Highlights
Hagiwara Haneman
December 7, Game 1, S2-2
In S2-2, Hagiwara is in 3rd place and looking to avoid another disappointing 4th. Hagiwara starts out with a nice 2-shanten hand with a dora and a calling opportunity for tanyao. On his 2nd draw, Hagiwara draws a red 5p to convert a kanchan to a ryanmen. On turn 3, he gets to iishanten with a kanchan-ryanmen shape. At the start of the 2nd row, Hagiwara fills in the kanchan and calls riichi to wait on a 47p ryanmen wait. With the riichi, Hagiwara holds a 5-han mangan, with a chance at haneman if he gets ippatsu, tsumo or uradora. As Hagiwara is in riichi, the other players continue trudging their way forward. At the end of the 2nd row, Sawazaki gets to tenpai on a 689s wait. Soon after, Katsumata gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 7s kanchan. The next turn, Sawazaki switched his hand to a 47p nobetan wait after drawing Hagiwara’s dangerous 7p. In the middle of the 3rd row, Murakami gets to tenpai and waits on a 5s/8m shanpon wait. However, right after Murakami gets to tenpai, Katsumata draws and discards the 7p. Because of atamahane, the winning hand ends up going to Hagiwara and not Sawazaki. Hagiwara finds one uradora to win the hand with Riichi/Pinfu/Tanyao/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 1 for 12,000+600, putting Hagiwara into 2nd place.
Big Start
December 8, Game 1, E1-0
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-7_s30_p186
In E1-0, Shiratori is the first dealer and looking to help his team retake top spot. He starts out at 3-shanten holding two dora and a pair of red dragons. Shiratori’s hand develops very quickly, getting to iishanten by turn 3 with a kanchan-ryanmen shape. By turn 4, Shiratori gets to tenpai waiting on a 6m kanchan wait. With the dama, it gives him both the opportunity to improve his wait and to catch someone by surprise with his 7,700 point hand. After improving his hand to include iipeikou, Shiratori decides to call riichi near the start of the 2nd row, waiting on a 8m kanchan. Having previously discarded the 5m, he has a suji trap laid for the 8m to come out more easily. Two turns later, Shiratori draws the 4th red dragon and calls kan. Revealing the 3s as the dora indicator, his pair of 4s is now dora and his hand upgrades to a haneman. With Wakutsu getting to tenpai at the start of the 3rd row, she tries to call riichi by discarding the 8m. Shiratori calls ron and wins the hand with Riichi/Red Dragon/Iipeikou/Dora 4/Ura 2 for 24,000 and a big lead to start the game.
Tenpai Battle
Sasaki is the first to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 36m ryanmen wait 
Shiratori is the next to get to tenpai with a 258s dama wait 
Wakutsu gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 147s sanmenchan wait 
Ishibashi gets to tenpai with a 47m ryanmen wait 
Sasaki is the eventual winner with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao Iipeikou for 2,000+100/4,000+100
December 8, Game 1, S2-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-7_s30_p187
In S2-1, Wakutsu has her last dealership and looking to get out of 4th, while Ishibashi and Shiratori are chasing nearby Sasaki for 1st place. All of them except for Shiratori start out with 3-shanten haipais. Out of the three of them, Sasaki makes the best progress by the end of the 1st row, getting to iishanten wit a confirmed tanyao in hand. In the middle of the 2nd row, Sasaki is the first person to tenpai, calling riichi on a 36m ryanmen wait for a confirmed mangan. A few turns later, Shiratori was the 2nd player to get to tenpai, waiting on a mangan minimum 258s sanmenchan dama. Near the start of the 3rd row, Wakutsu is the third to get to tenpai, waiting on a furiten 147s sanmenchan. Not to be missed is Ishibashi, who, after making a call and drawing a red 5p, becomes tenpai on a 47m ryanmen wait for 3,900 minimum. However, it was Sasaki’s riichi that was the most successful of the tenpais, winning with a Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanayo/Iipeikou for 2,000+100/4,000+100 to extend his lead.
