diff --git a/PROJECT.md b/PROJECT.md
index e12eda9..a7db82c 100644
--- a/PROJECT.md
+++ b/PROJECT.md
@@ -491,6 +491,33 @@ zombie (now an occasional opponent, `TUNE.racketEvery`, not the every-game fixtu
   `RETURNED`, `DOUBLE KILL`) is a footnote to something you already watched happen. Sharing the loud
   FACE with the milestone cards is right; sharing their SIZE made every footnote read as a milestone.
 
+## Session log: THE CLIMB — the arcade gets its identity back (2026-08-29, same day, STAGING ONLY)
+
+Oliver: "arcade verhält sich genau so [wie der cup].. die grenzen werden unscharf." Right — the
+phase-2 band clamp had reduced the arcade to the cup's own 3-4 bodies, loose. The two modes have
+sharp identities again:
+
+- **THE ARCADE IS THE CLIMB**: it opens at the very BOTTOM of the ladder (opp 1) and runs the
+  whole EARNED club, clamping at your league's top (the clamp, its felled counter and its
+  "NOBODY STRONGER / THE CUP IS THE WAY UP" walk-on lesson all stay). The marathon's length
+  grows with every promotion — league 2 climbs 8 bodies, league 5 all 18 — and the FELLED board
+  means something again. Poster sub: "THE WHOLE CLUB, BOTTOM UP · BLOOD ONLY".
+- **The tempo hangs on the OPPONENT'S territory now** (`config.leagueOfRung`, read by
+  leaguePace): the low ladder plays its own shipped tempo and the world pulls away at each band
+  border — the climb makes the five leagues legible as five territories. Cup unchanged in effect
+  (its pool IS your band); the training court now practises a body at the tempo you would really
+  meet it at (a deliberate revision of phase 2's flat league-1 training world). Netplay exempt.
+- **The climb picks its court freely** (among the unlocked): the CUP is the league fixture with
+  the fixed home venue, the climb is the exhibition. start()'s forcing, the setup's single-row
+  venue face and the summary's LEAGUE suffix are all cup-only again.
+- **The climb's setup face** (replaces the league panel there): THE CLIMB writ large, "THE CLUB
+  FROM THE BOTTOM — N STAND · BEST RUN: M FELLED" (stats' own longest), no roster wall — the
+  training picker already shows the club face-up.
+- **"RUNG" is gone from the game's copy** (Oliver: too exotic) — the training tiles say "No. 7",
+  the club roster number. It only ever appeared there; everywhere else the word lives in comments.
+- Tests reworked: the climb walkthrough (opens at 1, clamps at 8 for league 2, felled honest) and
+  the pace test (flat inside a band, steps at each border, netplay/gore exempt). Suite 124.
+
 ## Session log: THE LEAGUES — the setup grows a league face (2026-08-29, same day, STAGING ONLY)
 
 Two more from Oliver's screenshots:
diff --git a/index.html b/index.html
index 954e835..01d40c9 100644
--- a/index.html
+++ b/index.html
@@ -920,6 +920,6 @@ if (location.hostname !== 'splatter-tennis.wuwi.one' && !window.Capacitor?.isNat
     </div>
   </div>
 </div>
-<script type="module" src="src/main.js?v=324"></script>
+<script type="module" src="src/main.js?v=325"></script>
 </body>
 </html>
diff --git a/src/beats.js b/src/beats.js
index e19015b..a3b4538 100644
--- a/src/beats.js
+++ b/src/beats.js
@@ -368,10 +368,10 @@ export function startMatch(cup = false, draw = null, train = 0) {
   // Netplay and training stay league-1 worlds: a human opponent and a practice rep both play the
   // shipped game (train still picks any met rung, but at the shipped pace).
