smogon with one of the most positive official sheet records, bolstering a 64% win rate over nearly 100 games; additionally, he had clutched in the SV NU finals tiebreaker last NUPL, knocking out shengineer. They are joined by HAVOCKNIGHT, aka estragos, who's made an explosive start in NU team tournaments with an overall 10-3 record in ORAS across NUPL and NUCL. He's held back a bit by his lack of SV showings and official history, but he has some potential. Thiago Nunes is allegedly the final SV starter. He's a very experienced NU player who is coming back from a year-long hiatus; he had some great showings in SV NU in past years, allowing him to earn a spot as a SCL starter in the tier. He's, however, starting in SS week 1, with JJ09LIE playing SV instead, so let me give a few words about him. JJ09LIE has established himself as one of the most consistent SV OU players in official team tournaments, always ending with positive records, and has also shown success in other formats such as Random Battle and ZeroUsed. Overall, the Musharnas have a core made of three very solid lower-tier players that should be able to pick up SV NU fairly easily, completed by a less proven player who is very promising so far.

Certain movies like Mulholland Drive or Donnie Darko can leave you feeling very confused at what you just watched; the same happened to me and many others after witnessing etern spend 22.5k on Shadow during auctions. Despite being the most expensive player in auctions, the seasonal finalist barely made it to the top third of the rankings. It must be said that such a price for a NUPL debut, with only a mere 3-2 NUCL season, is putting a lot of trust and pressure on the Oceanic hope to lead his team's SV core. He's paired with Django, who's one of the steadiest players in the pool, competing all year long in SV and performing well in individuals. This is how he manages to get ranked at the top of the pool, despite stiff competition and his lack of a strong SV NU campaign. They are joined by two non-mainers: spell, who's been killing it in UUPL so far, and LB, who was featured in NUCL Limber Ditto's roster, despite not playing any games. That being said, the expectations for these two players have been set low, as newcomers to the NU scene with too little experience on the official scene to back them up. All in all, the Vivillons' core is made of two mainers, who still have to prove themselves in team tours despite great individual results, and two newcomers with some experience to back them up.

The zS-led Krabs enter the SV pool as a somewhat overlooked group compared to the other top teams. Envy being the second lowest-ranked player in the pool feels especially harsh, while Entro and brick are not positioned much higher despite all three clearly having the talent to compete at this level. Looking at the lineup player by player, this core is not far behind many of the teams ranked above them.

The main concern surrounding the Krabs is support and preparation. While the talent is undeniably there, questions remain about who will consistently provide teams and help guide the less-established slots. zS is unlikely to heavily support every player's prep, and while brick can contribute, he will naturally be focused on his own run as well. Outside of them, neither Kiyo nor Lyra are known as SV NU players, and the substitutes do not offer much additional security in the tier either.

zS is still the clear centerpiece of the lineup. One of the most accomplished players in the tournament overall, he comes in as a current SPL and WCoP champion while also posting a strong SCL season. Even if most of those results were outside NU, he has never fully stepped away from the tier, continuing to appear in past PLs and remain active around the community. Barring anything unexpected, he should once again be one of the stronger performers in the pool.

The other potential X-factor for the Krabs is brick. With less pressure than in previous tournaments and the ability to work alongside a player like zS, this environment could suit him much better than last CL. The community is also clearly rooting for him, as it is always exciting to see a newer face break out in team tournaments and establish themselves within the tier.

The Plooms' SV core is something of a gamble, but one with fairly good odds attached to it. The lineup lacks the proven stability of some of the top teams, yet there is enough upside here for this group to outperform expectations if a few things break their way.

Big Tony headlines the core and remains the player with the highest ceiling on the roster. If he fully commits and locks in for the tournament, he has the ability to perform at an SCL-caliber level and potentially replicate the strong 5-3 NUPL run he posted previously. A season like that would not only be massive for the Plooms but would also further strengthen his growing résumé within the tier.

Cow and Ruffles are both relatively untested in SV NU, but each has shown enough raw ability to suggest they can put together solid runs. The main question is whether they can adapt quickly enough at this level, as they will likely need external support and guidance throughout the season. Outside of Big Tony, the player most capable of helping stabilize the group may actually be MIPC. Another newer face in the tier, MIPC has quietly built momentum through strong recent individual performances, and at an 11k price tag, it is hard to imagine him staying on the bench for long if opportunities arise.