Sasaki would eventually become the winner of the game, overcoming Shiratori’s early dealer baiman for Sasaki’s 8th 1st place of the season.
Uchikawa Rampage
December 10, Game 1
The day before, I made a meme about Uchikawa’s suuankou tanki deal-in and his lowest ever score. However, it may have been the fuel for Uchikawa to go into rage mode.
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-7_s30_p191
In S2-0, Uchikawa is in 2nd place with 27,100 points. His haipai starts out 4-shanten, but holding a two ryanmen, the pinfu potential is there. Through the first row, Uchikawa’s hand grew more and more in progress and value, getting to iishanten and a guaranteed ittsu in hand. Drawing a 7s dora, Uchikawa now has the flexibility to pivot between sanshoku and ittsuu. Kayamori, who is in 4th place, tries to slow everyone down by calling riichi on a 8s/9p shanpon wait in the middle of the 2nd row. However, Uchikawa’s draw on Kayamori’s ippatsu turn gets him into tenpai. However, Uchikawa would need to discard the dangerous 7s dora to get there. He decides not to take the risk and discards his ryanmen. Near the end of the 2nd row, Fujisaki gets into the mix and calls riichi himself, waiting on a 14p ryanmen wait. Right after, Uchikawa calls the 3rd riichi, waiting on the 69s for a mangan minimum hand. On Uchikawa’s ippatsu turn, he draws the 9s to beat out the earlier riichi calls and win the hand. Uchikawa wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Ittsuu/Dora 1 for 3,000/6,000 and taking Kayamori’s and Fujisaki’s riichi stick with him.
In S3-0, Uchikawa is now the dealer and now in the lead. He starts out with a 3-shanten hand with a ryanmen and a dora. On turn 3, he draws a red 5s that is also the dora, bring his hand up to a mangan minimum if he manages to win. By the end of the 1st row, Uchikawa’s hand has progressed impressively, getting an iipeikou and tanyao with a chance at pinfu. In the middle of the 2nd row, Uchikawa gets to tenpai and stays dama, waiting on a 2p tanki for a dealer mangan tenpai. With Kayamori still in 4th, she puts pressure on Uchikawa and the rest of the players by calling riichi on a 25s ryanmen wait at the start of the 3rd row. On Kayamori’s ippatsu turn, Uchikawa manages to add pinfu to his hand and changes his wait to a 25m ryanmen wait for haneman tenpai. Fujisaki, who was tenpai for Chanta/Sanshoku, ends up discarding the 2m soon after to deal into Uchikawa. Uchikawa wins the hand with Pinfu/Tanyao/Iipeikou/Dora 2/Aka 1 for 18,000.
In S3-1, his hand starts out 3-shanten. Uchikawa progresses his hand simply, despite Kayamori still putting pressure by putting in come early calls. Uchikawa ends up winning the hand with a simple Pinfu/Tsumo hand for 700+100
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-7_s30_p192
In S3-2, Uchikawa starts out with a horrible 6-shanten hand, but it does hold a regular dora and a red dora. Through the first row, his hand improves a bit, drawing a white dragon ankou and creating a ryanmen. With Uchikawa having discarded a dora early in the 3rd row, all the other players tread a bit more carefully. Approaching the end of the 3rd row, everyone is close to tenpai, but none of them are quite there. On Murakami’s 2nd last discard, he gets to tenpai on a 36p nobetan wait for mangan minimum. On Uchikawa’s 2nd last discard, he also gets to tenpai with a chance at sanshoku if he finds the 3s. On Uchikawa’s last draw, the haitei, Uchikawa finds the fabled 3s takame for the win. Uchikawa wins the hand with Tsumo/Haitei/Sanshoku/White Dragon/Aka 1 for an incredible and unexpected 6,000+200 all to bring his score up to a whopping 81,100.
Over the course of four hand, Uchikawa wins a total of 54,000 points. He would actually earn more points through ryuukyoku in the next hand. bringing his total up even further. Uchikawa would end up finishing the game at 76,700, the highest single game score this season and the 8th highest score of all time in M-League.