   G.league = G.net || train ? 1 : prof.lg;
-  const band = leagueOf(G.league).band;
-  // the arcade ladder opens at the league's own bottom rung and never leaves the band: past its
-  // top the league simply has nobody stronger, so the top body walks on again (see matchGameWon)
-  G.match = { opp: train || (G.net ? 1 : band[0]), ending: false, train: !!train, felled: 0 };
+  // THE CLIMB: the arcade opens at the very BOTTOM of the ladder and runs the whole earned club,
+  // clamping at your league's top (matchGameWon) — the marathon whose length the promotions buy.
+  // The tempo shifts per band border (gameplay.leaguePace reads the rung's own league).
+  G.match = { opp: train || 1, ending: false, train: !!train, felled: 0 };
   // THE TOURNAMENT rides the whole match machinery and differs in exactly three places: who walks
   // on (a rung DRAWN from the round's band — cupDraw sets d.opp, so every ladder dial downstream
   // scales off the drawn rung untouched), how deep the body's pool is (matchOpponent multiplies
diff --git a/src/config.js b/src/config.js
index 294bb5d..49d7f51 100644
--- a/src/config.js
+++ b/src/config.js
@@ -825,7 +825,9 @@ export const COURTS = [
 // baked in — the button's own name/sub render over a scrim, so the caption stays crisp.
 export const MODES = [
   { id: 'classic', name: 'CLASSIC TENNIS', sub: 'REAL TENNIS · BEST OF THREE SETS', art: 'mode_classic' },
-  { id: 'zombie',  name: 'ARCADE',         sub: 'ONE GAME PER OPPONENT · BLOOD ONLY', art: 'mode_arcade' },
+  // THE CLIMB (2026-08-29): the arcade is the survival marathon through the WHOLE earned ladder,
+  // bottom up — its length grows with the career; the cup stays the league fixture. See beats.
+  { id: 'zombie',  name: 'ARCADE',         sub: 'THE WHOLE CLUB, BOTTOM UP · BLOOD ONLY', art: 'mode_arcade' },
   // `tag` is the poster's corner chip (main.banner): the cup is THE WAY UP — winning your
   // league's tournament is the one route to promotion, and the picker should say so standing.
   { id: 'cup',     name: 'THE TOURNAMENT', sub: 'YOUR LEAGUE\'S ROUNDS · WIN IT TO RISE', art: 'mode_cup',
@@ -910,6 +912,9 @@ export const LEAGUES = [
   { id: 5, name: 'THE HONOURS BOARD',   court: 'members', band: [16, 18], color: '#e8b23a' },
 ];
 export const leagueOf = lg => LEAGUES[Math.min(LEAGUES.length, Math.max(1, lg | 0 || 1)) - 1];
+// which league a LADDER POSITION belongs to — THE CLIMB's tempo reads this (the world speeds up
+// as the run crosses each band border), and it is what makes the club read as five territories
+export const leagueOfRung = n => LEAGUES.find(l => n <= l.band[1]) || LEAGUES[LEAGUES.length - 1];
 
 // The tournament, PER LEAGUE. Same shape CUP_ROUNDS always had (name/band/need) — round one is a
 // single game so a run opens fast, and the drawn body's pool still scales with `need`
diff --git a/src/gameplay.js b/src/gameplay.js
index 28e7a62..8cb5c47 100644
--- a/src/gameplay.js
+++ b/src/gameplay.js
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 // Game logic: ballistics, swings, serves, rules/scoring, AI, and the per-frame update.
