Season Six Preseason · July 2026
| Rank | Player | Pts | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reese Romero(4) 4 first-place votes | 40 | up 1 |
| 2 | Bernie Conrad(1) 1 first-place votes | 35 | down 1 |
| 3 | Thomas Brook(1) 1 first-place votes | 32 | unchanged |
| 4 | Ellie Davidson | 21 | newly ranked |
| 5 | Emilio Chausse | 17 | newly ranked |
| 6 | Ben Mendoza | 12 | newly ranked |
| 7 | Ryan Domanski | 11 | newly ranked |
Winning his inaugural Cup was apparently not enough, because Romero has spent exhibition season treating everyone else like they're batting practice. The defending champ enters the season with the unfortunate burden of having to prove that last year wasn't a fluke, a burden he seems to be handling by simply refusing to lose momentum. Until someone actually beats him when it matters, the throne stays occupied.
Few things age worse than "we'll get them next year," and Conrad has had an entire offseason to think about it. One half of Civapalooza's original power duo, Bernie has looked sharp in exhibitions, but "looked sharp in exhibitions" doesn't erase watching someone else hoist the Cup.
Brook and Conrad are the Civapalooza equivalent of two aging cockfighters trying to convince everyone (and themselves) they've still got one more title run in them. The talent is still there, the exhibitions have been promising, but eventually someone has to actually dethrone Romero instead of just talking trash.
Davidson entered the league as the first woman ever to compete for a spot in the Games and has wasted little time proving she's here for much more than a trivia question. Exhibition play has revealed a player with legitimate talent and a rapidly improving skillset. Nobody at the top of the rankings should be overlooking her. At some point, "dark horse" just becomes "horse."
Chausse has quietly become everyone's favorite "don't look now" pick. The improvement has been obvious, and the fundamentals are starting to catch up with the confidence. The next step is figuring out whether that translates into wins or just more people saying he'll be dangerous next year.
Mendoza is part of the league's expansion movement, which means expectations are low but optimism is somehow sky high. There's enough enthusiasm here to power a small city. If experience counted for nothing, he'd be in the top three. Unfortunately, experience counts for quite a bit.
Domanski joins Mendoza in the "we're just happy to be invited" tier... for now. Every league needs fresh blood, and every fresh face starts somewhere. Nobody expects a championship immediately. There are no expectations to disappoint, only expectations to ruin.