The climb: the arcade runs the whole earned ladder, the tempo follows the territory, the court is yours

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

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