*drumroll*
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THE UNOFFICIAL CAP CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SPOOWER RANKINGS
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Alright, now let's get this show on the road!!!
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1ST PLACE - Brooklyn Blazikens
SV CAP: RaJ.Shoot
SV CAP: memedose46
SV CAP: Liimpy
SS CAP: Sylveon used calm mind
ORAS CAP: LBN
BW CAP: Waldinji
DPP CAP: Ainzcrad
CAP Monotype: Ashbala
Coming in hot at first place are the Brooklyn Blazikens, managed by Piyush and Raj.Shoot. Despite being 2nd seed in the real tour, I'm not convinced that the Blazikens are actually worse than the Skwovets. They even tied in their series last week! From what I've seen, I think the Blazikens have by far the strongest SV, with Raj and Piyush both being 3-1 so far. The other SV starter not in the lineup this week, Exotic, is 0-3 but I don't think this record is really fair to him; the matchups he's been rolling have been far from great, though perhaps this speaks to some issue with the Blazikens' prep, I'm not sure. I assume memedose and limpy are here because the team is already guaranteed playoffs and we will see Piyush and Exotic(?) return to the fray next week.
Their pastgens are a really interesting group that I'm still not quite sure what to make of. Sylveon has won the past three games using the exact same team? He's a very good player but surely he can't keep getting away with this. LBN in ORAS loads some stuff that I would frankly never approve of, which is basically what I would expect of him based on his previous runs in SM (no shade sorry), but the 3-1 record speaks for itself. The familiarity and confidence he has with building and piloting these unorthodox teams –– as well as the unfamiliarity with these structures that his opponents often have –– seems to let him take control of games at a higher level than if he just loaded something standard, which is a cool (albeit slightly frustrating) phenomenon to witness. In BW we have Waldinji at a mere 3k, who's coming off of a win against the most expensive BW player last week. I won't say that his play was perfect, and he got a pretty lucky pursuit crit, but this is still a really impressive feat and I'm interested to see if the success will continue or not. I can't really speak about DPP or Mono but Ainz is 2-1 and their normal Mono slot (Sificon) is 3-1 so I guess they're doing something right. Overall this is a very powerful team if they slot their best players and I am currently predicting them to win the tour.
2ND PLACE - SHOENICE SKWOVETS
SV CAP: Fragments
SV CAP: seroo
SV CAP: snake
SS CAP: Ina fable
ORAS CAP: Concept Everything
BW CAP: TGA
DPP CAP: BijouMode
CAP Monotype: sapphiree
First seed in second place? Power rankings in Week 5? Pannucles out of playoffs ALREADY? I'm sure that's what you're all thinking, but let me explain. I probably would've put these guys last or second to last before W1 and I have been proven entirely wrong. Purely off of "player strength," this lineup still doesn't scream first seed IMO. But I have to imagine this is a very motivated and active group of players who clearly have strong prep sensibilities. Their SV has had a rotating cast but reliably goes 2-1 every week, especially thanks to Frag's 3-1 record –– and while I don't agree with
every team choice so far, the Skwovets have brought some interesting stuff throughout the weeks and are generally securing matchups in their favor. Whatever they're doing is working, basically. Still, I put them in second place just because they have definitely had their fair share of luck this season. This really feels like one of those teams that dominate the regular season and then goes on to lose in finals (a tale as old as time).
Aside from BW, I think the pastgens on this team are relatively weaker compared to the first and third places in my PRs. They pick up two or three wins across the five slots every week (Mono is now a pastgen for convenience's sake), which is pretty good but not great. Blui, their normal ORAS with a 2-1 record, is currently benched, but he probably returns for playoffs. Quziel (also benched) is another ORAS option but I think he'll have stronger performances in current gen. Ina fable is someone who I initially wanted for my own team's SS until we got dex for a good price and ina's price started shooting up. I think her play and loads this season have been really strong (I am ignoring the auru psyspam), but it's sorta hard to tell because a lot of her games so far have featured luck both for and against her. TGA is obviously reliable, dude went for like 20k and is 3-1, he ain't unbeatable but this is clearly one of their stronger slots. Again, DPP and mono are beyond me but inno went 2-0 in DPP the last two weeks and anything can happen in mono so those slots seem fine enough. This is a much better team than I initially gave it credit for and it's cool to see them perform so well –– but still, something in me says they won't be able to go all the way.
3RD PLACE - DEEP FRIED FINNEONS
SV CAP: Enzonana.
SV CAP: Potatochan
SV CAP: Ciro napoli
SS CAP: Ikaishi
ORAS CAP: Seasons
BW CAP: Maxouille
DPP CAP: Brigtel
CAP Monotype: crashy
I evaluted this team at a distant first place right after the draft, and yet we now see them fighting for a chance just to make semifinals. What went wrong? Well, it's hard to say! Perhaps this is just D2's curse manifesting itself yet again. I think it can also be hard to motivate OU/Tours mains sometimes when it's a teamtour like this with no actual prize. Their series against the Skwovets was particularly unlucky too, and, well, I could probably go on, but truthfully not much had been going right for these guys until they won against my team last week (yw). Their SV looked bonkers on paper, but Potatochan at 2-2 is having his worst run since two CAPPLs ago, feen went 1-3 before being substituted for Enzo, and Ciro probably isn't performing as well as D2 and Lasen had hoped either (although 2-2 for 8k is still decent). If this team can get their shit together in SV then I think they easily make playoffs and are huge contenders to win the tour.