For Fusien, this tournament feels especially important. His last run ended in an underwhelming 2-4 record, though there were still flashes of strong play and signs of real potential throughout the season. With greater involvement and a stronger overall environment around him, this feels like the opportunity to finally put everything together and prove he belongs at the highest level.

Altogether, the Plooms may not be the safest SV lineup in the pool, but they have enough upside to become a dangerous team if their key players hit their strides. At the same time, there is also a very real possibility that things fall apart if the gambles do not pay off. Few teams in the pool have a wider range of outcomes, which makes the Plooms one of the most interesting SV cores to follow this season.

On top of managing the Glastriers, tier is also going to lead their SV core. He's been known for being an active teambuilder in SV NU, allegedly having been an asset in Fc's NU Open 2025 win and Glastrier's NUCL trophy. However, while Fc's performances in SV NU have been excellent, tier's latest individual performance in SV NU is a neutral record, and voters didn't believe he could replicate his recent SPL success or past NUPL success again. He's going to support three players who are making their debut in SV NU. First is hellom, a three-time NU team tournament champion in the past two years and official sheet farmer; confidence is rather high in hellom succeeding in SV NU if he can translate his OU success to lower tiers. Next is GeniusX, a newcomer to the NU scene who's got a neutral sheet record in officials, with 12-12 across multiple tournaments; there is not much data on him, which explains why he's ranked rather low. Lastly, latiosite is an Anything Goes main who has neither a history in officials nor NU tournaments, unlike every other player in the pool, explaining why they are ranked last. All in all, the Glastriers have made a gamble in SV: they spend a lot of money on a leader who hasn't convinced voters and on players with no history at SV NU.

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Unsurprisingly, Stareal has secured the top spot in the rankings. Random trivia: he has unanimously been voted first in the rankings. Stareal has had a fantastic time in SS NU this past year, putting up performance after performance with a staggering 7-1 in NUPL XIII, 5-2 in NUCL II and SSPL III, and a 6-2 in NUCL III most recently. He has proven himself to be a very consistent player and he doesn't seem to have a plan on slowing down. This time, he has OBB support (has this ever gone well for anyone actually?) and seems poised to dominate the pool once again.

Pokeslice is a household name in SS NU by this point; after getting ditched by his buddies in NUTL, namely Dee Jango and Eternally, he seems to have been picked up by another SS NU household name and ex-NUTL in Meri Berry. He has had great success in the tier across the years, though it seems to have gotten a bit rougher for him given his recent 4-4 in NUPL XIII and 3-4 in NUCL II. Perhaps this is the tour where he flips it around with his tried-and-true 8-Pokemon rotation skills...

damien has been ranked third in the SS pool. Despite two previously underwhelming performances, a 2-3 in NUCL II and a 3-4 in NUPL XIII, the people seem to trust in the genius to pull through this time. Admittedly, the previous ones may be due to the lack of any support in the tours in question. This time, however, he has great support in yours truly and, to quote a certain Pokeslice, "until Lyra came along to save it (SS NU) post gen". Jokes aside, damien is a great player and should be pretty motivated to do well this tour.

Oyster is a new name to SS NU; despite starting his journey in the superior NUFL and having solid yet not amazing 3-3 in NUCL III, he finds himself 4th in the rankings. Oyster is determined to "solve" the tier, though the pool is more difficult than in NUCL, so we'll have to see how that goes. Without support from Slice like in NUCL, he may or may not burn the kitchen down.

The Strap is tied with Oyster for the slot, though he has no experience in SS NU. However, he does have experience in other SS tiers, mainly SS Ubers and SS RU. How he converts this into NU success will be interesting to see. The Strap does have great support in Danny (is this great? Danny is barely alive in his own slot anyway). Either way, he is an excellent pilot and with good teams should go neutral at worst.

The BJ PhD holder is placed 6th in the pool. According to some very dubious sources (Django and Slice) the Doc has been here since SS was current gen and has some experience. He went 3-2 in SSPL II, beating big names such as Wadley and Xiri. It does seem like Eternally dislikes this man a bit too much for slotting him into SS in such a tough pool with very little in the way of support.

