M-League 2021-22 Finals: Games #1-2

Game #1

Strong Start

April 18, Game 1

In E1-0, Okada is the dealer and starts out with hand that is 3-shanten for chiitoi with a pair of easts. With the important value of the double east, she calls pon on it instantly, pushing her hand to 3-shanten for a standard hand. Looking around the table, Okada’s hand is vulnerable to Kondo’s turn 2 iishanten hand. Before the end of the 1st row, Okada calls pon on a 9p to get to tenpai on a 2p/4p shanpon. Soon after, she switches her wait to a 14p ryanmen. In the 2nd row, Okada draws the 4p to win the hand. Okada wins with Double East for 1,300 all.

In E1-1, Okada starts out with an expensive hand, 3-shanten with two dragon pairs and two red dora. By the end of the 1st row, Okada is iishanten with a closed hand. When Takizawa discards the green dragon, Okada calls pon to get to tenpai on a 47m ryanmen. Later, she draws a green dragon and calls kan, but misses on both the kandora and the rinshan. In the middle of the 2nd row, Okada draws the dora 7m to win the hand. Okada wins with Green Dragon/Dora 1/Aka 2 for 4,000+100 all, giving her a big lead in the early part of the game.

High Rise Kondo

April 18, Game 1

In E1-2, Kondo is trying to catch Okada and separate himself from the rest of the pack. He starts the hand out 4-shanten (3-shanten for chiitoi) with a pair of 3p dora. On his 2nd draw, he pairs up his lone east to give him the flexibility of an open hand or chiitoi. By the end of the 1st row, Kondo is 2-shanten for both seven pairs and a standard hand. When Takizawa discards the east near the start of the 2nd row, Kondo calls pon to get to iishanten. As Kondo waits at iishanten, Takizawa gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 2p kanchan. On Takizawa’s ippatsu draw, he draws and discards the 3m, allowing Kondo to call pon and get to tenpai on a 3p/5p shanpon. On Takizawa’s next tile, he draws and discards the 5p, dealing into Kondo. Kondo wins the hand with Toitoi/East/Dora 2 for 8,000+600.

In E2-0, Kondo starts off 4-shanten with hand looking destined for tanyao. Through the first row, Kondo draws an ankou of 2m and gets to iishanten by turn 4. On turn 8, Kondo gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 69p ryanmen. Three turns later, Kondo draws the 6p and wins the hand. Kondo wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Tanyao for 1,000/2,000, putting him above 30,000 and within mangan range of Okada.

In E3-0, Kondo is 3-shanten with no value besides a distant pinfu. His hand moves fairly quickly, getting to iishanten by turn 5. From there, Kondo’s hand stalls, giving his opponents a chance to catch up. He fails to advance at all in the 2nd row and everyone else gets to iishanten as well. at the end of the 1st row, Takizawa is the first to tenpai, calling riichi on a 25m ryanmen.

At the start of the 3rd row, Kondo finally gets to tenpai and waits dama on a 25p ryanmen. Two turns later, Takizawa draws the 5p and again deals into Kondo. Kondo wins with Pinfu only for 1,000, plus 1,000 from Takizawa’s riichi stick.

Making Something Out of Nothing

April 18, Game 1, E4-0

In E4-0, Kondo is finally the dealer and starts out with a horrible 6-shanten hand. 6-shanten for a standard hand, 6-shanten for seven pairs, 6-shanten for thirteen orphans. The only saving grace for the hand is the single red 5s.

Matsumoto, who has faster hand and wants to catch up to the lead pack, speeds up his hand by calling pon on the wests to get to 2-shanten. In the 2nd row Matsumoto calls pon on the east to get to iishanten, getting to tenpai a turn later on a 58p ryanmen.

Kondo, who had been working hard to clean his hand up, was 2-shanten by this point and kept pushing. On Kondo’s right, Okada gets to tenpai and waits dama on a 4s kanchan.

Still at 2-shanten, Kondo keeps pushing. Drawing red dragons to make an ankou and completing a ryanmen, Kondo got to tenpai in the middle of the 3rd row, calling riichi on a 47s ryanmen.

The riichi was enough to scare Okada, who folded a few turns later. In the end, the hand went to a draw, with Matsumoto and Kondo the only ones tenpai.

Kondo Continued

April 18, Game 1

In S2-3, Kondo is tied with Okada and wanting to move ahead. He starts out the hand 3-shanten with two ryanmens. By turn 5, Kondo is iishanten with a 6m dora. To Kondo’s right, Okada is also making progress to move ahead, calling pon on the north in the 2nd row to get to tenpai on a 25p ryanmen. She calls kan soon after in order to try to increase her hand’s value, but misses with the kandora and rinshan.

In the middle of the 2nd row, Kondo adds the flexibility of a 456 sanshoku. At the end of the row, Kondo gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47m ryanmen, with the 4m giving him sanshoku. On the ippatsu draw, Okada draws the 4m and is forced to fold. On the ippatsu turn, Kondo draws the takame 4m and wins the hand. Kondo wins the hand with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Pinfu/Sanshoku/Dora 1 for 3,000+300/6,000+300, plus 2,000 in riichi sticks to put him over 50,000.

Jumping to S3-1, Kondo starts out 3-shanten with a small chance at sanshoku. In the first row, Kondo is slow, getting only to 2-shanten, but creates two ryanmens. At the start of the 2nd row, Kondo fills in a kanchan to get to a rynamen-ryanmen iishanten. On turn 9, Kondo gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 47p ryanmen. Near the start of the 3rd row, Kondo draws the 4p to win the hand. Flipping one uradora, Kondo wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Dora 1/Ura 1 for 2,000+100/4,000+100 (plus one riichi stick) to put him above 60,000.

Final Scores

Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-12_s1_p206
Twitter: https://twitter.com/m_league_jikkyo/status/1516026903572131845

Standings

In one swift motion, Kondo and the Sega Sammy Phoenix jumped from 4th place to 1st place. Okada played well as well, keeping the Phoenix lead in check. Matsumoto was a spectator in the game, unable to riichi, win or deal in. And for Takizawa, he lost points in all but one hand, leading to a difficult drop for the Konami Mahjong Fight Club into 4th place.

Intro | Game #1 | Game #2