 
-import { TUNE, UI, bossArt, APPLAUSE_T, EATEN_BURST, EATEN_SUMMARY, COURT, CONTACT, VOLLEY, ZONE_DEPTH, HOME, P_BOUNDS, TOSS, SHOT_DEPTH, POSE_TIME, BOUNCE_IDLE, zombieH, Z_CHEST , WEAPONS, RACK_MAX , BARREL_WEAPONS, racketStage, matchWound, LADDER, LEAGUES, TIN_LEAGUE, TIN_DOUBLE_LEAGUE } from './config.js';
+import { TUNE, UI, bossArt, APPLAUSE_T, EATEN_BURST, EATEN_SUMMARY, COURT, CONTACT, VOLLEY, ZONE_DEPTH, HOME, P_BOUNDS, TOSS, SHOT_DEPTH, POSE_TIME, BOUNCE_IDLE, zombieH, Z_CHEST , WEAPONS, RACK_MAX , BARREL_WEAPONS, racketStage, matchWound, LADDER, LEAGUES, leagueOfRung, TIN_LEAGUE, TIN_DOUBLE_LEAGUE } from './config.js';
 import { P, O, ball, score, crowd, G, court, tour, other, deuceSide, setupPoint, sendBoy, resetState } from './state.js';
 import { audio, pock, swish, whoosh, applause, voice, voiceSeq, sfx, aww, zombieMusic, zombieDuck, menuDuck, splat, shriek, boom } from './audio.js';
 import { haptic } from './haptics.js';
@@ -163,11 +163,15 @@ export const swayOf = aim => aim.mag === undefined ? aim.ax
 // as flat rather than resetting the lesson it just failed to use.
 export const flatCount = (streak, aim) => (aim && Math.abs(swayOf(aim)) > 0.15 ? 0 : streak + 1);
 
-// THE LEAGUES' pace tier: solo match modes run faster per league, everything else is factor 1 —
-// league 1 IS the shipped game (the calibration rule). Multiplies ball pace on BOTH rackets
-// (doHit, both serve paths) and the opponent's legs (rzChaseSpeed), so the world speeds up as one
-// piece and the reach tests keep believing the legs they measure. Netplay is a human and exempt.
-export const leaguePace = () => G.match && !G.net ? 1 + (G.league - 1) * TUNE.leaguePace : 1;
+// THE LEAGUES' pace tier, PER TERRITORY (2026-08-29, THE CLIMB): the tempo hangs on the band of
+// the CURRENT OPPONENT, not on the player's league — the low ladder plays at its own shipped
+// tempo and the world audibly pulls away as a climb crosses each band border. In the cup the two
+// readings coincide (the pool IS your band); the training court now practises a body at the
+// tempo you would really meet it at. Multiplies ball pace on BOTH rackets (doHit, both serve
+// paths) and the opponent's legs (rzChaseSpeed), so the world speeds up as one piece and the
+// reach tests keep believing the legs they measure. Netplay is a human and exempt.
+export const leaguePace = () => G.match && !G.net
+  ? 1 + (leagueOfRung(G.match.opp).id - 1) * TUNE.leaguePace : 1;
 
 // THE DUEL LEARNS (the leagues, phase 4): 0 fresh, 1 at TUNE.duelRampGames — gore's own clock,
 // so game 0 is exactly the shipped duel and the league never rekeys the director. Exported for
diff --git a/src/main.js b/src/main.js
index 9d31de0..73486be 100644
--- a/src/main.js
+++ b/src/main.js
@@ -303,9 +303,24 @@ swatches('kitRow', 'kitName', KITS, 'kit', () => pickedKit, id => pickedKit = id
 swatches('skinRow', 'skinName', SKINS, 'skin', () => pickedSkin, id => pickedSkin = id);
 refreshLook();
 
-// THE LEAGUE PANEL (the leagues): the setup's league-mode face — your league writ large and the
-// band's roster with your all-time felled counts (stats' per-foe tallies, key 'L'+index). The
-// identity block this replaces still shows for every non-league mode; the card owns it anyway.
+// THE CLIMB PANEL: the arcade's setup face — the marathon's length (grown by every promotion)
+// and your best run. Reuses the league panel's furniture; the foes row stays empty (up to 18
+// tiles is a wall, and the training picker already shows the roster face-up).