Irish is found in 7th place. Now, if you told this to someone a few years back, they might laugh at you, but it's a reality now. With his recent performances in SS, a 1-1 in NUCL II (I blame Aawin) and a 2-3 in NUPL XIII (I blame Aawin), he seems to have much to prove to these newbies; will he prove these new nerds right? Or will he smash the pool this year?

Aerobee has been ranked last in the pool, though this seems justified in that Aerobee is a completely new face to SS. They had a decent NUCL III performance recently, going 2-3, though that was in SV. Again, Aerobee seems to have very little support in the tier, with only Fc dabbling in it a little in NUCL.

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Fc comes in tied for first in the SM pool, on the back of his excellent 25-18 overall NU record. 3-4 and 5-2 records in the last two tours where Fc played SM NU represent a great chance to go positive, but it also shows that Fc is still human. Outstanding performances in other tours such as SCL no doubt contribute to the high ranking here as well. Coming into this tour on the back of an NUCL win with fellow manager tier, and drafting many of the same players, expectations are high for Fc.

The other first-place rank in the SM pool is NU veteran Xiri. 46-38 overall is an absurd amount of NU games, and those records tend to either be feast or famine. In the past few years, we've seen Xiri put up 5-1 and 5-2 records, or alternatively drop a 1-5. The SM pool clearly thinks this will be a feast year, so let's see if Xiri can find consistency and pull another big positive season. Winning the recent NU Masters (including SM) indicates he's in good form.

Hacker burst onto the SM NU scene with an impressive 4-0 record back in 2025. Since then, he's put up solid records of 5-3 and 3-3, leading to him being retained by Shengineer and Bernardo. Now that his playstyle is more well known, there may be a lack of a surprise factor with the teams Hacker brings. Still, the player base thinks Hacker is a good bet for a positive season. If Hacker can get back to the impressive form of his first year, the Amigos could have a bargain on their hands.

Tournament mainstay robjr returns for his first NU team tournament since 2024. His overall record of 41-42 is impressive for its consistency across a number of years and a number of tiers. Returning to SM, a generation in which rob also plays a number of other lower tiers, it's a relatively safe bet to assume he will go neutral or slightly positive. 15.5k might be a slightly high price for this sort of record, but very experienced players like this can easily come in clutch during big games or tiebreaks.

elodin returns to NUPL, but this time in SM, having spent the last few tournaments playing DPP. While he doesn't have a huge history in SM NU, an overall record of 29-17 shows that he's more than capable of winning games (see also: 72 wins on the official sheet). Teaming up with SPL manager etern, who will also provide support, means there should be no issue in the teambuilding department. Ranked middle of the pack, don't be surprised to see Elodin performing well above this ranking.

Bouff took the hint from last year's 1-5 record in SV NU and joined the SM pool instead. While definitely a solid player overall, mediocre NU team tours and a lack of recent SM NU results means they are ranked towards the bottom of the pool here. Teaming up with Meri Berry also means they will have strong support and friendship synergy. Bouff will be motivated to bounce back from last year's record and prove themselves in SM NU.

Another player better known for other tiers, EviGaro returns for their first NU team tour since 2024 (there are a lot of these). 30-16 overall in NU team tours is fantastic and makes the low ranking here somewhat confusing. It's unclear if Evi will need support or who on the team would provide it, but assuming they can get their hands on some decent teams, a metagame like SM NU should reward a clearly good player. The low ranking here probably just reflects the overall depth of the SM NU pool.

Kiyo is ranked last despite having the third most NU team tour wins ever. That's even more absurd when you consider Kiyo recently reached the NU Masters grand finals, a tournament that included SM NU. He is certainly better known for playing ORAS (and GSC), so perhaps players simply don't trust his SM. The low ranking will presumably only spur Kiyo on, and motivation / time commitment is probably the biggest limiting factor. SM NU players may have created a monster ranking Kiyo last.

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ORAS OU Circuit champion and ORAS PU regular lighthouses comes in first in the rankings, despite a lack of results in NU. In fact, lighthouses has never played an NU team tour game before. The achievements outside of NU but still in the ORAS generation are clearly enough for the playerbase to rank him top. It should be noted that the difference in ranking between places 1 and 6 is just 0.6750 points, so it's the closest pool in the whole tournament.

