Every season, there are plays and wins that grab your attention and get you excited. They can be high-scoring hands, intriguing games and even an incredible fold. With the upcoming season just a week away, let’s take a look back and see my choices for the top 5 plays of the M-League 2021-22 season.
#5: Breaking the Barrier
Fifth on my list may not be an amazing hand in isolation, but when you view it in the context of the game and the history of M-League, it had to make the list.
November 18, Game 2, S3-5
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-12_s30_p264
Best Collection: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s40_p608
In S3-5, Date has a good 2-shaten haipai with a red 5p and a distant chance at sanshoku. She fails to advance through the 1st row, but her first two draws in the 2nd row get her to tenpai and she calls riichi on a 14m ryanmen wait (albeit losing the sanshoku). Even with all the points she has, she just wants to get more. A bit is stress is added when Katsumata calls riichi on his haneman minimum chiitoi 5m wait, but the fear is quickly allayed when Date draws the 1m on her ippatsu turn. Date wins with Riichi/Ippatsu/Tsumo/Red Dragon/Aka 1 for 4,000+500 all and taking Katsumata’s riichi stick.
With the win and her score up to 108,500, it beats the highest score ever achieved of 100,400 by Sasaki Hisato on February 18, 2021.
By the end of the game, she would finish with 105,500, beating the highest final score of all time of 98,200 by Sasaki Hisato on April 22, 2021.
#4: Furiten Baiman
When you make the right decision at the right time, when you make a call at a pivotal moment, it can change the game in an instant. This game was the final game of the final series which made this decision and win extremely important. Even though the Sega Sammy Phoenix weren’t able to hold on in the end, this win kept the game exciting.
April 26, Game 2, E4-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-12_s30_p1083
In E4-1, Kondo is in 4th place and 8,800 behind 3rd place Hori. If Kondo wants to win the championship, he has to first move ahead of Hori. Kondo starts the hand out with 4-shanten with a 7s dora and a red 5s. In the first row, he draws a red 5p, shifts his hand to tanyao and gets to 2-shanten. On turn 12, Kondo is iishanten, but there’s a decent chance of him becoming furiten. At the start of the 3rd row, Kondo gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a furiten 258s sanemchan. If Kondo ends up winning the hand, he is guaranteed a haneman, with one more han giving baiman. On Kondo’s very last draw, he finds the 5s to get the miracle he was looking for. Flipping the one uradora he needed, Kondo wins the hand with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Tanyao/Dora 1/Aka 2/Ura 1 for 4,000+100/8,000+100 (plus one riichi stick), hitting Hori with the dealer penalty and Kondo moving into 2nd place. If Kondo can keep Hori in 4th, the Sega Sammy Phoenix win the championship.
#3 : Kobayashi’s Near Miss
When you have an incredible hand, your mind sometimes goes blank. You almost make a careless mistake, but stop yourself just on time. That is what happened on January 27 with Kobayashi Go. A near disaster turned into something great.
January 27, Game 2, E4-1
Video: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-12_s30_p654
Best Collection: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s80_p629
In E4-1, Kobayashi is in 4th place and 12,300 from 3rd place. Kobayashi starts out with He starts out 3-shanten, but the hand composition doesn’t have anything of value other than chiitoi. In his first few turns, he created more pairs, but also had the pairs connect to make potential iipeikou shapes. On turn 5, Kobayashi gets to iishanten and on turn 6, he gets to tenpai.
His hand is 566m778899s34455p and he calls riichi. He picks up the 6m and almost stops himself just as he begins to drop the tile. However, he notices the noten results just in the nick of time, puts the 6m back in the hand and calls riichi by throwing the 5m and wait on a 36p ryanmen wait.
Within two turns, Honda chases Kobayashi by calling riichi on the exact same wait: the 36p ryanmen. With six of them left in the wall, chance are that one of them was going to win.
As the two of them wait, Sawazaki works his hand around and tries to get to tenpai to keep his dealership. In the 3rd row, Sawazaki calls pon and gets to tenpai on a 25p ryanmen.