+function buildClimbPanel() {
+  const lg = leagueOf(profile.prof.lg);
+  document.getElementById('lgBadge').src = `assets/badge_l${lg.id}.png?v=${SPRV}`;
+  const name = document.getElementById('lgName');
+  name.textContent = 'THE CLIMB';
+  name.style.color = '';
+  const best = stats.read('all', undefined, stats.MODE_MATCH).longest;
+  document.getElementById('lgSub').textContent =
+    `THE CLUB FROM THE BOTTOM — ${lg.band[1]} STAND` + (best ? ` · BEST RUN: ${best} FELLED` : '');
+  document.getElementById('lgFoes').innerHTML = '';
+}
+
+// THE LEAGUE PANEL (the leagues): the cup's setup face — your league writ large and the band's
+// roster with your all-time felled counts (stats' per-foe tallies, key 'L'+index). The identity
+// block these panels replace still shows for every other mode; the card owns it anyway.
 function buildLeaguePanel() {
   const lg = leagueOf(profile.prof.lg);
   const badge = document.getElementById('lgBadge');
@@ -336,27 +351,26 @@ function buildLeaguePanel() {
 // On the LEAGUE MODES the player block steps aside for the league panel (Oliver: the identity is
 // on the card now — the setup should show the league and who of it you have already beaten).
 function syncSetup() {
-  const leagueMode = pickedMode === 'zombie' || pickedMode === 'cup';
-  document.getElementById('who').style.display = leagueMode ? 'none' : 'flex';
-  document.getElementById('lgPanel').style.display = leagueMode ? 'block' : 'none';
-  document.getElementById('s01').textContent = leagueMode ? '01 · YOUR LEAGUE' : '01 · PLAYER';
-  if (leagueMode) buildLeaguePanel();
+  const cupMode = pickedMode === 'cup', climbMode = pickedMode === 'zombie';
+  document.getElementById('who').style.display = cupMode || climbMode ? 'none' : 'flex';
+  document.getElementById('lgPanel').style.display = cupMode || climbMode ? 'block' : 'none';
+  document.getElementById('s01').textContent =
+    cupMode ? '01 · YOUR LEAGUE' : climbMode ? '01 · THE CLIMB' : '01 · PLAYER';
+  if (cupMode) buildLeaguePanel(); else if (climbMode) buildClimbPanel();
   if (!courtUnlocked(picked)) picked = leagueOf(profile.prof.lg).court;
-  // ...and the COURT section stops pretending to be a choice on the league modes (Oliver: a
-  // league HAS its court — start() has forced it all along): only the league's own row shows,
-  // ringed, as the venue. Every other mode gets the full pickable list. This runs AFTER the
-  // generic repaint below would, so it has the last word on .on/.lock.
+  // the COURT section: the CUP is the league fixture — one ringed row, the home venue, no choice
+  // (Oliver: a league HAS its court). The climb and every other mode keep the full pickable list.
   const homeCourt = leagueOf(profile.prof.lg).court;
-  document.getElementById('s02').innerHTML = leagueMode
+  document.getElementById('s02').innerHTML = cupMode
     ? '02 · HOME COURT<span>SET BY YOUR LEAGUE</span>' : '02 · COURT';
-  courtList.classList.toggle('fixed', leagueMode);
+  courtList.classList.toggle('fixed', cupMode);
   for (const el of courtList.children) {
     const c = COURTS.find(x => x.id === el.dataset.id), l = courtLeague(el.dataset.id);
     const open = courtUnlocked(el.dataset.id);
-    el.classList.toggle('lock', !open && !leagueMode);
-    el.classList.toggle('on', leagueMode ? el.dataset.id === homeCourt
-                                         : open && el.dataset.id === picked);
-    el.style.display = leagueMode && el.dataset.id !== homeCourt ? 'none' : '';
+    el.classList.toggle('lock', !open && !cupMode);
+    el.classList.toggle('on', cupMode ? el.dataset.id === homeCourt
+                                      : open && el.dataset.id === picked);
+    el.style.display = cupMode && el.dataset.id !== homeCourt ? 'none' : '';
     // the sub line carries the lock and names the price — the tile stays visible, as a goal should
     el.querySelector('i').textContent = open ? c.sub : 'LOCKED — REACH ' + l.name;
   }
@@ -440,7 +454,7 @@ for (const c of COURTS) {
   // Tapping a tile SELECTS it and nothing more. It used to start the match on the spot, which gave
   // you no way to look at the three of them and no way back out of the screen.
