With the 2026 tournament circuit kicking off today, the mod team would like to announce some changes to our official and unofficial tournament operations this year.
1) Six circuit tournaments
Previously, the CAP circuit consisted of five individual tournaments: two seasonals, two playtests, and one tour that was typically a different format each year. This year, we are locking in a sixth tournament to our yearly circuit. Additionally, because CAP 37 is likely to be the last CAP of the generation as well as the only CAP this year (assuming a November release date for Gen 10), we will be running a different tournament instead of our second normal playtest.
2) New point system
We have been using the same circuit point system for years, and while there wasn't anything "wrong" with the system, we've decided to align how we do our scoring more closely with other Smogon flagship metagames. We're still deciding exactly which point system to implement, but it will be linked in the OP whenever it's finalized, and will likely be the same one / a similar one as many other pastgens and lower tiers.
3) Tournament approval queue
The tour approval queue that we use for unofficial tournament submissions has been functionally dead for the past year, maybe more. (Sorry.) We are committing to being more proactive about rejecting, approving, & scheduling the submissions in this thread. We're not just going to automatically approve everything but you should expect to at least get an answer within a reasonable timeframe now. I know that many pastgen players are hungry for more chances to play those tiers so hopefully this should help scratch that itch.
4) CAP Ladder Saturdays
It's no secret that the CAP ladder is basically a graveyard. I cannot count the amount of times I've wished I could just hop on ladder and test a team or blow off steam or whatever. However, dead ladders suck to ladder on, so we will be trying to focus laddering efforts onto one day a week instead of across seven. We tried Sundays for a couple weeks, but after asking around for different opinions, I think we're sticking to Saturdays from now on. For people like me who just want a good opportunity to play this fun tier, Saturdays on ladder are your best chance. Please show up guys I just want to play games.
5) CAP Weeklies
Hosted by
SHSP and
Steam Buns, this new project is designed to offer a low-stakes, fast-paced, but hopefully still competitive environment to play more games in your favorite tier. Every tournament will be (roughly) a week long and rounds will last just a couple days. More info on this project will be coming soon. (Personally, this is the one I'm most excited for.)
Here's to a good year with more tours, more games, and more CAP.
Winter Seasonal (Type A) – Signups January 25th – Hosted by kiru 
Ladder Tournament (Type B) – Signups March 29th – Hosted by TBD
CAP 37 Playtest (Type B) – May – Hosted by TBD
Summer Seasonal (Type A) – Signups June 28th – Hosted by TBD
Homefield Advantage (Type B) – Signups September 13th – Hosted by TBD
Last Chance (Type B) – October 26th – Hosted by TBD
Circuit Championships – December 14th – Hosted by TBD