Respectfully, Abejas, you're ranked tied for first. etern buried the hatchet to draft Abejas onto the Vivs, and he is rewarded with a top of the pool ranking. Recent tournaments haven't been amazing (2-2, 2-4) but an overall NU record of 18-15 is enough to carry Abejas to the top spot. With great support from etern and shiloh, Abejas has all the tools for a breakout season.

Trade returns for only his second NU team tour. However, he boasts a 100% win rate, winning NUPL XII with a solid 5-4 record for just 3k. He went for 7.5k this time, so his stock has remained high since then. There will be more pressure with the slightly larger price tag, but an experienced player like Trade should have no problem with that. Expect a good season, even if former winning teammate Pokeslice doesn't remember who he is.

Tournament spammer Ampha returns for another NU season, this time starting in ORAS. This flexible player has an 11-11 overall record, which represents good value for his usual low price. He will need support in the builder, however, and it's not clear how much of that the Vileplumes can provide. The middle-of-the-pack ranking is probably accurate for someone who can beat anyone on their day but hasn't had too many amazing seasons. Last season's 6-1 was excellent; can he repeat it this time around?

ORAS (and other) OU main NoName drops down to NU for the first time. It's always exciting to see SPL-level players join these tournaments, and it'll be fascinating to see how they adapt to the NU metagame. Will they build something new, pushing the metagame forward? Or will they load solid known teams and win anyway? Anyone will struggle versus NoName in game, so the builder battles will be intriguing. His middling ranking reflects a season that could easily go either way.

Former PU tier leader asa has no real notable results in NU—an overall 0-3 is uninspiring. Teaming with known friend Meri Berry will certainly help, but the low ranking reflects doubts over their ability to adapt to a new metagame. They of course have played a decent amount of ORAS PU, but it remains to be seen whether that can be translated to NU. In a very close pool, asa could definitely make a splash.

At this point there is a bit of a dropoff in the rankings, with poh coming in seventh. The reason for this is clear: 13-32 overall in NU team tours is tough reading. Oathkeeper has taken the chance that this will be the year poh comes through, but he made the intriguing decision to draft poh alongside Tuthur. This raises the possibility of both snitching and of post-tour bans, so there's a lot to watch out for in this slot other than the games. Is this the year poh starts to fix his sheet?

Coming in last is unknown (to NU) quantity Brandonlee1. Their last-place ranking reflects the reality of 0 NU team tour or individual games. Obviously a solid player (they won OUPL) but yet to make an entrance on the official sheet, Brandonlee1 will be looking to make a name for themselves here. They've been given a kind pool with no hugely standout player, so this could be a great place to start.

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Coming in with a near unanimous 1st place ranking, it's NU veteran Bughouse. This will be his 12th NUPL, playing in every edition since 2017. It's a relatively safe bet that Bughouse will go positive, especially when playing his best tier - he's had positive records in his last 5 NUPLs. We've also lost count of how many times he has been bought by Oathkeeper, so it's safe to say there is full confidence from the manager. A good season here also gives Bughouse the chance to break into the top 5 on the overall NU sheet, so expect big things!

Normally known for SV, SM and ORAS, NU Tier Leader etern joins the BW pool this year. It's hard to say whether this is due to boredom or a strong desire to click the move Spikes, but either way Etern secures a high ranking on the back of being one of the most successful NU players of all time. Across the last two NU team tours he has a record of 1-1 in BW, so it's unclear how this season will go. Support from one of the best BW NU builders in Shiloh will certainly come in handy, so etern should have all the tools he needs for a good season.

Baddy has cemented his place in the BW NU pool recently, with an overall 10-10 record across three tournaments representing a solid if not spectacular effort. He also won the most recent BW NU Open, beating number one seed Bughouse in the finals, which likely led to his retain from the Vileplumes. Baddy is not known for his teambuilding in BW NU, however, so it will be interesting to see if he can repeat this individual success and secure a heavily positive season.

