Standings

The top team in this week’s performance ranking is the Kadokawa Sakura Knights. After a triple digit performance last week and confirming their spot in the playoffs, they chased after the next goal: catching the Abemas. They did a really good job doing it, having a 3/1/0/0 and earning 193.4pts this week. Next week they will be playing spoiler, playing against dropout candidates in 5-6 of the teams they face next week.

2nd place in this week’s performance ranking is the Akasaka Drivens. The Akasaka Drivens got their groove back, led by Suzuki Taro’s 62,900 game and Sonoda Ken’s 45,400 game. Since the Drivens won’t be playing against the Pirates in the last 4 games, none of the results against them will be amplified. In order to guarantee a spot in the playoffs, they will need to win two of the games. Once they do that, they’re almost guaranteed to be in. At the very least, a -35 net result over the 4 games gives them a very high chance of being in the playoffs. Of course, these are the guaranteed score. Even if they don’t meet any of these criteria, they will still make the playoffs as long as the bottom three teams don’t play perfectly.

3rd place in the performance ranking is the Shibuya Abemas. They’re at the top position in the standings and are just playing around. It was an interesting choice to put Matsumoto in 3 of the 4 games, but it may have been an attempt to dethrone Sasaki from the top spot in the individual standings. Just like the Kadokawa Sakura Knights, they will be playing spoiler, especially against the Sega Sammy Phoenix who they will be playing for all 4 of next week’s games

Going into negative territory, we have the EX Furinkazan with an even 1/1/1/1 and -1.8 this week. Just like the Akasaka Drivens, all they have to do is win two games and they will almost be guaranteed to qualify for the semifinals. The EX Furinkazan have more flexibility, as a -55 net result will give them a very high chance. This is the team’s 2nd week being in the negatives

5th place in the performance ranking is the Konami Mahjong Fight Club. The team is in a very curious position as they are not clearly in the bottom of the pack, but are very susceptible to missing the cut. With Team Raiden being this week’s key rival, they can easily fall below them in only two games. However, two firsts will give a them a good chance to be in the semis.

6th place in performance rankings this week is the Sega Sammy Phoenix, The team was on the threshold and remains there at 6th place. Next week, they be facing the 1st place Shibuya Abemas for all their games, creating a big hurdle for the team.

7th Place in the performance rankings is Team Raiden. Like all the other teams near the bottom of the standings, this week wasn’t so good for them. As expected when facing the top three teams on Friday, they bled a lot of points. As the 8th place, getting 1sts is a must. As such, it would probably be in their best interest to not send Hagiwara. Having the highest win rate of the team, highest average ahnd value of the team and lowest deal-in rate, they will probably send Setokuma for 2-3 of the games if they want to get to the semis. With the Konami Mahjong Fight Club being the team’s rival this week, they will have to be a watch out to prevent Sasaki Hisato from going on dealer rampages.

And finally, placing 8th in the performance rankings, we have the U-Next Pirates. After placing 1st in the performance rankings last week, the team erased a lot of its gains from last week and brings the team back down to 7th place. With the team facing the 3rd place Kadokawa Sakura Knights for the 4 games, they will have a challenge. Over this past season, they have been beaten by the team, particularly Hori Shingo, many times. With the U-Next Pirates in the game, the Kadokawa Sakura Knights have gotten 1st in 14 out of the 36 games they’ve played (in contrast to the Pirates’ 6/36). It will be a challenge but it’s still possible.

This Week’s M-League Stats

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Well, that’s all for this week! Only one more week before the end of the regular season and all the teams have something at stake here! Who will be at the top of the standings by the end of this, the Shibuya Abemas or the Kadokawa Sakura Knights? Who will be the four other teams to make the semis? Will it be the battle-ready EX Furinkazan? Will it be the aggressive Akasaka Drivens? Will it be the combative Konami Mahjong Fight Club? Will it be legendary Sega Sammy Phoenix? Will it be the electric Team Raiden? Will it be the raiders and defending champions, the U-Next Pirates? Who will we see as guest hosts next week? As always, we’ll just have to wait and see! See you for the all-important last week of the regular season!

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