art by Shadowshocker!
CAP Premier League IX: Official Power Rankings
It's that time of the season again––that's right, it's time for the anxiously-awaited Official CAPPL Power Rankings! These took longer than I wanted to get out, both due to delays behind the scene and some things that cropped up in my personal life, but I hope you'll enjoy them nonetheless. As always a huge thanks to
SHSP for taking some work off my shoulders and assisting in writing these.
The Process:
A google form containing the full lineups from Week 1 was sent out to each manager, on which they would rank every player not on their own team from 1 to 15 in SV, 1 to 5 in SS, SM, etc. The scores were compiled and averaged out to get the final results below; each team's final ranking is the grand total of all of their individual player rankings + their "extra" ranking. Because the grand totals are just every individual ranking added up, a smaller score represents better placement, while larger scores represent worse placement. The "extra" category represents positive qualities other than the pure strength of their W1 lineup; factors such as managerial competence, building support, strength of of substitutes, potential tiebreak strength, and anything else were all up for consideration here. Now, let's get into the team overviews!
Team Overviews
Dave's Dedennes
SV: Sylveon used calm mind
SV: Fc
SV: Monai
SS: shiloh
SS: Mimikyu Stardust
SM: Kenix
ORAS: Lasen
BW: tier
Dave and Leru take up the mantle once more in CAP after their last-place finish in CAP Champions League, and this time around, they’re poised for what could be a much stronger performance. For starters, they didn’t draft the ever-cursed D2TheW again––who chose to instead manage and sabotage his own team from the bench––and DPP CAP isn’t in this tour, either, so there’s no possibility of going 0-5 in that slot a second time. Not to mention, this duo has managed or is currently managing over 10 team tournaments in the half a year since CAPCL, accumulating enough managerial wisdom to last anyone a lifetime. While the last-place overall ranking doesn’t exactly inspire confidence, it’s still not exaggerating to say that this team has the tools they need to beat the odds.
The Dedennes’ combined SV lineup weighs in at second-to-last against other SV cores, dragged down both by Sylveon used calm mind, who hasn’t yet managed to replicate the success he found in the SS Money Tour, and Monai, an assumed BW slot who many were perplexed to see starting in current gen. The star players on this roster are undoubtedly Fc, who was the Dedennes’ sole retain, and tier, who put up a strong 5-1 record in BW during CAPCL and found himself ranked at second place in his pool as a result.
Shiloh and Mimikyu Stardust in SS, ranked at #6 and #7, respectively, are both strong players with prior SS CAP experience and should be positioned to succeed with minimal support. The same can’t be said about Kenix, however; while he’s found success on Smogon as an oldgens player, a sixth-place ranking reflects some uncertainty about his abilities in SM CAP. Confidence isn’t high in Lasen, either, the single CAP mainer on the roster––given that he usually ends up in SM, only time will tell how he fares in a dangerously strong ORAS pool.
If the Daves can first get past their apparent lack of building support, and second, prevent their players from getting banned mid-season again, a reversal of their CAPCL season looks entirely within reach.
No Fucks Great Tusks
SV: RaJ.Shoot
SV: Piyush25
SV: myjava
SS: arn.av136
SS: Atha
SM: pannu
ORAS: Dj Breloominati♬
BW: Wait2Seconds
With the largest roster of the tour at 18 players, as well as having spent the most money on retains and manager self-buys ($50k total), the NFTs took a topheavy approach to drafting that other managers don’t seem quite as confident in. Coming in at 5th place overall, with a miniscule margin between 6th, the Tusks need to seriously overperform to have a shot at the championship. Although, no CAP teamtour is complete without a team India that somehow blows past everyone’s expectations.
The NFT’s SV core is far and away the most promising feature of this lineup. Two of the top five SV players land on this team, with Piyush not much further back at #7, combining to a truly impressive first-place overall SV score––to put things in perspective, the margin between first and second place here easily surpasses the margin between second place and sixth. The rest of the team, however, takes a sharp decline in rankings.