2026 has been the year Real FV13 farms NU Classic tournaments, winning the ADV, DPP, and SM Cups. Despite those successes, he finds himself in the BW Pool, likely due to the strong option the Diancies had in ADV. Another consistent player who puts up decent records every year without blowing away the pool, it makes sense he is ranked middle of the pack. Based on individual performances, though, Real FV13 has reached another level this year and will be looking to translate that form into a big NUPL season.

Another recent addition to NU team tournaments, Kaboom has come out of his first three NU team tours with a 10-9 record. 4-3 in NUCL playing BW in a strong pool, including wins vs Finchinator and Bughouse, means this ranking might be a little low. Teaming up with Kiyo again on the back of NUCL means there will be strong synergy (with rumors saying Kaboom was effectively the real manager). Provided he has enough time off from managerial duties, Kaboom could cause a few upsets in this pool.

Tack has just a single NUPL appearance to date, but it was an outstanding 7-2 back in 2024 playing BW. Perhaps the time off caused the ranking to be low this time around, or perhaps it's the lack of a longer proven track record playing the tier. Either way, this BW specialist should not be underestimated, and a 6th place ranking proves how much depth there actually is in this pool.

Seraphz comes into this tournament with an underwhelming 3-15 overall record in NU team tournaments. Despite that showing, they clearly have the confidence of their Brazilian managers to turn this record around. The most recent NUCL led to a neutral record in BW (1-1), which looks significantly better than the overall record. Confidence in this slot across the playerbase is clearly low however, which explains the low ranking.

MZ? Playing BW NU? The only trace of MZ playing this tier is a single BW Cup finals appearance back in 2018. While a very good player overall, with an 11-6 official sheet record, it remains to be seen how MZ will adapt to playing BW NU. They do play a good amount of BW PU, so the mechanics won't be unfamiliar. On the other hand, there is a lack of known teambuilder support on the Glastriers for this slot. The last place ranking means confidence is low, but don't be surprised for MZ to pick up multiple wins.

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Ninja finds himself at the top of this year's DPP NU Power Rankings, surpassing the absolutely ancient users directly beneath him. Impressive for sure, but is it deserved? It's fair to say it is, as Ninja has garnered quite the reputation in this absolutely incredibly amazing tier, with consistently dominant showings in the last couple of years since his debut. His fresh take on the tier is also noteworthy; upon arrival, he did adhere to the status quo and got ahead of the curve on his own. Whether this Meganium lover will truly be the best in this tournament or not is yet to be seen, but it is well within his power to dominate.

A tale as old as time, HSOWA will be playing DPP NU in NUPL likely until all of us are long gone. No shade of course though; HSOWA is without a doubt a legend, as he has been a consistent top 3 talent in the pool for what feels like centuries. Despite how long he's been at it, it is rare you see HSOWA put up a negative tour; it is possible, though. With such a lengthy scout to draw inspiration from, some of the other top talents in the pool may have solid odds to take down this long-time titan of DPP NU. Regardless of the outcome of this tournament, HSOWA will be back to put up numbers again in the next NUPL.

Despite his general distaste for the tier, this long-time Smogon user finds himself in DPP NU for the one millionth time. With Heysup in subforum tournaments you really cannot go wrong, as he has a big leg up on the competition even before the game begins, in scheduling. Heysup as a scheduler will outplay his opponents ruthlessly, and that is before he OHKOs their lead with Choice Specs Meganium. Playing against Heysup in any tier is truly an experience, and if he didn't produce results, he would've been relegated to a benchwarmer many years ago. Which is why you still see him today in every subforum, being expensive, going positive, everyone else seeming to feel his teams are strange, etc. Heysup will do Heysup things, but luckily for him and his teammates, one of the things he does best is win.

The last player in the upper echelon of talent is BeatsBlack. I think it is fair to say you can arrange these top four players however you please and it would be fair; regardless though, this is how it shook out for our friend BeatsBlack. Similar to Ninja, BeatsBlack showed up on the scene a few years ago, instantly put up results, and hasn't stopped since then. His take on the meta is fresh, his track record so far is extremely positive, and with a fair amount of built-in support from his team, BeatsBlack may very well be set up to rise in the power rankings for the next rendition of NUPL. As these PRs label him the worst of the best, we should pay extra attention to his games vs. the three ranked directly above him. Regardless, BeatsBlack is unlikely to put up a specifically negative performance; just how positive he goes is up in the air, however.

