Standings
As with every last game, I’ll be going down the rankings
Kadokawa Sakura Knights take the top spot. What a semifinals run for the Kadokawa Sakura Knights. Going into the semifinals, they were in 6th place, one of the worst (or best, depending on your superstitions) positions to be in. With the threat of being eliminated, they got straight to work. In the 1st half, the team went 2/4/0/2 to get net positive. In the 3rd quarter, with the news of Sawazaki needing to miss the finals to receive hospital treatment, the team had their best performance trying to make Sawazaki proud. They held on through the final four games to end up in 1st place. With a record of 6/4/1/5 and a +160.0 total gain in the semifinals, the Sakura Knights will be heading into the finals in 1st place, participating for the 3rd time in three season.
2nd in the overall standings is the Konami Mahjong Fight Club. This is the team’s 4th time being in the post-season. Every time the team went to the semifinals, they just weren’t able to make the finals. Going into the 4th quarter, the team was net negative in the semifinals. The team was 34.0pts from falling out of the semifinals. Then, Date came out with a huge +80.0pts 1st place in the team’s 13th game and drastically improved the team’s chances of making the finals. With Takamiya, Takizawa and Sasaki all helping to avoid 4th place, the team secured their spot in the finals. In these semifinals, the team went 4/4/5/3 and had a net gain of +60.4pts. After falling in the semifinals for two years, they finally pass this hurdle and are ready to fight for the championship in the finals for the second time in the team’s history.
The 3rd place team in the overall standings are the Shibuya Abemas. The Shibuya Abemas have always been the strong team in the league. Having been to the finals three times in three years, the team wanted to make it four for four. The team was net positive going into the 4th quarter, mostly comfortable at 120.8pts from the cutoff. The Phoenix did well in their first two games, tightening the gap. In the next set of games, the Abemas were able to keep the Phoenix at bay. Into the final two games, the team was in a nice position, but not comfortable enough. Shiratori did his job by getting 2nd to improve the team’s chances. However, fans were on edge in the final game. With Katsumata’s big East 1 and Ooi bearing a lot of it, he needed to make sure Katsumata stayed back. Ooi was able to hold on despite coming 4th and the team was able to advance to the finals. With a 4/6/2/4 record and going -40.2 over the course of the semifinals, the team heads into their 4th finals in four seasons, hoping that they won’t finish 3rd for the fourth time.
In 4th place and the last qualifying team is the Sega Sammy Phoenix. The team sat in 5th at the start of the semifinals, staying around there until the start of the 4th quarter. In the first two games, the team sent Kayamori and Tojo to get into playoff position and they did just that. With a 2nd from Kayamori and a 1st from Tojo, the team into 4th place. With their last day being Thursday, they needed to position themselves well so no other team takes their spot. They did lose some points, but positioned themselves in a 50/50 position of making it. On Friday, fate decided that they would be the 4th team to go to the finals. With a 4/4/6/2 record and a gain of 28.1, they just make the finals with some more work to do. However, history may tell the future, as the past three teams to win the championship went into the finals in 4th place.
Missing out on a qualifying spot are the EX Furinkazan. The team was just barely in finals position going into the semifinals, sitting 4th place and just 0.1pts from 5th place. Through the first 12 games, the team struggled, getting only one 1st and missing help from Matsugase because of a positive COVID test. Even on their 13th and 14th games, they weren’t able to get 1st. On the 15th game, Matsugase did a big comeback in the south round to win the game. In the 16th game, Katsumata needed to get over 100,000 points to make the semifinals. In East 1, Katsumata made it all the way to 70,000+, giving hope for the team. However, with Kobayashi fighting for a spot as well as Ooi and Sasaki at the table, Katsumata just couldn’t make it despite his good fight. In the end, the team went 3/5/4/4 with a net loss of -24.1, sitting outside of the qualifying spot at 5th place.
And finally, we have the U-Next Pirates. The team was in 1st place going into the semifinals with Mizuhara winning the regular season MVP award. In the first four games, the team dropped hard, going 0/0/2/2 and lost 145.0pts. From there, the team struggled to recover. They were the best team in the 2nd quarter and lost a bit in the 3rd quarter. In game 13, Ishibashi lost, but was saved by Kobayashi in the 14th game. Going into the final day, the team needed a total of +43.3pts. In game 15, Ishibashi was doing well until he discarded the dora and dealt into Matsugase to move in 4th and lose the game. And though Kobayashi tried to save everything in the last game, they just weren’t able to beat Katsumata’s dealership and finished the game 3rd. In the end, the team went 4/0/6/6 and had a semifinals net result of -184.2pts. With this being the 2nd time in a row that the team failed to make the finals with the same members, the team will now be forced to drop at least one player.
This Week’s M-League Stats
1-2-1-0
▲+76.6
2-0-1-1
▲+76.4
1-2-1-0
▲+45.9
1-0-1-2
▼-53.3
1-0-1-2
▼-70.4
0-2-1-1
▼-75.2
For the EX Furinkazan and the U-Next Pirates, the games on Friday were their last games for the 2021 season.
The EX Furinkazan said that they will definitely work to improve for next season with their regular offshoot video
The U-Next Pirates also thanked their fans in their final public viewing. Each individual member giving a message on Twitter, expressing both their disappointment with the results and their gratitude towards their fans.
That’s all for the M-League 2021 Semifinals! We’ll take a break for a week, then we’re back at it for the finals! What awaits for us for the finals? Who will surprise us? Who will be crowned the champion? As always, we’ll just have to wait and see! See you on April 18!
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M-League 2021-22 Final Series
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