Arn.av and Atha rank 10th and 12th in SS, respectively; pannu comes in at #5 in SM; Spitfire ranks at #5 in ORAS; and Wait2Seconds ranks at #5 in BW. The team also ranks at #6 in the extra category––even with the ten players who aren’t in the lineup, there may be a perceived deficiency in building support, viable substitutes, or even more nebulous things such as team environment. Still, with Spitfire and Raj at the helm of this team, anything is possible––even just in CAP tournaments, this would hardly be the first time that an underdog team punched far above their weight.
Heart Attack Hemogoblins
SV: Potatochan
SV: Baloor
SV: Kaif
SS: fade
SS: DetroitLolcat
SM: QWILY
ORAS: Seasons
BW: Feaniix
Unfortunately for D2 and Spoo, CAP 32 did eventually get a name, forcing them to become the Hemogoblins instead of the Carbombing Cap 32s. Fortunately for the managerial duo, they've put together an intimidating squad, strong all around with few apparent holes. The team overall was rated first in the extra category, pointing to strong support across all gens, strong management from the duo (despite D2's curse), and a strong environment for the team to thrive in.
Their roster points to some strong standout players, as well: Potatochan and Fade were rated first and second in their respective tiers, both coming off strong prior CAP team tour performances. Their old gens are a set of consistent newcomers: Seasons and Feaniix came in at third overall in ORAS and BW respectively, with QWILY fourth in a super strong SM pool. With the support provided by teammates with a lot of experience, the trio here are poised for big seasons and to exceed these mid-table expectations.
Where this team might struggle is depth: After Potatochan and Fade, their SV and SS starting slots were not highly rated: Baloor, Kaif and DetroitLolcat were ranked in the low end of the bottom half of the rankings, which could push the bounty of sub slots rostered here to fill in and succeed. If the top end performers can live up to expectations and the strong foundation this team is built on shines, D2 and Spoo might be looking at broken curses and some new jewelry.
Mollux Stocks
SV: The Strap
SV: Elfuseon
SV: Inder
SS: Kate
SS: ChrisPBacon
SM: Clementine
ORAS: JayHeaven
BW: Fakee
The new managerial duo of Clementine and Fragments have set up a championship contender in their first go of things, and a team full of players that might live up to their name billing and go to the moon. They were ranked second overall, and second in extras, high level across the board with some genuine star power to push them, hopefully, across the finish line.
The Molluxes were the lucky winners of the only thing the 30 mock drafts Spoo ran got right: the Kate sweepstakes. The most expensive player in the tournament comes in as a clear first place in SS, ranked no lower than third by every team. It'll be a tall ask to replicate––and potentially exceed––the undefeated performance she had in CAPCL II, but another strong season is certainly expected regardless. She's not the only first overall player this team lays claim to, however: both Heaven Jay and Fakee slot in first overall in ORAS and BW. If these rankings hold, this team will have a solid leg up against the field: starting a series with three favorable games could absolutely lead to some blowout performances. The three top-ranked players are joined by their manager, Clementine, who ranks third in a SM pool that is separated by razor thin margins. This core of the team is among the best in the entire tournament, and could spur a strong market for the Molluxes.
Some of the other slots on this team, however, were ranked as reasons to sell high. The second SS starter, ChrisPBacon, ranked low compared to the field, and SV across the board is their weakest slot per these rankings. Elfuseon is their highest ranked SV starter, coming just barely in the top half, and the remaining duo of Inder and The Strap find themselves firmly towards that lower end of the pool. This could lead to some difficult spots for the Molluxes if their old-gen star power falters, but if they can outperform these preseason predictions? It might just be a championship-winning season on the cards.