Believe it or not, Expulso has been playing and theorizing this tier for either as long as or longer than a majority of the people in this pool. He just doesn't have the same footprint in DPP NU as others do due to often being in a managerial position or playing a different tier in any given NU tournament. With that said, playing for a long time and being good are two different things, not to say Expulso is bad at DPP NU whatsoever, as this is the highest ranking anyone that isn't a mainstay could reasonably get. However, the point is we haven't seen enough of him in-game to deduce that he deserves any higher ranking than this. Either way, Expulso knows the meta and is more than capable of being a solid pilot. This is a good opportunity for him to prove he is of the upper echelon of talent directly above him.

Sirwings has also been playing this tier for a while, but usually for only a game or two at a time due to substitutions or attempting to fix a slot that wasn't performing. It is difficult to remember many opportunities for Sirwings to start a full season in this tier, but regardless, he has one now directly in front of him. Any question marks surrounding his competence in DPP NU can be answered in this tournament, as, similar to Expulso, a lot of his experience in DPP NU comes from theorizing, testing, and individual tournaments more than an overwhelming abundance of team tournament games over the years. Sirwings, based on the placement, isn't specifically expected to do well, but he does have stuff going for him and a solid showing is well within the power of this Cradily spammer.

Jabba is yet another ancient user in a long list of ancient users in this pool. Makes sense for a no-preview oldgen lower-tier pool, of course, but nonetheless JabbaTheGriffin is not specifically expected to do well by his peers. This likely doesn't matter a ton, as Jabba has been playing oldgen lower tiers since dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Jabba can be specifically streaky, though of course, so unlike other potentially lower-end pool slots, he does have upside. His take on the meta is hard to say or tell, if he even has one, as he hasn't specifically grinded DPP NU in the public eye as far as anyone can tell. This may give him a leg up on his competition if he is to have any fresh ideas of his own, or he may just load random things he hasn't looked at until the day of his game. Truly, this could go either direction, but logic seems to point towards a negative outcome being more likely.

The NU Swiss Army knife gets done dirty with a last-place ranking in this year's DPP NUPL pool. It is fair, though, with a perceivably low ceiling in comparison to a lot of the other members of the pool. neomon can do well but is not specifically expected to. With that said, respect should be shown for our 8th-place hero, as he is a great value pickup and very solid for an individual ranked last. neomon can play a vast majority of NU old gens at a relatively high floor, although he has not proven that he is capable of wow-inducing performances, especially not beyond a reasonable doubt. A strong tournament for neomon here is possible, but a strong tournament would be something along the lines of 4-3 more so than dominating for a whole season. Regardless, through many individual tournaments, testing, NUCLs, NUPLs, etc. Neomon has partaken in DPP NU to some degree, and that knowledge and experience can without question be put forward towards a surprisingly strong season for our 8th-place hero.

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When the Glalie ban was happening, SEA made a promise to the community that she would return to NU at some point if Glalie was banned. After the delay to her return due to Slice being a dumbass (shoutout Slice), SEA is back and stronger than ever, it seems. With a near-unanimous 1 ranking across the voting pool, she has her work cut out for her to prove it right, but her strong history as an NU competitor leaves no one wondering about her ability. The only question now is how hard in the paint she goes on teambuilding, since she notably is behind the rest of the pool in terms of experience in this new version of the metagame. Will she be able to keep up with the year-round grinders as well as the ADV OU zoomers that seem to be taking the metagame by storm? Only time will tell.

The last time Xrn appeared in ADV NU was in 2024's NUPL and 2025's NUCL, where he put up a respectable 4-2 and 3-3 showing, respectively. However, Xrn's #2 placing is more strongly backed by his incredible prowess as a player, as a starter in SPL and OST/OSDT semifinalist. Similar to SEA, the only question the NU spectator base should be asking is how aggressively Xrn will prep and teambuild, since he hasn't been active in the tier for quite a while either. Unlike SEA, Xrn has some powerful teammates in Bouff and Real FV13, who should give him some support on catching up to current tier trends. If that team chat is active and engaged, Xrn will be a force to be reckoned with.