   b.addEventListener('click', () => {
-    if (pickedMode === 'zombie' || pickedMode === 'cup') return; // the league picks the venue
+    if (pickedMode === 'cup') return;      // the cup is the league fixture — the league picks
     if (!courtUnlocked(c.id)) return;      // locked: the row itself says which league opens it
     picked = c.id;
     for (const el of courtList.children) el.classList.toggle('on', el === b);
@@ -541,7 +555,7 @@ function buildTrain() {
   const top = Math.min(LADDER, leagueOf(profile.prof.lg).band[1]);
   for (let n = 1; n <= top; n++) {
     const f = matchFoe(n), b = document.createElement('button');
-    b.innerHTML = `<img src="${foeArt(f)}" alt=""><b>${f.name}</b><i>RUNG ${n}</i>`;
+    b.innerHTML = `<img src="${foeArt(f)}" alt=""><b>${f.name}</b><i>No. ${n}</i>`;
     b.addEventListener('click', () => { trainRung = n; start('train'); });
     trainList.appendChild(b);
   }
@@ -669,8 +683,8 @@ const boardFor = m => m === 'zombie' || m === 'cup' || m === 'train' ? stats.MOD
 function summary() {
   const t = TOURS.find(x => x.id === pickedTour) || TOURS[0];
   const lg = leagueOf(profile.prof.lg);
-  const leagueMode = pickedMode === 'zombie' || pickedMode === 'cup';
-  const c = COURTS.find(x => x.id === (leagueMode ? lg.court : picked)) || COURTS[0];
+  const cupMode = pickedMode === 'cup';
+  const c = COURTS.find(x => x.id === (cupMode ? lg.court : picked)) || COURTS[0];
   const m = MODES.find(x => x.id === pickedMode) || MODES[0];
   // the mark to beat is the PICKED MODE's own, because the three of them do not measure the same
   // thing — see the record-shape note in stats.endRun. The cup banks through endRun as MODE_MATCH
@@ -681,7 +695,7 @@ function summary() {
   const name = m.id === 'classic'
     ? m.name + ' · ' + (DIFFS.find(d => d.id === pickedDiff) || DIFFS[1]).name : m.name;
   document.getElementById('sSum').innerHTML =
-    `<span>${name} · ${t.name.replace(' SINGLES', '')} · ${c.name}${leagueMode
+    `<span>${name} · ${t.name.replace(' SINGLES', '')} · ${c.name}${cupMode
       ? ' · LEAGUE ' + lg.id : ''}</span>`
     // training banks nothing, so there is no mark to beat and the footer must not invent one
     + `<span>${m.id === 'train' ? 'NOTHING AT STAKE — JUST REPS'
@@ -718,9 +732,9 @@ function start(modeId = pickedMode) {
   if (!menuUp()) return;
   selectTour(pickedTour);
   selectKit(pickedKit); selectSkin(pickedSkin);
-  // THE LEAGUES: a league match is played on the league's own court — the pick stays yours in
-  // classic, gore, netplay and training (among the unlocked courts).
-  selectCourt(modeId === 'zombie' || modeId === 'cup' ? leagueOf(profile.prof.lg).court : picked);
+  // THE LEAGUES: the CUP is the league fixture and plays the league's own court; every other
+  // mode — the climb included, it is an exhibition — plays your pick (among the unlocked).