Pastgens started off rocky for this team but I think they found their winning formula last week, which they've repeated again here. Ikaishi isn't the strongest SS in the pool but he's a good player, he knows how to win games and I reckon he'll be reliable enough moving foward. Their most expensive player by far, Seasons, is surprisingly 2-2 (GOREX diff), but imo is still the hardest ORAS to beat in this tour. I haven't been watching the ORAS games too closely but my guess is that it's more of a prep issue than a play one? Max just won the big BW money tour so he's presumably quite good in that slot, I dunno, BW's not my tier. Brigtel kinda lucked vs Buns last week but from my miniscule DPP knowledge I know he's still dangerous regardless of his luck stat. And yeah crashy is 3-1 out here making CAP Mono look consistent which is dope to see. This team loses a lot of games that I feel like they're favored in so if they stop doing that then I think they're kinda unstoppable. Jury is still out tho. Personally hoping they get fucked this week so that Lasen is tilted for our champs series.
4TH PLACE - BELO FIGO BELLSPROUTS
SV CAP: Mada
SV CAP: SHSP
SV CAP: Scizivire
SS CAP: ChrisPBacon
ORAS CAP: BigFatMantis
BW CAP: LuckOverSkill
DPP CAP: Lazuli
CAP Monotype: roxie
Ok I'm getting kinda tired of writing at this point so idrk what to say about this team other than I'm rooting for my boys SHSP and Sciz but I do not really forsee a finals run here. In my head I had this team at 3rd or 4th after the draft and they've more or less performed to expectations. I like SHSP a lot in SV, I think Sciz's creativity has been huge for him so far (though I will say he can't just keep winning with random offense forever, as evidenced by his W4 game), I haven't loved Mada's SV loads but I know he's a solid player so he'll be fine too... overall though I guess I'm just not wowed by the whole lineup? Chris in SS is easily the standout slot, his style can be kinda exploitable (see his game vs dex) but he's a good enough player to where it's hardly an issue and I know he's capable of mixing things up if he tries. Lazuli is the only other slot that's really doing well but I can't say whether it's a fluke or not (lack of DPP knowledge strikes again). This team is also vs the Blazikens this week which is far from an easy matchup. They have playoff odds for sure but I think some stars would seriously need to align for them to take home finals.
5TH PLACE - PANNUCLES OF SPOOCAP
SV CAP: DripLegend
SV CAP: Kaif
SV CAP: Darek
SS CAP: dex
ORAS CAP: gorex
BW CAP: zaydapoketrainer
DPP CAP: Steam Buns
CAP Monotype: TTTech
Well, what can I say, I just couldn't bear to rank my own team last! I'm not gonna make excuses for our poor performance, it is what it is, but I don't think we played to our potential this tour and that's always unfortunate to see happen. Our hearts just weren't in it at points –– mine included –– and it definitely showed. I'm not too torn up about it since there was no prize this tour, and I had a lot of fun managing this group, so I've got no regrets about how things turned out. Special shoutout to DripLegend for loading a boots spam team, letting 4 mons get knocked in the first 10 turns including his fucking Volcaona and unpoisoned Gliscor, and then proceeding to win anyways. He is also our only positive player after 4 weeks (goat). Anyways I'll be back to win the trophy for CAPPL, cheers
6TH PLACE - PROMETEO PRIMEAPES
SV CAP: Suzuya
SV CAP: Fc
SV CAP: pichus
SS CAP: temp
ORAS CAP: Lostmemories
BW CAP: tier
DPP CAP: Binacle Pinnacle
CAP Monotype: byulharang
I think this team is 4th seed right now according to Geko's spreadsheet? I'd rank them at 5th if it weren't for the shame of putting my own team in last place, but they are also the only team we didn't lose against if that tells you anything. Interestingly enough, the Nohfaces are really being carried by their cheapest players, with 4.5k pichus and 5.5k binpin both sitting at 3-1. Don't ask me how but Binpin's training arc high atop the mountains of New Jersey has clearly been paying off despite the CAP shadow council's best efforts to make him go winless. 15k tier is the final 3-1 on this team, putting up another strong record in BW as I think most people expected. Most other slots are really not showing good numbers though, including 17k egalvanc who straight up cancered and had to be subbed out 2 weeks in a row, so this team looks dangerously reliant on their three star players to keep doing their thing. I don't see this as a super reliable formula for victory but I suppose time will tell. They're up against the Finneons this week too, who I rate quite highly, but both teams should be hungry for a win to secure their chance at playoffs. At the very least I'm hoping the specators get a good series.
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Well... that's all, folks! I'll see you again for Week 5 of CAPPL!
Nefarious Nohfaces (5) vs (3) The Deep Fried Finneons 
Shoenice Skwovets (4) vs (4) Pannucles of Spoocap 
Brooklyn Blazikens (3) vs (5) Bello Figo Bellsprouts 