Not much needs to be said about River. Coming off a strong 5-2 NUCL and a stronger 6-2 NUPL from last year, River slots very nicely into 3rd place. In some ways, River could even be said to be the strongest competitor in the pool in terms of knowledge of the Glalie-less meta, with recent results to prove that the 2025 NUPL wasn't off the back of Glalie or anything aside from her own ability. River also has some strong support, in Kaboom and Jabba, that should absolutely make every other team take their week against the Krusty Krabs seriously. If they don't, they can fully expect a loss to a very hungry River eager to continue her past success.

Along with the aforementioned River and the soon-to-be-mentioned mielke, Mayo is one of the three ADV zoomers who have made the move to ADV NU this season. Mayo has been an ADV OU mainstay for quite a while, since her breakout victory in ADV Winter Seasonal in 2024. An Invitational-level player, Mayo decided to take this ADVPL off from dominating in the ADV OU Bo3 slot and locked into ADV NU. As of this writing (Mid-Week 6), she sits at 5-0, with victories over the likes of Oathkeeper, Shengineer, and Hammer. This is an excellent preliminary showing from a player entirely new to NU, and eyes should be on Mayo to see if her streak continues in NUPL.

mielke is one of the greatest modern teambuilders in ADV OU and also maybe one of the most prolific tier hoppers to boot. mielke has had success in numerous team tours, including playing nearly every ADV tier in tour at this point. Usually, mielke focuses on ADV UU and RU when not playing OU, so the transition to NU has been a no-brainer. mielke went 2-2 in the most recent NUCL, including a semifinals win against Violet River and a Week 7 victory against a notable absence in this NUPL, ima. We'll have to see if mielke's expert teambuilding will avail him this NUPL; if he can repeat the success of the end of his NUCL, he should be a force to be reckoned with.

Coming in at 6th, what is there to say about tier leader Rabia? Rabia's stocks seem to massively fluctuate tour to tour, with an undrafting in the most recent ALTPL into a 20k ADVPL, where he currently sits 2-1 with victories over Hammer and Django. What is more certain than Rabia's chances at auction, however, is his prowess in the tier. With a strong 5-3 under his belt from last year, as well as reasonable showings in years past and in ADVPL and ADVLTL, Rabia should come out of the gate in full force. If he does, it will be very hard to imagine him being snubbed in another ALTPL, or any NU tour for that matter.

After reportedly "never going negative in an NU team tour" (4-1 NUPL 2024, 3-2 ADVPL 2024, 5-2 ALTPL 2024), this guy goldmason followed it up with a terrible ALTPL 2025 and an even worse NUPL 2025. Anyone who watched the games knows goldmason got crit turn 1 on multiple of those games, as well as getting hit by a tornado mid-tour, but we're not here reading this PR for nuance. This guy has sucked it up results-wise for the last year, and especially in Glalie-less. All that said, it's not all doom and gloom for goldmason fans. Shengineer is a powerful ADV builder and player, and other players like Tack and Sirwings should provide good ancillary support. It will remain to be seen if goldmason can turn his fortunes around with this bevy of support, but anything is possible in his self-professed "favorite tour of the year."

Someone always has to come in last, and this year it's Oathkeeper. Oath seems to find very mixed success in this tier, with strong individual showings and incredibly mixed team tour showings. Additionally, it feels like every time Oath self-buys, he does worse, likely due to supporting his entire team and taking less time for his own prep. Still, this 8th placement might be deceptive. Oathkeeper has the support of Bughouse, who has ranked nearly unanimously #1 in the BW PRs and would likely be a top 3 contender if he were playing ADV. Expulso has also had some experience with the tier in past years, including as a player and support in the most recent NUCL. Additionally, ADV lower-tier superstar THE_CHUNGLER is in the wings playing SV, and his prep has his team in 1st place in ADVPL at the time of this writing. With all this help, it is not hard to imagine Oath's prep catching some opponents off guard, potentially being a perfect storm for him to prove these rankings wrong.

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Overall Team Rankings

Money Maker Musharnas	49
Diancies Are Forever	48
Vitriolic Vileplumes	47
Flamigo Amigos	47
Vibrant Vivillons	46
Tailor-made Talonflames	43
Krusty Krabs	42
Glacial Glastriers	41

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