+  selectCourt(modeId === 'cup' ? leagueOf(profile.prof.lg).court : picked);
   menuDuck(true); // the theme belongs to the menus — hand the court over to the ambience
   intro.hidden = true; ambient(); voice('quiet_please'); // low atmosphere bed starts with the first gesture
   // ...and the mode the setup screen picked. THREE LINES, because that is genuinely all the modes
diff --git a/test.js b/test.js
index cad210d..6afc046 100644
--- a/test.js
+++ b/test.js
@@ -2214,22 +2214,22 @@ test('PROFILE: zombie names fit the board and its charset, and the profile round
   prof.prof.lg = 1; prof.save();
 });
 
-test('THE LEAGUES: the arcade opens at its band, climbs inside it, and counts felled bodies', () => {
+test('THE CLIMB: the arcade runs the whole earned ladder from the bottom and clamps at your top', () => {
   prof.prof.lg = 2;
   assert.ok(_startMatch(), 'the arcade starts');
   G.modal = null; G.modalQ.length = 0;
   G.mode = 'splatter';
   assert.equal(G.league, 2, 'the run wears the profile league');
   const d = G.match;
-  assert.equal(d.opp, 5, "league two opens at its band's bottom rung");
-  for (let b = 0; b < 6; b++) {
+  assert.equal(d.opp, 1, 'the climb opens at the very bottom of the ladder');
+  for (let b = 0; b < 8; b++) {
     G.interlude.introT = 0;
     for (let k = 0; k < 4; k++) { resolveInterlude('P'); G.modal = null; G.modalQ.length = 0; }
     for (let i = 0; i < 6 * 60 && G.matchFall; i++) { G.modal = null; G.modalQ.length = 0; update(DT); }
     passMopBeat();
   }
-  assert.equal(d.opp, 8, 'the ladder clamps at the top of the band — the cup is the only way up');
-  assert.equal(d.felled, 6, 'every felled body counts, clamp or no clamp');
+  assert.equal(d.opp, 8, "the ladder clamps at your league's top — the cup is the only way up");
+  assert.equal(d.felled, 8, 'every felled body counts, clamp or no clamp');
   // ...and the repeat walk-on ANSWERS the "what now?" it poses: fell the top body once more and
   // read its intro modal instead of wiping it
   G.interlude.introT = 0;
@@ -2267,18 +2267,20 @@ test('THE LEAGUES: the top league crowns a champion instead of promoting', () =>
   assert.ok(pr && pr.champion, 'the ceremony parked is the champion one');
 });
 
-test('THE LEAGUES: the pace tier scales the solo match world and nothing else', () => {
-  G.match = { opp: 1 }; G.league = 1;
-  assert.equal(leaguePace(), 1, 'league one IS the shipped game');
-  G.league = 5;
-  assert.ok(leaguePace() > 1.2, 'the top league is a visibly faster world');
-  const climbs = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].map(l => { G.league = l; return leaguePace(); });
-  for (let i = 1; i < climbs.length; i++) assert.ok(climbs[i] > climbs[i - 1], 'each league is faster');
+test("THE LEAGUES: the pace tier follows the OPPONENT's territory, and nothing else", () => {
+  G.match = { opp: 1 };
+  assert.equal(leaguePace(), 1, 'the bottom of the ladder IS the shipped game');
+  G.match.opp = 4;
+  assert.equal(leaguePace(), 1, '...flat inside a band: league one all plays league-one tempo');
+  G.match.opp = 18;
+  assert.ok(leaguePace() > 1.2, "the champion's territory is a visibly faster world");
+  const climbs = [1, 5, 9, 13, 16].map(o => { G.match.opp = o; return leaguePace(); });
+  for (let i = 1; i < climbs.length; i++)
+    assert.ok(climbs[i] > climbs[i - 1], 'each band border pulls the tempo up');
   G.net = { on: true };
   assert.equal(leaguePace(), 1, 'netplay is a human and exempt');
-  G.net = null; G.match = null; G.league = 5;
+  G.net = null; G.match = null;
   assert.equal(leaguePace(), 1, 'outside the match modes the factor is 1 — gore keeps its own director');
-  G.league = 1;
 });
 
 test('THE DUEL LEARNS: its skill ramps with the run, and game zero is the shipped duel', () => {