Maehara Rampage
December 10, Game 2
In E2-1, Maehara is in 1st place, but the game is still young. Maehara starts out with a 2-shanten hand with a dora in hand. By the end of the 1st row, Maehara is iishanten, but still lacking in any significant value. The next turn, Maehara draws a red dora to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 3m/7s shanpon wait. With Sonoda, being in 4th place, pushing his mangan minimum hand, he throws the 3m to get to tenpai and deals into Maehara. Revealing three uradora, Maehara’s hand is suddenly catapulted to haneman. Maehara wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 1/Aka 1/Ura 3 for 12,000+300.
In E3-0, Maehara is now the dealer and starts out with another 2-shanten hand with, again, little value. On turn 3, he draws to complete an iipeikou and get to iishanten and by turn 5, Maehara calls riichi on an 8s kanchan wait. With everyone else bailing because of a dealer riichi (except for Uchikawa, who was half pushing), it was just a waiting game for Maehara. Near the end of the hand, on the second-last tile, Maehara draws the 8s to win with Riichi/Tsumo/Iipeikou for 2,000 all.
In E3-1, Maehara starts out 5-shanten with a red dora and a regular dora. Maehara’s hand quickly progresses yet again and, after calling a red dragon, becomes iishanten for a 3 han hand. While Maehara waits at iishanten, Uotani challenges the hand with a 3m penchan riichi. As the dealer with a significant lead early in the game, Maehara continues to push. Late in the hand, Maehara calls pon to get to a 3p kanchan tenpai. On Maehara’s second-last draw, he draws the 3p to win the hand with Red Dragon/Dora 1/Aka 1 for 2,000+100 all.
Over the three hands, Maehara won 26,600 points, eventually leading to him winning the game.
No More Ura San
December 11, Game 1, S1-2
In S1-2, Kurosawa is in 4th place and looking to capitalize on her dealership. She starts her hand 4-shanten and a singular green dragon dora. By the end of the 1st row, Kurosawa’s green dragon stays isolated, but her hand has improved to 2-shanten. Near the start of the 2nd row, she pairs up the green dragon to have a 7,700 minimum hand if she ends up winning. At the end of the 2nd row, Kurosawa is iishanten with a sanmenchan in hand, but is faced with trouble when Takizawa decides to call riichi. As Takizawwa waits with his 6p kanchan wait, Kurosawa continues to push with her high-potential hand. Near the start of the 3rd row, Kurosawa gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 147s sanmenchan wait. Soon after, Takizawa draws the 7s and deals into Kurosawa. Revealing three uradora, Kurosawa wins the hand with Riichi/Dora 2/Ura 3 to hit 1st place Takizawa with a 18,000+600 point hand, stealing his riichi stick and throwing him into 4th place. and giving Kurosawa the lead.
Taku Trouble
December 11, Game 1 and Game 2
During both the first and second game, there was some trouble with the table. There was a new message that popped up every time it happened. The message read ,「現在卓トラブルの為試合を中断しております。再開までしばらくお待ちください」, which roughly translates to, “We are currently experiencing some table trouble. Please wait for things to resume.”
When it happened a second time, the commentators decided to play a little game. Hiyoshi Tatsuya decided to quiz Shibukawa Nanba on the the yaku that haven’t been seen in M-League yet (excluding yakuman). Can you guess what they are? Scroll down to see the answer.
A: Sankantsu, Sanshoku Doukou and Ryanpeikou. Despite some rare yaku being few and far between, they have been won in M-League.
Chankan was recently won by Kayamori Sayaka off of Suzuki Taro in week 2 of M-League 2020.
Honroutou was won by Kondo off of Aki in week 2 of M-League 2018. The honroutou was actually a very special case, since it was also chiitoi and had pairs of all 4 winds. This is known by a local yaku called Suushi Chiitoitsu.
Shousangen was actually won three times, once in the 2018 season by Murakami, another time by Hagiwara in the 2019 season and the third by Sasaki in week 3 of the 2020 season.
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