On Kobayashi second-last draw, he finds the 3p to win the hand. With the takame, Kobayashi wins with Riichi/Tsumo/Pinfu/Ryanpeikou/Ura 2 for 4,000+100/8,000+100 (plus two riichi sticks). With the win, it moves him from last to 6,200 from 1st place
#2: Hisato’s Suuankou
Yakuman. That’s all I have to say.
March 22, Game 1, S1-1
Abema TV: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-12_s30_p922
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94-FlWHQ0rQ
In S1-1, Sasaki is the dealer and in 3rd place, 4,000 from 4th and 15,000 from 1st. His hand starts out with a red 5s and holding four pairs. On turn 3, Sasaki turns one of the pairs into an ankou and on turn 4, he makes a 5th pair. With his hand composition, he can pivot to either toitoi or chiitoi.
At the start of the 2nd row, Sasaki draws a second ankou and becomes iishanten for toitoi. If Sasaki can keep his hand closed, he has a chance to get suuankou and win the first yakuman of the season.
The very next turn, Sasaki draws a third ankou to get to tenpai and calls riichi on a 1p/7s shanpon.
With a dealer riichi and none of the east dora visible, everyone begins to fold. Even when Uotani has a chance to get to tenpai, she chooses to fold instead because she would need to throw an east to get there. With no opposition, it was up to the wall whether the first yakuman of the season would be won.
On turn 13, the wall gave its answer. With Sasaki’s draw, he gets the 1p and wins the hand. Sasaki wins the hand with a Suuankou yakuman for 16,000+100 (plus a riichi stick) to win the first yakuman since April 29, 2021.
Honourable Mention: Yakuman Day’s Close Call
October 26 is known as Yakuman Day in M-League. This is because a yakuman was won on this day in the first two seasons of M-League. In the third season, there was a suurenkou (even though suurenkou isn’t a yaku in M-League). On the 4th Yakuman Day, we were treated to this.
October 26, Game 1, S4-0
Best Collection: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s70_p601
In S4-0, Hagiwara is in last place and looking for a good hand to move up some places. With Hagiwara’s first 13 tiles, he has 6 pairs in his hand and a single 8p just waiting to find a friend.
In dramatic fashion, Hagiwara drew his tile and revealed…
The 2p. Instantly, he threw and called riichi.
A few turns later, he draws the 8p and wins the hand with Double Riichi/Tsumo/Chiitoi for 4,000 all. Though it wasn’t the big win that would have been perfect for Yakuman Day, the 12,000 point hand did get him out of last place.
#1: Date’s Fold
Most top plays are usually big wins or incredible luck. But by far the greatest play in M-League 2021-22 has got to be Date Arisa’s incredible fold on October 22. This play was just the start of a huge first season for Date.
October 22, Game 1, S3-1
Best Collection: https://abema.tv/video/episode/444-14_s40_p601
In S3-1, Date is the dealer and in 1st place. Her hand doesn’t start out too great, being 4-shanten with no value. By the end of the 1st row, Date gets iishanten for chiitoi. In the 2nd row, Date draws an ankou, giving her the ability to pivot to a standard hand. Soon after, Okada gets to tenpai and calls riichi on a 58m ryanmen wait.
Two turns later, Date draws a 2nd ankou, getting to iishanten for a potential suuankou. The turn after that, she gets the 3rd ankou, putting her tenpai on a north/4s shanpon wait. A tsumo win qould give her a huge 48,000 win. 6s, 1s, green dragon, she keeps pushing. Then she draws the 5m.
The chance for a yakuman is extremely hard to reject.
But the 5m is extremely dangerous. Because of the danger factor and the fact that she’s already in 1st, she uses her self-control to discard the north.
In the end, it was Aki, who was pushing through the riichi the whole time, who won the hand. Aki wins the hand with Tanyao/Aka 3 for 2,000+100/4,000+100
With this hand, Date was able to hold on to her lead and finish the game in 1st place.
And those are my top 5 picks for the best plays of the M-League 2021-22 season! What awesome plays are in store for us this season? As always, we’ll just have to wait and see!
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