@Flyingifr What is your AoOA?? Age of Oldest Account on CR?
OK, you have a thick profile, that's good. If not for that, those inquiries would have cost you a whole lot more! Believe that!
Yeah, Creditcard.com and all those sites get paid to entice you to apply. That could care less if you are approved; they got paid, at your expense. Thank goodness you didn't go to them for any other advice.
Speaking of advice, you are not going to find a better collection of knowledge on issues impacting credit score, ect..., than you will here. I promise you.
Citi may still approve you, don't give up hope yet. Call them; its possibly verification, as already stated. If not, let us know the reasons, and you should try to recon, what's the worst they could say? No? Again? You have nothing to lose trying. Keep in mind, usually recon needs to happen within 30 days of app'ing.
Sounds like you need to recon that Capital One account. It's too late. Once you app and they approve you, there is no reversing it. You can call and close the account, but it is still gonna hit your CR and affect AAoA for 10 years (unless something funny /strange happens).
So, you may as well try to recon for a higher SL and if they refuse, keep it and SD it for now. That's another thing I dislike about Cap One is how they usually bucket customers they give low limits to like that. They usually are stingy and rarely will you see the card get decent CLIs or make it to high CLs. But frequently the 2nd card they give will be much better, but meanwhile the first one is a waste IMHO, unless it is being used to re-build.
Having so few cards, that could have played a part. IDK, but you may as well keep it for now, because and it ups your number of accounts, reducing your AZEO ratio. So, at least you can realize some benefit outta it.
Pyramid is full of something. Go elsewhere. It doesn't even have to be secured, just make sure that it is an FI that pushes out your payments, not one who reduces the term. Again read the thread on SSLs.
You are actually VERY lucky. I've rarely heard of Cap One failing to do a hard inquiry at ALL 3 CRAs. I don't know how you skated by on that, TBH. Maybe because you were 800's?
You still have a lot to consider. Everything I told you still applies. You're just 13 points lower on EX and you've lessened your chances with many lenders who pull EX and who are inquiry sensitive.
For instance, you could've probably scored a Duck's with 5% back on gas and sporting goods, but with 2 HPs, they probably would deny you, where had you app'ed to them first, you may have been approved and then free to app elsewhere.
The order of apps is critical, as inquiry-sensitive lenders see previous HPs and for people with few accounts, it's even more important, because they don't know whether or not you were approved. But your scores are still great and should still get you the best rates, and you still have plenty of options!
Hindsight is 20/20, but next time, if you will ask, we will be happy to point you towards cards and lenders who fit your profile AND who are likely to approve your profile and give you opinion on the best order to app.....which we are still trying to nail down your profile...AoOA please?
- Probably not what you want to hear but I also harbor the same concern of losing 800 scores but I'm often reminded "what is the purpose of a great score if you can't use it". Not saying to spend a lot or apply for something you don't want or need. 