Noble Naviathans
SV: avarice
SV: lax
SV: Darek
SS: snaga
SS: The Number Man
SM: Lily
ORAS: Steam Buns
BW: Splash
Equal parts Valorant players and CAP teamtour regulars, the Noble Naviathans make a splash at fourth place in the overall rankings. With their second-place score in the extra category, it’s clear that others think highly of the supporting capabilities and competence of these two managers; though, considering dex’s excellent showings in prior managerial stints and lax’s track record across the site, this is hardly a surprise. What remains to be seen is whether or not these strong supporting abilities can be effectively translated to the two gens new to CAPPL: SV and BW.
In the current gen, #3 lax and #9 Darek are primarily responsible for the high combined SV score of the Naviathans, ranking at second best SV among all teams. Avarice ranks in much lower at #15, reflecting some uncertainty about the move from their usual home in ORAS. With Darek not having gone positive in a teamtour in over a year now, as well as avarice’s unknown reliability as an SV starter, the Naviathans’ SV core is one with both a high ceiling and low floor.
The Naviathans’ two most expensive players at 18.5k each end up in SS, and considering dex’s excellent support in this tier, they should both be primed for a successful season––even despite snaga’s second-to-last SS ranking, and some lingering questions around The Number Man’s form after his break from mons and average CAPPL performance last year. In SM and ORAS, Lily and Steam Buns take the stage, the former having played this metagame in every CAP teamtour in recent memory, and the latter looking to build on his 5-0 ORAS performance last CAPPL. Splash probably puts up a good record in BW if he shows up to his games.
Overall, the Naviathans are a well-rounded team with few, if any, glaring weak spots. If some of their players like Darek, TNM, and Steam Buns can draw out the dominating performances they’ve had in prior years, then it’ll be a smooth ride to playoffs for this team; however, in the most stacked CAPPL yet, this task will be harder than ever.
Vengeful Venomicons
SV: Joeshh
SV: Trogba Trogba
SV: Beraldo
SS: clean
SS: Fogbound Lake
SM: SHSP
ORAS: Sylvi
BW: TGA
Three SPL players, three WCOP players, an aging CAP main, and TGA––ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the overall #1 ranked team. Reigning champions Wulfanator and SHSP are back for blood, with the former looking to score his third CAPPL trophy in just as many years, and have assembled what looks to be a highly dangerous lineup to carry the team towards victory.
The focal point of the Venomicons is their SS core of clean and Fogbound Lake, retained for 12k and 10k, respectively. With both in the top five SS rankings, the success of this team will be largely defined by whether these two players can hit the strong records that are expected of them. A similar expectation lies on the shoulders of Joeshh, the Venomicons’ most expensive pickup by far at 23.5k, and one of the two users tied for best overall SV player (Potatochan vs Joeshh grudge match coming week 3). The remaining SV slots, Trogba Trogba and Beraldo, are slightly bigger question marks; while Beraldo is an established player who started in eight weeks of this SPL, Trogba is just now finding his footing in trophy tournaments in WCOP, and neither user has played CAP in an official capacity before.
Turning to the old-oldgens, the Venomicons chose to start assman SHSP in SM, SPL starter Sylvi in ORAS, and one of the few people who have played BW CAP before, TGA, in BW. Combined, these oldgens weigh in at fourth place overall, even despite SHSP’s strong second-place ranking in the SM pool. Whatever the reason for both Sylvi and TGA’s fourth-place rankings, it doesn’t help that SHSP and Wulfanator's weakest gens when it comes to support are ORAS and BW––they’re surely banking on these two players being self-sufficient for the majority of their prep this tour.
With reliably top-tier players in Joeshh, clean, Fogbound Lake, and SHSP, the key to the Venomicons’ victory will be in how much mileage they can get out of their lower end slots. If just one or two players overperform, and their heavy hitters don’t crash and burn (both are easier said than done), yet another championship title might just be in Wulfanator and SHSP’s future.
Individual & Overall Rankings
SV
SS
SM
ORAS
BW
Extra
Grand Totals
